Most Read
Most E-mailed
E-mail Article
Print Article![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
Ask a random passerby at a JCK or JA show what they think about the right-hand ring. You’ll get a slow shake of the head, a wry smile. It’s no surprise. Everyone in the industry knows that the right-hand ring is a failure, a rare misstep for the Diamond Promotion Service. There’s just one problem. Everybody is wrong.
The numbers just don’t lie and the numbers for this category, let’s call it women’s fashion diamond rings, are undeniably staggering. In fact, they outshine all the numbers for the widely acclaimed DPS success stories: “Journey” and “past, present, future.”
Still unconvinced? Let’s do the math. In 2006, there were 4.5 million diamond fashion rings sold, resulting in $5.2 billion in retail sales, a 10 percent increase over 2005. This is the third year in a row of double-digit value growth. That’s almost the size of total holiday diamond jewelry sales, which were $5.5 billion in 2006. Many holiday gifts are also women’s diamond fashion rings.
Right-hand ring is also the largest of the DPS “beacon” categories, accounting for 21 percent of total women’s diamond jewelry sales by value. Three-stone diamond jewelry accounts for 15 percent and Journey just 3 percent. Of course, Journey is just one year old.
The average price of women’s diamond fashion rings reached $1,153 in 2006, which is double digit growth over 2005. This is well above the average price for all diamond jewelry sales, which is a mere $725. The average price for three-stone jewelry is $960 (although three-stone rings have an average of $1,402). Journey diamond jewelry has an average price point of $785 (Journey rings, admittedly a small subsection, are higher at $1,310). The average sale of Christmas gifts of diamond jewelry is just $598.
“Surprisingly, it’s the high-end that is doing better in this category,” says Dagmara Szulce, DPS core program director for the right-hand ring. “We hope to develop more selection and sales in the $500-$3,000 price range.”
MAKING THE CASE FOR FASHION
Why should retailers try to further develop the market for women’s diamond fashion rings? The DPS emphasis on the category looks beyond current sales. Right-hand rings represent the greatest potential for future growth in the diamond jewelry market, because they target a new customer and give her new reasons to buy diamond jewelry. Those reasons can be summed up in one word: fashion.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RSS Feeds
