Although jewelry continues to be the best commemorative gift presented, the skyrocketing price of gold coupled with a hobbling economy and high unemployment has made jewelry a true luxury item. Diamond earrings are taking the backseat to items consumers have deemed as priorities, like iPads, and buggy iPhones etc.
Unfortunately, unlike jewelry items, within a matter of months these articles will be obsolete. By the same token, bring me any gold item I sold you ten years ago and I will probably give you more for it than you paid……ask that of Sony a year from now when you go trade in that LCD flat screen you just purchased.
My optimism runs high because in a market where almost all “name brands” have been bought out by faceless conglomerates with vast amounts of working capital and marketing schemes there are new stories being written by small independent business owners that are surviving this crisis.
These are the stories that will propel these small companies into becoming future industry giants and legends with today’s generation. After all, I for one cannot relate to the fact that Cartier sold a watch to Louis Santos back in the 20s. Or that Elizabeth Taylor purchased a number of charm bracelets from Bulgari in the 60s.
