Wholesale Sterling Silver Jewelry

Is Silver the New Gold?
Feb. 5, 2008

Silver broke new ground all through January. It has retreated somewhat the past few days to about $16.20 per ounce, off its high of about $17.20.

Gold has likewise taken a tumble recently, but it is still at historic highs. What will climbing precious metals prices mean for the jewelry business?

There are a couple of recent trends as reported in Accessories Magazine. First, The recent surge in precious metals has resulted in sticker shock among consumers, though many wholesalers have absorbed at least part of the increase.

Second, many experts believe that the increase in gold prices will result in higher demand for silver and gold vermeil as they are seen as "affordable."

It seems that we may also begin to see more acceptance among consumers of base metal plated with sterling or with gold vermeil as the prices of sterling move up. There has already been some evidence of this as "fashion items" seem to be pulling a more substantial portion of the jewelry open to buy of larger department stores.

The US Dollar continues to be weak, making imported goods more expensive, but this might not be too bad. We may see some manufacturing come back to the US, and we have definitely seen an increase in European and Canadian travelers who view America as a bargain against their home currency.

(This article written by Mike McGinnis and published originally on indiasilver.com. We allow republication provided the piece is copied in its entirety with links and attribution.)