America is the land of opportunity, partially because basically all consumers even those present at the lowest income levels have some optional income. Consumers buy things which they know will make their life happy in difficult situations. At the time of 2007 holiday selling season, consumer electronics retailers brought significant demand from the jewelry industry by offering excess of products like GPS units, cameras, and other electronic goodies, for instance in the $300-500 price-point range. This is the focus of the price-point range for mass-market jewelers during holiday period. IDEX Online compared advertisements from Best Buy and Circuit City to those from Kay Jewelers, Zale’s, and others. It found that market price points were same. Moreover a showy fun new GPS unit succeeded over a flashy new diamond.
Market Positioning of Jewelry is shifting from “Luxury” to “Fashion”. If “luxury” is referred as “stuff which you want, but don’t really need,” then jewelry is considered as a luxury item. If “luxury” is referred as a non-essential item which is expensive or difficult to purchase, then jewelry is not a luxury. De Beers has been transposing diamonds as a fashion item by developing programs like Three-Stone Jewelry, Right-Hand Ring, Journey, and others. But, most of the jewelers did not interpret those concepts, and they continued to try to sell commodity diamond pendants and rings like “luxury” items, reasonably as an investment (gold jewelry, for instance). Jewelry is neither a luxury item nor is it an investment item, but it is a fashion item, and the industry should understand that the method of selling jewelry must reflect “fashion”.