This is an industry that is, shall we say, not particularly hopeful these days. The trade is so used to being pessimistic that when I told people at last night’s WJA event that JCK had seen a bunch of surveys that showed increased demand for jewelry this holiday, no one believed me.

But it’s true. Here are three different surveys of consumers all showing increased demand for jewelry as a holiday gift:

– According to the National Retail Federation, 20.3 percent of holiday gift givers say they will buy jewelry, up from 18.4 percent last year. The NRF’s first holiday survey also found that more people would request jewelry this year (23.0 percent vs. 20.8 percent in 2009).

– The “Cotton Lifestyle Monitor” ranks jewelry as number five as far as “planned gift purchases.” As you can see on the second page of this PDF, jewelry didn’t rank at all in 2009.  

– Finally, on this survey, jewelry/watches ranks high as a gift for both men and women. The survey claims 31 percent of men plan to buy jewelry/watches, as do 36 percent of women. Take that, iPads!

Now, trust me, these are unusual numbers, at least compared with prior years’. I remember in 2009 seeing a survey that ranked jewelry almost dead last as a holiday gift, just beating out hardware/power tools. It was so depressing I ended up not printing it.

I have no idea what’s behind this increase, assuming it’s true. There isn’t much national advertising going on, and the economy is still pretty iffy.

But maybe people are just ready to spend again. I hope so. Best of luck to everyone as we kick off the holiday season.

Rob Bates

JCK News Director