Specialty jewelers have customer service edge

According to the Washington Post, couples plan to spend more than $62 billion on their weddings this year. $2 billion of that will go toward wedding bands (while $6 billion will go to engagement rings).

The article also mentions that specialty jewelers these days are doing slightly better than larger chains. The data, coming from retail association Jewelers of America, shows that smaller jewelers saw a 6 percent increase from 2006 to 2007 while bigger retailers grew 3.5 percent.

Why? It could be that when it comes to a personal item like a wedding ring, consumers want the personal experience you get from a specialty jeweler.

Either way, it’s enouraging to see small businesses rocking the house.

 

Survey: Engagement rings untouched by slow economy

Sure, an economic downturn may prevent a guy from buying, let’s say, a $140,000 Hot Wheels car, but a new survey says that same guy won’t blink when it comes to his engagement ring.

According to diamond merchants GemEx Inc., 62 percent of men and 60 percent of women say an engagement ring is always worth spending money on, to the tun of 1-3 months of the fiancee’s salary. In fact, 10 percent thought that the ring should account for 10 months’ salary. Ka-pow! The good news is, 41 percent of the women said they would help pay for the wedding ring.

MarketWatch unearths more details from the report, like:

• Size doesn’t matter: Ninety-four percent of women and 90 percent of men say they would prefer a bright 3/4 carat diamond as opposed to a duller 1 carat diamond
• Only 50 percent of men said they would be insulted if their fiancee asked to exchange her engagement ring
• Eighty-four percent of women say their diamond ring represents more than an engagement–it’s a symbol of their style and personality
• Eighty-five percent of women were surprised when their boyfriends proposed and 15 percent knew it was coming