With jewelry and watch sales in the U.S. rising by just 2.4 percent on the year in April to $5.73 billion, based on preliminary US government figures, the good news was that the figures for the first three months of the year were revised upwards from relatively low levels stated in the month-earlier statistics.

 

The figures for January, February and March reported last month were 2.8 percent, 2.3 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. However, the official statistics for April show a revision upwards to 3.9 percent, 3.7 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

 

 

Consequently, there is good reason to believe that the figure for April of just 2.4 percent may also be revised upwards when the statistics for May are published. A revision of the scale seen for the first three months of this year would show that the monthly rate of growth since December has been consistent at around 4.0 percent.

 

That rate of growth is substantially down on the performance through almost all of 2013 when the lowest monthly rate of growth in sales was 6.1 percent, reaching all the way up to more than 11.0 percent last April.

 

US jewelry retailers’ sales in April rose by 2.4 percent on the year-earlier figure to $2.49 billion – only slightly higher than the March figure of $2.38 billion. Sales in the first four months of this year came to $9.81 billion – a rise of 4 percent on the same period of 2013. 

 

The decline in percentage terms in overall jewelry and watch sales can be seen in this graph.

 

 

There was a noteworthy decline on the month in sales at specialty jewelers in April compared with the figures for overall retail sales for the month as can be seen in the following graph, which reveresed the situation seen in March.

 

  

Consumers were again voting with their feet and buying goods at general jewelry stores and other shops selling jewelry along with other goods. That is likely due to deep discounts offered by general stores in a bid to attract custom while specialty jewelers tried to hold the line and keep prices at a level that would ensure better profitability.

 

Total Jewelry Sales +2.4%

Jewelry sales alone, excluding watches, increased by 2.2 percent on the year in February to $2.49 billion, based on US Department of Commerce data.

 

Fine Watch Sales +2.4%

Fine watch sales rose by 2.4 percent in March to $420 million.

 

Fine watch sales have kept their proportion in the broader jewelry and fine watch sales category at around 12 percent as is clear in the following graph.

 

 

This mix of watch sales is climbing, after falling to 11.6 percent of sales in 2010, as the industry was still reeling from the impact of the “Great Recession” that began in 2007.

 

In 2006, just prior to the recession, fine watch sales represented 12.1 percent of total fine jewelry and watch sales in the U.S. However, during the recession, consumers tightened their purse strings, and slowed their buying of expensive, flashy watches.

 

Outlook

There is no doubt that retail jewelry sales have softened over the past 5-6 months. Is this a harbinger of things to come or just a temporary breather being taken by US consumers?

 

This year was widely touted as a breakout year for the US economy, however ongoing economic problems at home and abroad, such as turgid growth in Europe, are preventing the American economy from taking off.

 

There is no doubt that American consumers continue to be enamored of jewelry, but their willingness and financial ability to buy jewelry on a continuing basis is somewhat uncertain.