The Designer Jewelry Report
By Jennifer Heebner, Senior associate Editor -- JCK Online, 12/1/2003 2:00:00 AM
Sales of designer jewelry are on the rise. That's one of the findings from a recent survey of JCK's retail panel, which revealed that designer jewelry accounted for a median 10% of jewelers' total sales. For 63.4% of jewelers, designer jewelry's slice of their total sales pie increased over the past two years. Fewer than a quarter of respondents (21.1%) said designer jewelry sales decreased as a percentage of total sales, and 15.5% said the percentage had remained the same. Additional findings are as follows:
Percentage of Jewelers Carrying Designer Lines in Selected Categories
| Category | 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16+ |
| Source: July 2003 JCK Retail Panel. The response rate for this survey is 28.8%; 183 responses were received out of 635 sent. The universe of fine jewelers in the U.S. is 25,000. |
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| Number of designer lines carried | ||||
| Bridal jewelry | 55.6% | 6.1% | .6% | - |
| Bridge jewelry | 19.4% | 3.3% | .6% | - |
| High-end jewelry | 48.9% | 5.6% | .6% | .6% |
| Baby goods/jewelry | 21.7% | - | - | - |
| Karat gold jewelry | 39.4% | 2.8% | 2.2% | - |
| Diamond jewelry | 38.3% | 6.1% | 2.2% | - |
| Titanium/steel jewelry | 26.1% | - | - | - |
| "Other" jewelry | 30% | 2.2% | .6% | - |
Percentage of jewelers carrying designer lines across all jewelry categories
| 1-5 designer lines | 57.4% |
| 6-10 designer lines | 31% |
| 11-15 designer lines | 4.7% |
| 16+ designer lines | 6.9% |
Yellow Still Rules: Percentage of Jewelers Who Answered the Question, "Which Color Do You Sell More?"
| Yellow Gold | White Gold | Platinum | Silver | |
| Engagement rings | 50.5% | 25.5% | 23.9% | - |
| Wedding bands (men & women) | 62.3% | 23.5% | 14.2% | - |
| Diamond fashion rings | 69.9% | 23.5% | 6.6% | - |
| Diamond bracelets | 71.3% | 22.1% | 6.6% | - |
| Diamond necklaces & pendants | 61% | 33.7% | 5.3% | - |
| Karat gold chains | 93.4% | 6.6% | - | - |
| Karat gold fashion rings | 90.2% | 9.8% | - | - |
| Karat gold bracelets | 91.9% | 8.1% | - | - |
| Colored-stone necklaces & pendants | 82.8% | 13.4% | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Colored-stone fashion rings | 83% | 13.7% | 1.1% | 2.2% |
| Colored-stone bracelets | 86.6% | 9.3% | 1.2% | 2.9% |
| Men's watches | 62.5% | 18.1% | - | 19.4% |
| Women's watches | 68.5% | 20.5% | .7% | 10.3% |
| All jewelry categories (excl. watches) | 76.5% | 16.8% | 5.4% | 1.3% |
