Thanks to a skeptic and cautious jewelry industry, the VicenzaOro Show is seeing fewer U.S. retailers than usual, and even fewer venturing into any pricey new design concepts, according to exhibitors at the fair.

“The high end has not completely dried up, but people have been asking for lower pricepoint,” said Manuel Martin of Valente Gioiellieri.

That trend is prevalent among not only U.S. jewelers, but also their peers around the globe. To accommodate them, Valente is one of many high-end manufacturers that have developed new, lower-priced lines. Their new introductions, while carrying on the brands’ signature diamond and precious color looks have starting prices of $500—a far cry from the usual $2,500 range of introductory pricepoints.

This lower introductory price is increasingly common here, as it is what retailers—coming off a lackluster holiday season—are generally seeking for early 2003.

“Everybody is saying the same thing,” says Doug Robinson of Nanis. “Lower pricepoints for spring. They want prices under $1,000.”

Along with a less expensive collection, Nanis is one of several manufacturers wooing reluctant buyers with versatile designs—like adjustable necklaces—that offer consumers several looks for one price.

Not surprisingly, amid globally pervasive uncertainty, design has generally taken a turn toward conservative themes, with new takes on traditions being a driving force in the development of new collections.

JCK