It’s no secret in the jewelry industry that retail demand for fine jewelry is slipping. As Forbes reports, the demand for gold jewelry has dropped 30 percent since last year, and continues to fall. Even diamond behemoth De Beers had to admit in their 2014 Insight Report that “retailers have faced pressures from a weak economic environment and strong competition from branded luxury goods and experiential categories, as well as the low-price models of e-commerce companies.” Simply put: There are better things to spend money on, often at better prices, than jewelry.
Originally marketed to World War II veterans returning home and settling down, the luxury jewelry trend continued well into the Baby Boomer generation. While the industry has taken hits over the decades, it was generally always able to find its footing. That is, until the 2008 recession hit. One owner, Bill Johnson, who runs the Solvang, California, store Johnson’s Jewel Box, says that his business still has yet to climb back. “We’ve had highs and lows for many years,” Johnson says. “But this time, my business is down probably over 50 percent from when it was at a high, and it just won’t come back. It seems like there are no longer any gains.”*