The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Diamond Report explores the “3Ws” — what’s selling, what’s not and why — by going straight to the people who really know — jewelry retailers. Each month, we ask a sampling of retailers to comment on the important issues that are facing the industry today. Here is what they had to say when asked in early March:
With the economy starting to wake up again, are you seeing more people coming in to buy — and what are they buying?
David Rotenberg, Owner
David Craig Diamonds And Fine Jewelry
Newtown, Pennsylvania
“My business has been nothing but up since the Christmas season began. We had a good Christmas — better than we’ve had in a number of years — and our
business has just climbed moderately, low-double-digit percentages, in January, February and so far in March.
“Forget the silver stuff I put in — we’re not seeing low-priced merchandise selling. We’re seeing bridal selling, we’re seeing watches and general jewelry, to a degree, selling. But we’re doing very little in gold jewelry and customers are not even looking at the silver, except maybe as a gift. Most of the sales we’re making are either self-purchase or for significant others and those are a nicer purchase.
“We are selling bridal, although the size, unfortunately, and the price point is, for the most part, I’m sad to say, less than we used to see. But we went through a period of time when we didn’t see anything. We have people coming in and they are looking, which is a pleasant surprise, because I went through months where they weren’t even looking. But now they’re making purchases. So there’s definitely an improvement.”
Michael Finn, Manager
E.B. Horn
Boston, Massachusetts
“I would say that the traffic is low but that the people who are coming in are buying. It’s heavily skewed toward bridal. And we’re selling some watches and a lot of studs, big studs, and fashion, a little bit, too. In bridal, they’re spending anywhere in the $3,000 to $12,000 range, white gold and platinum.”
Michael Littman, Co-Owner
Gary Michaels Fine Jewelry
Manalapan, New Jersey
“I would say that last year we saw increases in traffic and sales and we continued to experience upticks in sales and traffic through Valentine’s Day. We are cautiously optimistic that this will continue. “People are buying diamonds and diamond jewelry.
We’re very strong in brands and diamond fashion jewelry. The heavy goldfashion pieces, because of the high price of gold, are slow. But people don’t seem to mind paying for diamond fashion. “Our silver and diamond business, which is comprised of the brands, like John Hardy and David Yurman, was extremely strong last year. But we’re also still selling high-price items, the $50,000-plus pieces. We’re definitely seeing people coming back to it. People are feeling better in general and I think the power of diamonds talks — people will spend money for diamonds.”
Mark Levinson, Co-Owner
Levinson Jewelers
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
“I think that people have a much more positive attitude. And, in a discreet way, they are now starting to part with their money and buy luxury items, but they’re doing it quietly. They’re still not showy about it, but they are buying. The higher-ticket items are selling much better and, in general, there’s a very upbeat, strong feeling in the upper-end clientele.
“There is significantly more traffic. I think maybe when people don’t eat something for a while, they develop an appetite for it. A lot of people who had the money to spend had been holding back and now they have their appetite back and are going ahead and quietly doing what they need to do to please themselves.
“I see fashion jewelry selling and there is basically a new currency in diamonds, too. I think people feel comfortable buying diamonds for their pleasure and also to have as a portable asset.”
Lee Hauser, Owner
Hauser’s Jewelers
Newport News, Virginia
“I’m still waiting for the economy to wake up. What people are buying depends on the level of income of the customers. We’re still selling diamond engagement rings, but the fringe items, things that aren’t classic items, aren’t selling as much.
Joe Ashcraft, Owner/President
Ashcraft Jewelers
Muncie, Indiana
“The traffic is good, but they’re still buying a lot of the fashion jewelry in
silver and the Pandora items and things in that price range. The big diamond products aren’t moving like they did four or five years ago, but they are picking up a little bit. There’s a little more interest in bigger stones.”
Lowell Kronowitz, President
Levy Jewelers
Savannah, Georgia
“Traffic has picked up a little bit. I would say that folks are looking around at some of the higher-priced merchandise. But still, average ticket prices have not quite reacted. I’m enthusiastic, but I’m a bit cautious, as I see the price of gas creeping up. I’m very focused on the price of a barrel of oil and I am going to plan my buying in Las Vegas accordingly.
“We have brought in some travel jewelry and we’re happy to sell Pandora, in terms of lower price-per-unit items. But we’re still a guild jeweler. “I think people are finding a reason to come in the door and look around, which, as far as we’re concerned, is a good thing. We’re in a very high-traffic area, a downtown historic district, and we continue to see people visit Savannah. And one of our regional malls is 98 percent occupied. Our traffic is still abundant. We’re not seeing a dramatic shift — neither a great increase nor a slowdown.”
Charles Stephens, Owner
Randolph Jewelers
Placerville, California
“We’ve seen two kinds of things. One is that people who have their wealth tied to real estate are still hurting pretty badly. But those who, in the past couple of years, were afraid their stock portfolios would not support them through their retirement have become confident and are spending. So we are seeing some more activity at the higher end. And some of that does go to fashion-type pieces. We had a very good Christmas show of fashion goods — mostly gold, not so much platinum.
We’ve avoided silver and alternative metals.“Recently, we have had more activity in higher-end color, which was a category that had completely died, so that’s been fun to see — ruby, sapphires, tanzanite. But in terms of diamonds, we haven’t seen the return to the 2-carat engagement stone; the average size is still smaller than it was before.”
Pictured: Color Craft earrings.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2011. To subscribe click here.