U.S. Jewelry and Watch Rise, but More Slowly in October

(IDEX Online) - Sales of fine jewelry and fine watches increased by 3.2 percent in the U.S. market in October compared to October 2018, as shown in the graph below. This is the fourth successive month in which sales have increased since the start of the year, evidence that the market is solidly picking up at last. 

Specialty Market Continues Slow Growth

Increases in the specialty jewelers market in the U.S. were in-line with total watch and jewelry sales - 3.3 percent versus 3.2 percent. While this marks a decrease compared to September's sales, it's still a more than welcome result after months of sluggish trade earlier this year. 

The graph below summarizes sales trends for specialty jewelers from 2017. Given the strong levels of trade in October 2018, the gain of 3.3 percent this year is a decent result. Hopefully, November and December will post stronger gains that those seen at the end of 2018.

Specialty Jewelers Continue to Win Market Share, but Only Just

In keeping with the trend of the past few months, specialty jewelry sales outperformed all jewelry and watch sales on a year-over-year basis, but barely. Unlike in previous years, when the gap between the two has been clear, in October there was almost nothing separating them and specialty jewelers only just pulled ahead. 

Watch Sales Outpace Jewelry Sales

Fine watch sales have been outperforming fine jewelry since the start of the year, and October was no exception. By category, fine jewelry sales were up 3 percent in the month while fine watch sales rose by 4 percent. This pattern marks something of a change from 2018 when jewelry sales outpaced watch sales throughout almost the entire year.

Outlook

Retailers are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the all-important fourth quarter. According to all the pre-holiday surveys and research, consumers were eager to spend with predictions of a positive season. The NRF expects holiday retail sales in November and December to increase between 3.8-4.2 percent over 2018. Total spending is expected to reach between $727.9- $730.7 billion.

This year, a record 189.6 million people shopped during the five days following Thanksgiving, up 14 percent from 165.8 million in 2018. Early results indicate that consumers put jewelry front and center this year with Mastercard SpendingPulse reporting that total U.S. jewelry sales increased 1.8 percent over the holiday shopping period. According to Mastercard's research, online jewelry sales grew by 8.8 percent from November 1-December 24, putting a positive spin on what has been a difficult year for the diamond and jewelry trade.