Silver items now represent 37 percent of jewelry retailers’ unit sales, according to a new survey of jewelry retailers released by the Silver Promotion Service and conducted by Nielsen.

The survey also found that silver represents 27 percent of jewelers’ sales by dollar volume.

In addition, 77 percent of those surveyed said their silver sales increased in 2011, with 27 percent of respondents reporting an increase of more than 25 percent.

“The fact that this is the third year the survey has showed such results has long term implications for the industry,” Michael Barlerin, SPS director, said in statement. “A ‘sea change’ has definitely occurred for silver jewelry.”

JCK