Platinum jewellery demand had a mixed performance in the third quarter, with the Platinum Jewellery Business Review showing year-on-year declines in demand in the US and China and increases in India and Japan.
In India, a 35% year-on-year increase in platinum jewellery sales was powered by festive shopping and targeted campaigns and promotions.
Specifically, the increased store footfall and the return of the Platinum Buyer Seller Meet 2022 after a two-year absence helped drive sales during the wedding and festival season, which, in turn, re-energised platinum jewellery fabrication as retailers increased their stocks to meet higher demand.
Platinum Guild International (PGI) says its strategy of raising awareness of platinum brands through training and targeted marketing campaigns has reaped dividends for retailers and helped boost the desirability of platinum during two pandemic-affected years and despite geopolitical and economical challenges currently across the world.
Platinum jewellery sales in the US experienced a modest decline against a high base of the third quarter of last year, but remain above 2019 levels and on track for a strong finish to 2022.
In particular, PGI’s US business development grant partners saw double-digit increases in platinum sales on the back product developments, inventory builds and sales associate training. PGI says it is seeing new interest from more jewellers that do not have significant presences of platinum in their merchandise mix.
In addition to promotional activities, PGI has continued offering training through platinum workshops at the Rhode Island School of Design and courses at the Miami Jewellery School.
In Japan, platinum jewellery sales grew by 4.7% year-on-year in the third quarter, which followed six consecutive quarter-on-quarter rises in unit sales. PGI says the country enjoyed robust demand growth as the middle classes returned to shopping malls and department stores in the absence of Covid-19 controls.
Platinum jewellery counters in department stores, in particular, enjoyed a sales surge. Product-wise, growth was spearheaded by high-quality Kihei chains and necklaces or pendants and men’s jewellery.
Additionally, the continuing popularity of the Platinum Women brand saw retail partners achieve a solid sales increase and roll out new products in November. Given the positive momentum in the third quarter, the sentiment for the Christmas shopping season remains very positive.
Meanwhile, PGI reports the surge of Covid-19 cases in China in September stymied the summer recovery of the jewellery sector, leading to a decline of 16% year-on-year in retail partner sales in the third quarter.
However, the guild explains that innovation in platinum jewellery design and technology continues to improve the product offering to leading manufacturers that are launching autumn and winter products.
PGI confirms that along with an increased appreciation of platinum jewellery’s unique qualities among targeted demographics through promotional activities, PGI’s strategic programmes on marketing, communications and training provide further support to jewellers who are ready to mine the potential of platinum in major markets in the festival season.
“We are delighted to see the strategic programmes leveraging platinum’s unique qualities have delivered strong results, presenting platinum as a key value generator for our partners during the post-pandemic recovery and the key festive and shopping season,” concludes PGI CEO Huw Daniel.