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Merrick, NY—For the second week in a row, respondents to The Centurion’s statistical spot-check of high-end jewelers’ holiday sales are checking in with significantly higher sales overall than they experienced last year at this time.

Put simply, in the words of one respondent, “It seems like more people are shopping this year.”

For the week of December 5-11, more than 40% of respondents indicated their holiday jewelry sales are up by 10% or more over last year. Another 30% saw increases between six and 10%, while approximately 7% each reported sales are up slightly (1%-5%) over last year, or holding even with last year. Only 13% of the total reported any declines, and most of those were slight.

Non-bridal diamond jewelry edged ahead of bridal jewelry as the best-selling product category for the week of December 5-11. Colored gemstone jewelry and watches edged ahead of sterling silver, which had been the third-place category in the weeks leading up to December 4.

This week also brought out some more frugal shoppers, as the most popular price points in our survey were between $300 and $1,000. Price points between $1,000 and $2,500—last week’s leader—were the next most popular category.

For those respondents who hosted trunk shows in the past week, business was up nicely—but more than half of respondents (56%) didn’t have any trunk shows at all. Among those who did, 20% of respondents said their trunk show business grew more than 10% over last year.

Elsewhere, this article in the Los Angeles Times reported a boom in luxury sales, while the Huffington Post's early-October prediction of a luxury boom appears to be fulfilling its promise.

The Centurion will be tracking sales each week from now to the end of the year. To review last week's figures, click here.