Consumers haven’t been deterred from silver jewelry
By Hannah Connorton http://www.nationaljeweler.com
The price of silver this August, which has hovered around $39-$40 an ounce, is more than double the cost of the metal at this time last year. Despite the increase, jewelers say consumers haven’t been deterred from silver jewelry, and that the real sticker shock comes in response to gold prices.
“The thing is, consumers always knew silver was less expensive, and it still is,” Gail Friedman, graduate gemologist and co-owner of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers in Los Angeles, said. “When a customer wants something, they don’t think of the price it was--they buy it.”
The metal is also being evolved to offer more to consumers. What silver jewelry designers have done, Friedman said, is create a category where silver is paired with semi-precious and precious gemstones, filling in the gray area where affordability meets designer style.
“Customers don’t feel like silver is a step down anymore,” she said.
James Alperin, of James Alperin Jewelers in Pepper Pike, Ohio, echoed Friedman’s take.
He said while higher-priced silver items aren’t exactly jumping out of the store, the price range that the metal offers falls into what most consumers expect to pay for jewelry. Additionally, a lot of silver companies are coming forth with more experimental designs.
“When a metal is expensive, designers slow down,” Alperin said, “but when a metal is cheap, you can afford to experiment. In silver, they can still afford to experiment a little.”
Aside from re-vamped designs, some jewelers believe customers’ indifference to the elevated cost of silver is the result of not knowing.
“Because the price increase has been gradual over the past year, I don’t think anyone has really noticed a big difference,” Steven Duvarney, vice president of Duvarney Jewelers in Fitchburg, Mass., said.
Duvarney said a few of his customers, who have come in to re-order or purchase a duplicate piece of jewelry, noted the price change, but weren’t deterred.
“They noticed, but it was more of a casual comment, the price didn’t enter their decision of whether to buy or not,” he said.
Although the price of both silver and gold continue to inflate, Duvarney said stocking silver pieces has remained the same, while ordering gold fashion jewelry is something he thinks twice about--which isn’t the case at all stores.
Heidi Barnett, manager of Single Stone in San Marino, Calif., said gold continues to outsell any other metals, in the store, resulting in a downplaying of silver.
“We aren’t getting as many requests for silver, but that will probably change with the price of gold continuing to increase,” Barnett said.
When customers do show interest in silver, she said, price is rarely an issue, mainly because the silver lines carried at Single Stone are more expensive to begin with.
Despite the rise in cost, silver is seen by some experts as a formidable force in the jewelry world and is expected to take market share from other metals.
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