High-End Jewelry More Popular Than Ever With Online Consumers

It's official. While books and DVDs may still be a staple of online shopping, the 2005 holiday season proved that consumers are increasingly comfortable shopping for high priced items.

The behemoth e-tailor Amazon.com Inc and online jewelry specialist Blue Nile Inc. both reported sales of single jewelry items priced at $100,000 or more.

Amazon.com sold a pair of $94,000 diamond earrings. The drop earrings are set with two 2.5 carat yellow diamonds and two 1 carat white diamonds for a total carat weight of 8.34 carats. The GIA certified diamonds are set in platinum and 18 karat yellow gold.

The online retailer said high-end jewelry had been more popular than ever with Amazon.com shoppers during the holiday season. Customers purchased several thousand styles of jewelry including pieces of 18 karat gold, diamond solitaire rings, diamond stud earrings and pearl strands in varying shapes, sizes and colors.

“We're delighted that more and more customers are turning to Amazon.com for luxury jewelry shopping,” said Steven Goldsmith, vice president, Amazon.com Jewelry.

Blue Nile Inc., meanwhile, reported that the highest price for a single item sold during the season was priced at $170,000. But even this price tag is $80,000 below Blue Nile’s highest-ever price item, a $250,000 for a diamond engagement ring purchased in September 2004. A spokesperson told Internet Retailer.com that Blue Nile routinely sells one or two items a day priced at about $50,000.

According to comScore Networks Inc, online jewelry sales were good even before the start of the holiday shopping season. Online jewelry sales were up 32 percent year-over-year through October, to $1.15 billion from $866 million, says comScore Networks.