Duties factor on jewelry

For years, Club degli Orafi Italia and Intesa Sanpaolo have periodically presented the results of a research on the business of the sector in Italy. The appointment was renewed on the occasion of Oroarezzo. Result: 2024 closed for the Italian goldsmith sector (including the costume jewelry sector) with a growth in turnover of 4.4%, in contrast to other sectors of the fashion system such as textiles, clothing and leather supply chain, which showed a decline of 9.1%.

However, if we consider the production index, there is a contraction compared to 2023 equal to 3.2%. Translated: companies produced less jewelry, but collected more. The statistics for January and February 2025 indicate a slowdown in turnover, which nevertheless remains positive, with a variation of +2.4%, but in the face of a further reduction in production (-8.2%). The skyrocketing price of gold has something to do with it.
As for 2024, it was a record year for gold jewelry exports: sales on international markets amounted to 13.7 billion euros (+49% in value and +23% in quantity). But, the analysis warns, a significant part of this increase is linked to the increased exports to Turkey, which went from 922 million euros to 5.3 billion, making it by far the leading market. In essence, Turkey, unable to purchase ingots due to a law in force, buys semi-finished gold products, which it reuses.

This is demonstrated by the fact that, net of Turkey, exports in value remained substantially stable (+0.9%), while the figure in quantity would have even recorded a 6% drop. Sales to the United Arab Emirates performed well (+9.7%), which exceeded exports to the United States (-10.7%) and Switzerland (-9.4%) in terms of amount. From a territorial point of view, Arezzo confirms itself as the most relevant district in terms of exports which have more than doubled (+119%) and reached a value of 7.7 billion euros, thanks also to the greater involvement in the growth in the Turkish market. Vicenza exports are also growing (+15%) while the Valenza district is decreasing (-2%). The territories most linked to the Turkish market are Arezzo and Vicenza, but even net of this contribution they would show growth above 7%.

In the USA in 2024, gold jewelry exports exceeded 1 billion euros and Italy represents the third partner for imports of the United States with a share of 12% after India (25%) and France (14%). The provinces most exposed to the American market in terms of jewelry and costume jewelry exports are Turin (22%), Treviso (18%), Vicenza (17%), and with a greater inclusion than the national average which stands at 9%. And now there is the tariff guillotine.

The geopolitical context (read: Trump effect) has influenced the sentiment of operators with a negative revision for 57% of respondents compared to January. Overall, expectations for 2025 remain positive for 21% of those interviewed in the survey. Greater optimism is noted for companies that deal with production (28% estimate a growth in turnover in 2025) and a significant contribution is still expected from international markets where one in three companies is considering increasing their sales.

The greatest critical issues in demand are linked for production companies to the internal context and the activation of luxury brands (44%), while for trade companies the tensions are linked to internal consumption (71%). This edition of the survey also aimed to delve into the topic of the supply chain. The most relevant factors in supply chain relations are confirmed to be the quality of workmanship (76%), respect for deadlines (66%) and the quality/price ratio (51%) in a context of relations located mainly at a local level: 73% of the companies interviewed indicated the presence of a structured supply chain only in Italy. The process of mapping and verifying compliance with the sustainability and product quality requirements is more structured for medium-large companies, which only in 6% of cases declare not to provide for controls, while the issue becomes more relevant for smaller companies where more than half of the participants highlighted the absence of control activities.