<div>By Michelle Graff, <em>June 08, 2010 </em></div>
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[caption id="attachment_996" align="alignleft" width="307" caption="Ippolita bangles, in 18-karat gold &amp; diamonds , range from $795-2,500 at retail"]<a href="http://blog.biggstock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ippolita-bangles-in-18-karats-gold-diamond-range-from795-2500-at-retail_biggstock1.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-996" title="ippolita-bangles-in-18-karats-gold-&amp;-diamond-range-from$795-2500-at retail_biggstock" src="http://blog.biggstock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ippolita-bangles-in-18-karats-gold-diamond-range-from795-2500-at-retail_biggstock1.jpg" alt="" width="307" height="200" /></a>[/caption]

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Given that gold prices remain high and today's budget-conscious consumer is watching every dollar, it's no surprise that <em>National Jeweler</em>'s Product Panel on gold jewelry reveals that sales have headed south.

As the price of gold has gone up, a total 89 percent of survey-takers said they have seen their gold jewelry sales fall or stay flat. In fact, sales dropped significantly for 37 percent of panelists, fell slightly for 30 percent and remained flat for 22 percent in recent years.

When asked to provide innovative strategies that have helped to sell gold jewelry, one panelist confessed to being stumped, writing "[I] wish I could think of something creative, but who is going to buy gold jewelry in this current market?"

As gold sales have slipped, so has jewelers' interest in stocking the metal, the survey shows.
While many jewelers have been reducing their inventories overall, more than half of product panelists have cut back on gold, specifically: 31 percent of respondents said that they have reduced their gold jewelry inventory significantly in dollar terms and 28 percent reported they had decreased their gold jewelry volume somewhat. Twenty percent said their gold inventories had remained about flat over the last three years.

<strong>Silver and gold
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Indeed, it seems that today, there's more gold around the neck of Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn than in the average jeweler's display case. But, the survey shows that a number of respondents haven't given up on the metal entirely, choosing instead to stock lighter-weight designs or gold-and-silver pieces that are priced to sell.

"We are stocking more earrings, lighter-weight," one respondent wrote. "We can't sell lighter bracelets as they do not hold up. Silver with gold accents is doing well."

Another survey-taker described carrying "gold and sterling silver jewelry that has been welded together."

<strong>The buyback business</strong>

With the price of gold still above $1,000 an ounce at press time, it's not surprising that gold buybacks remain a popular way to profit from gold.

Panelist strategies include allowing customers to have their old gold jewelry remade into something new, recasting scrap into fresh pieces for the display case or simply shipping the metal off to a refinery for cash.

"We started buying gold a little over 12 months ago and it now represents a third of our annual income," one survey-taker wrote. "We do not inventory these items. They are sent to the refiners."
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This story first appeared in the May 1, 2010 print edition of </em>National Jeweler

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REF: <a href="http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/independents/retail-surveys/e3i8ab839c51080663fa4fe48681b20f83c" target="_blank">Gold hush: Data on gold jewelry sales</a>