Articles and News

Merrick, NY—Procrastination pays off for luxury jewelers, or so it seems.  In the final eight days leading up to and including Christmas Eve, 60% of respondents to the Centurion 2012 Holiday Sales Success Index survey reported their sales grew by more than 10% over the same period last year.

Overall, our spot-check survey revealed a good week for most prestige jewelers:  75% reported sales were up at least somewhat from last year. In addition to the more than half who saw significant sales gains, 10% saw gains between 6% and 10%, while 5% saw a modest gain of up to 5%.

Another 10% said the week was flat when compared to the same period last year, and a total of 15% saw some sales declines, ranging from slight to significant in that period. Here are the figures:

An overwhelming majority (salmon slice) of luxury jewelers surveyed by The Centurion saw their sales for the final week of the holiday season leap by more than 10% over the same period last year. 10% of respondents reported sales growth between 6% and 10% over the same period last year, while 5% of respondents saw small increases. In total, three-fourths of respondents (75%) reported sales gains for the week. 10% said sales were flat (orange slice) while 5% each reported declines ranging from slight (green slice) to moderate (brown slice) to significant (aqua slice).

Luxury jewelers are in an enviable spot, it seems. In the broader retail picture, early reports are pointing to a very disappointing holiday season. CBS’ Moneywatch.com reports that sales of electronics, apparel, jewelry, and home goods grew less than 1% over last year’s figures for the two months leading up to Christmas. Bloomberg says concerns about the fiscal cliff impasse, coupled with lingering aftereffects of Hurricane Sandy have combined to make this season a lackluster one.

But according to The Centurion’s weekly spot-check surveys from Black Friday through Christmas Eve, it seems that luxury jewelry has significantly outperformed both the non-luxury sector and the broader retail picture.

The Centurion will conduct one final survey and issue its report for the holiday season as a whole next week.

Top image: Christamaswalls.com