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Merrick, NY—Research presented Monday by Bain & Company and the Italian luxury association Altagemma show luxury sales on track to hit another peak—13% growth in 2011 overall, with sales of “personal” luxury goods—including jewelry and watches—up 10%. According to this article in the Washington Post, Bain says jewelry and watches are especially strong, up 18%, followed by accessories, up 13%, and apparel, up 8% in the personal luxury goods category. (Non-personal luxury goods include automobiles, hotels, etc.) Growth came from both mature markets in the United States and Europe and, of course, strong sales in China. Sales in Brazil also were strong, while luxury sales in Japan were less affected by this year’s earthquake than previously predicted.

In this article in Women’s Wear Daily, Altagemma in its own study predicted growth in luxury company EBIDTA for 2012 also will hit 10%. The WWD article pinpointed jewelry and watches as one of the categories primed for strong growth in 2012, along with leather goods, shoes, and accessories.

Global luxury conglomerate LVMH also recently reported its revenues were up 15% for the first nine months of 2011, led by sales of jewelry and watches. According to this report in National Jeweler, sales in the jewelry and watch category grew 76%, totaling $1.66 billion for the period, vs. $941.7 million for the same period in 2010. Much of the jump in numbers can be attributed to the acquisition of Italian jeweler Bvlgari (ring pictured above), but excluding the Bvlgari acquisition and calculating at constant exchange rates, jewelry and watch sales still grew a healthy 26% over last year.

Meanwhile, September retail sales in general in the United States rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1%, the strongest monthly gain since February. Increases were posted in nearly every major category, and were strongest in both automotive and back-to-school. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose 0.6 percent, showing strength in department and clothing stores.

While in the boom years a 1.1% figure would have been considered at best modest, it’s more than twice the 0.5% that economists were predicting. Sales figures for July and August were revised upward as well, showing stronger spending during the third quarter that will likely pull GDP growth up to around 2% and bolsters hope for the holiday season, says this report from the Wells Fargo Economics Group.