The Israeli jewellers pay attention to the British market. In an article published in a monthly journal of the Association of jewellers of Israel, its Managing Director Itshak Ben-Dor has expressed his point of view on the market which takes the fourth place in the world and experiences significant growth. At the end of 2006 it was estimated at 4.5 billion pounds.
Within the last years a tendency of a growing demand for high quality products, for well-known brands, for unique design solutions has been showed in the British market. The demand for design findings has led to an intense interest for products with combinations of various metals and brilliants of different colors. This tendency, obviously, will persist this year also.
According to the current tendencies the British market has been flooded with products of a large number of new brands. Their appearance was marked by an active PR-support and marketing campaigns. The growing tendency for British buyers is the purchase of jewels for themselves, and not as a gift. The trend is connected to increase of income of an average British and it has expressed in the expansion of purchases of jewels (both luxury, and accessories used for daily wearing) and watches.
The most spectacular growth has been registered in the sector of men’s jewels, which amounts now to 11% of the market.
The sales of jewels from precious metals occupy 68% of the market, 21% watches and 11% - fashion jewelry (as of July, 2007). Within the last three years six of ten British buyers have purchased or have received as a gift at least one jewel from precious metals.
Among other tendencies - growing concern of British consumers in issues of jewellery ethics, environmental safety of jewellery production.
One more curious tendency is the reduction of interest of buyers in purchasing of jewellery in large shopping centers.
Therefore, a growing role of independent jewellery sellers and trading jewellery networks in the British market, due to decrease of importance of department stores, as well as the increase of Internets sales due to decrease of importance of catalogues distributed through the direct mailing.
