[Jewelry making - Article 01084] - Re: [Orchid] Jewelry in the 80s

[Gene Rozewski]

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Hello everyone,

    I'm sure Susannah's concerns about rising metal prices are shared by
    a number of people. Thinking back to the 1980's, it was a bit crazy.
    I do remember very long lines of consumers waiting to sell anything
    gold to those jewelers that were buying scrap. I also remember
    consumers choking when they found out that a heavy plain polished
    wedding band could cost them $750.00 or more! There was a lot of
    "sticker shock" at the peak. 

    To compensate, some jewelry started to become thinner and lighter.
    We used to see a lot more 10K merchandise. Platinum and silver were
    also up there in price, too. But there were also a lot of consumers
    who still could afford and aspired to finer quality jewelry. 

    The industry survived and even prospered after the initial shock.
    Because the high metal prices were on everyone's mind, it also
    created an awareness of the metals and even sparked demand. I
    remember lots of salespeople pushing jewelry as an "investment". 

    This past Holiday Season, we found that the nearly $1,000.00
    Platinum market had little impact on our Platinum sales. It seems
    that the price made Platinum products more exclusive and therefore
    more desirable. Because of the price, it's on everyone's mind; again,
    awareness can spur demand. That's not to say that there are some
    consumers that have been priced out of Platinum products. For them, a
    number of companies are advocating 585 Platinum and Palladium
    products as an alternative. We are beginning to offer some products
    in 950 Palladium (wedding bands & mountings) not only as an
    alternative to Platinum but also as an alternative to white gold in
    order to address the "whiteness" and "workability" issues of white
    gold. 

    Bottom line, the industry will address and adapt to current market
    conditions and demand just as we have in the past. 

    Remember, Jewelry is, and always has been, a luxury item. Consumers
    will continue to purchase jewelry, perhaps even more, just like they
    will continue to purchase $6,000.00 plasma TV's, Lexus and BMW
    automobiles, cruise vacations and custom made golf clubs. Some
    consumers may not be able to afford top shelf, but they will buy the
    32" LCD TV's, the Lincolns and Volvos, the weekend B&B get-away and
    the Tommy Armor clubs. I'm more concerned about consumer confidence
    than metal prices in the long run. 

Gene Rozewski
R*Findings
Rochester, NY

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