The Social Context of Jewellery’s Success

(gjepc.org) - US jewellery sales declined 0.3% to $62,678 million in 2020. For sales to be practically flat following an exceptionally challenging year is not bad at all. And for sales to skyrocket in the fourth quarter is far more than just “not bad”. During the last three months of 2020, sales totalled an estimated $24.7 billion, a 13.3% year-over-year rise. By comparison, in the previous ten years, Q4 sales rose on average just 1.9%. In recent weeks, the talk in the market has been optimistic, but laced with a thick thread of ominous storm clouds. Basically, the view is this: travel was banned, vacations didn’t take place, the stock market boomed and, therefore, people had cash in their pockets and sought where to spend it. In brief, this situation resulted in pent-up demand. But is that all there is to it? Because if it is, that means that it is perfectly reasonable to conclude that jewellery sales will decline as soon as travel is restored.