Gold and silver are skyrocketing. And jewelers are downsizing their jewelry.
Smaller jewelry. And more expensive. We have to accept it: this is the trend that will dominate jewelry in the coming months and, perhaps, years. The cause is the soaring price of gold, and now silver, too. There’s no escaping it: even jewelry made from the less expensive white metal is skyrocketing in price. For this reason, some jewelry companies have already decided to downsize their jewelry, much like products found on supermarket shelves: same price, but smaller volume. Vhernier just presented a new, smaller version of the Freccia collection. Roberto Coin presented a mini version of the Princess line called Carousel. And the list goes on.
Will smaller sizes attract buyers? This is the question jewelry houses are also asking. Less affected by the exorbitant prices of gold and silver, however, are the major brands that focus on jewelry with large gemstones. In this case, the price of the jewelry is determined primarily by the stones themselves, while the metal’s impact on the final price is less. Of course, the price of diamonds, rubies, or sapphires also matters for fine jewelry, but these have not seen the price surges seen with precious metals.
Titanium
Another trend, or trick, that jewelers have been adopting for a few years now involves titanium. This highly resistant and super flexible metal has been adopted in jewelry for its specific qualities, despite being difficult to work. In addition to its strength, this metal also boasts the ability to be colored, without the need for an external plating. But another reason for using titanium today is the possibility of using it as an alternative to gold. It’s easy to imagine that these are presented as design considerations, which in reality conceal the desire to avoid excessively inflating the price of a piece of jewelry by avoiding the use of gold; it will last a long time.
Gold has now surpassed $4,100 an ounce, and the silver market (nine times smaller) has seen its price rise to $52.12 an ounce in London, a record high since 1980, when the price was driven by speculation by the Hunt brothers, which later deflated. Analysts believe the rise in silver and gold prices is linked to Donald Trump’s tariff threats and the resulting surge in ETF purchases (specialized investment funds linked to indices or sectors). In the case of silver, supply is lower than demand, partly because the metal is also used for industrial purposes, such as in solar panels. Furthermore, in India, there have been large purchases of silver for the Hindu holidays, partly because gold has doubled in price in the space of a year. Will the metals’ rally continue? It’s difficult to predict. In any case, now is the time for mini jewels.
