Another Slow Month for US Watch and Jewelry Sales

(IDEX Online) - US watch and jewelry sales suffered a seventh consecutive month of decline in August, according to the latest Department of Commerce figures.

They were down 3.4 per cent, a slight recovery from 4.3 per cent in July, and 4.5 per cent in June.

The global economy shows no clear signs of recovery and that's impacting consumer spending.

Signet, the world's largest diamond jewelry retailer, reported an eight per cent drop in its Q2 revenue, down from $1.75bn to $1.61bn.

Bridal has historically accounted for almost half its sales and Signet, together with most other retailers in the sector, is still suffering the after-effects of Covid lockdown on engagements.

Having said that, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Exports reported a 13.5 per cent increase in US sales in August, to just over $325m, after sales in July rose by 5.2 per cent.

And the U.S. Census Bureau did report a small 0.6 per cent increase in overall retail and food spending during the month.

Major revisions

Revisions to previous months' sales figures, based on actual rather than estimated transactions, put July at a 4.3 per cent drop, rather than 2.4 per cent. June is now 4.5 per cent rather than 4.8 per cent.

More broadly, the Department of Commerce has revised all monthly and annual sales figure going back to 2012. All annual figures from 2013 to 2022 have been adjusted down. In 2022 that represents a reduction of 11.7 per cent.  The 2021 figure has been revised down by 11.1 per cent and the 2020 figure by 5.9 per cent.

Jewelry sales fell by 3.0 per cent and watch sales fell by 5.3 per cent during August, an average fall of 3.4 per cent.

Assessment

We have seen sales of US watches and jewelry increase only twice in the last 12 months - by 1.0 per cent last September and by 2.2 per cent in January. On average they have slipped by 3.5 per cent a year.