Russia’s jewelry industry kicked off the year with its
traditional Junwex St. Petersburg show, the country’s largest gem and jewelry
fair. Jewelers who spoke to
Rapaport Magazine, as well as to the Russian press,
agreed that the trends they observed at the event last month reflected the
overall state of the country’s jewelry market.
Some of Russia’s larger companies, such as Kristall
Smolensk’s jewelry division, Smolensk Diamonds, and Moscow-based Estet Jewelry
House, said their sales at the show were unchanged from last year. Many of the
smaller companies, however, reported a significant decrease. For example,
Svetlana Maksimova, general director of Yakutia-based Casting House — a premium
diamond-jewelry manufacturer that hasn’t missed a single show since it was
founded in 1992 — reported a 50% dip in her sales this year.
Many jewelers noted that the average amount spent on
premium-jewelry purchases had either remained the same as last year or
decreased by about 7% to 10%, staying in the $880 to $1,200 range.
“Regrettably, I must say that our buyers now account for less than 5% of all
visitors to the show, with the rest looking for silver jewelry with cheaper or
artificial gems,” Maksimova said.
Melee has its day
Today’s buyers are drawn to the more affordable options, yet
still crave brilliance and a hint of status, and therefore they mostly choose
jewelry set with colored precious and semiprecious gems in diamond melee
settings, according to Estet deputy director-general Fyodor Poludenny.
“This combination enables the creation of an almost
unlimited number of attractive designs for a lower price than all-diamond
jewelry, offering customers a variety of choices within their budget,” he said.
Valeria Arustamova, commercial director of diamond-jewelry
manufacturer Valery Gold Jewelry House in Kislovodsk, South Russia, concurred.
“I believe the prevailing trend is that a diamond is no longer the centerpiece,
but a component and a distinguishing feature of premium jewelry. Today’s
formula for winning customers over is design plus post-sales marketing.”
In the all-diamond jewelry segment, gems less than 1 carat
were in higher demand than larger diamonds, Poludenny noted. He also said
customers shopping for solitaires were mostly looking at the lower end of the
color and clarity chart. Dmitry Kuntsev, director of Smolensk Diamonds, said
that while jewelry featuring diamonds under 0.30 carats was the most popular,
there was a notable surge in interest in diamonds over 0.50 carats.
Jewelry trending down
Reflecting these trends, the show’s traditional St.
Petersburg Awards, which honor excellence in jewelry-making, recognized 19
designs with colored gemstones and diamond melee while distinguishing only one
all-diamond contestant: Casting House won second place in the Modern Classic
category with a set of earrings and a ring titled Russian Field. The entry
featured a total of 12.90 carats of G-color, VVS2-clarity diamonds, the largest
of which weighed 0.50 carats.
Eduard Utkin, CEO of the Russian Jewelers Guild
Association, remarked that while the industry statistics for 2018 had not yet been
published, jewelry sales in Russia had been consistently falling since June
last year, and the end-of-year numbers would most likely confirm this.
“By
contrast, there was an uptick in the production of gold jewelry in 2017,” he
said. “But I believe this was due to the fact that gold prices fell in Russia
that year, so manufacturers were able to buy and use more gold. Jewelry sales,
however, are a different story.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - March 2018. To subscribe click here.