Total U.S. Jewelry Sales Rise Sharply in September

Total sales of fine jewelry and fine watches in the U.S. market rose by an estimated 6.7 percent to $5.4 billion in September 2016, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department, as the graph below illustrates. This gain was above forecasts by IDEX Online Research; we have been predicting that jewelry sales would be up by three percent or so in the final half of the year.

Specialty Jewelers’ Sales Strong

After weak sales earlier this year, specialty jewelers in the American market posted estimated sales of $2.1 billion, a gain of 6.2 percent in September, while other multi-line merchants who sell jewelry generated sales about $3.3 billion, a gain of 7.0 percent, as the graph below illustrates. The strength of jewelry demand was almost equal between specialty jewelers, who hold about a 40 percent market share, and multi-line merchants who hold about a 60 percent market share.

Outlook Optimistic for Holiday Season Jewelry Sales

All of these trends bode well for the all-important holiday selling season of November and December. Our outlook calls for moderate sales increases over the next few months, primarily because the U.S. economy continues to show only modest overall growth.

For the full IDEX Research report, click here