Title: While white gold jewelry has gained ground in recent years, its yellow gold counterpart remains

the color of choice among consumers, according to a recent Jewelry.com survey. By: Green, Barbara, National Jeweler, 00279544, 12/1/2003, Vol. 97, Issue 23 Database: Business Source Premier

HTML Full Text While white gold jewelry has gained ground in recent years, its yellow gold counterpart remains the color of choice among consumers, according to a recent Jewelry.com survey
Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Yellow Gold Glitters White Is Alright gold color preference BY ITEM TYPE gold color preference GIFT VS. SELF-PURCHASE gold color preference gold color preference PAIRING WITH SPECIFIC GEMSTONES

Section: selling gold Earlier this year, roughly 4,000 consumers who visited Jewelry.com's Web site--which links to a series of e-commerce sites including Helzberg Diamonds, Macy's and Zales--were shown a series of 65 jewelry designs in both white and yellow gold and asked to pick which they preferred. Overall, 33 percent of respondents were yellow gold "loyalists," who picked yellow styles over white more than 80 percent of the time. Only 16 percent of respondents showed such an affinity for white gold. Design category--bracelet, ring, earring or necklace--didn't affect metal preferences, with roughly 60 percent of respondents favoring yellow gold jewelry across the board. Stone choice, however, did, with bluer stones registering a greater white metal preference. Blue topaz was the only gemstone that consumers preferred by a slight margin to pair with white metal. Sapphire, aquamarine, tanzanite and amethyst set in white gold garnered between 40 percent and 50 percent of consumer votes. Pearl and emerald were most favored in yellow gold styles, claiming 66.5 percent and 69.6 percent of votes, respectively. In karat-gold styles without stones, 65 percent of respondents favored yellow gold over white. Roughly 64 percent of respondents preferred yellow gold for self-purchases, while 76 percent preferred yellow gold for gift purchases. Respondents' age groups provided the most marked difference in metal preferences with 73 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 49 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds preferring white gold for selfpurchases.

While income levels, too, showed a skew with lower income respondents preferring white gold, the difference was likely a subfunction of age and not a true indicator. Yellow Gold Glitters At Perry Jewelers in Mystic, Conn., yellow gold sales far outpace white gold sales, even though the latter is gaining ground in the bridal category, President Ed Perry says. While some customers opt for white gold diamond earrings, pendants and bracelets, about 95 percent of the store's nonbridal inventory is yellow gold. Echoing the Jewelry.com survey results, customers will sometimes choose white gold pieces featuring cool-toned blue stones like sapphires but prefer warmer yellow gold for emeralds and rubies. "Most colored stone jewelry is still in yellow gold," Perry says. "I think white gold was more popular a few years ago, but it's faded since then. Almost everything we sell is yellow gold until we get to the engagement rings, and that's more platinum than white gold." Yellow gold, too, remains strong at Murray's Jewelers in Muncie, Ind., where about 65 percent to 70 percent of customers favor yellow gold designs, owner Steve Murray says. White gold is becoming more popular with younger customers looking for bridal sets, he adds, "but yellow gold was popular years ago, and it's still popular today." While the popularity of white gold has grown in recent years, yellow gold still dominates jewelry sales at Washington D.C.'s Treasure Trove, accounting for roughly 90 percent of all jewelry purchases, owner Marc Broder says. Some customers come to the store looking for white gold diamond hoops and studs, and rings featuring blue topaz and amethyst. Still, yellow gold is the standard, he adds. "We never used to be a white gold store, but in the last four or five years, it has gotten stronger-but not as strong as yellow," Broder says. "Maybe one in every 10 pieces we sell is white gold." At Josephs Jewelers in Des Moines, Iowa, a significant portion of bridal customers opt for white gold, but yellow gold still dominates all fashion purchases, President Toby Joseph says. "White gold is more popular with the younger customers who like a white metal and diamond look in earrings and necklaces," he adds. "But I think we'll get back to selling more yellow gold even for bridal, possibly with some white gold accents as opposed to predominantly white pieces. I'm feeling a bit of that now but not enough to make a trend." Part of yellow gold's success, Joseph says, is due to the way in which sales associates educate consumers about the different metal options. "We explain to them that even though platinum does last, it scratches much more easily than other precious metals, and that the rhodium plating on white gold can wear off. But yellow gold will probably retain its original look the longest," he says. "A lot of people come in and want a diamond bracelet, and they may have seen white gold, but what they really want is a nice diamond bracelet that will last and keep its appearance the longest." White Is Alright At Fountain's Jewelers in Plantation, Fla., white metal designs--split evenly between platinum and white gold--account for roughly 80 percent of the store's sales, owner Reuben Ezekiel says. Customers generally opt for diamond pieces but will also buy white gold jewelry with blue sapphires. If someone is shopping for a gift, Ezekiel says he always recommends white metal merchandise "because I know it won't come back."

"It's pretty much popular with everyone right now," he says. "That's just what's in style, and what people are seeing." At Carats Fine Diamonds & Gold in Boise, Idaho, white gold accounts for 75 percent of sales, yellow gold accounts for 15 percent and platinum claims the remaining 10 percent. While the store sells a lot of bridal sets and white gold and diamond earrings and pendants to younger customers, older clients are also buying white gold, General Manager Jeff Cook says. "We just sold a white gold piece for a 50th anniversary, which is surprising to me. We sell some white gold with sapphires or rubies, but it's predominantly diamonds," he says. "I just see it getting stronger in the next five years. After that, it's anyone's guess." At Begeman & Co. in Willowbrook, Ill., white gold designs dominate diamond jewelry, owner Bill Honeycutt says, accounting for "maybe 70 percent" of sales. For karat-gold and colored stone designs, yellow gold remains the more popular metal. While white gold styles are more popular with younger customers, and older clientele still favors yellow gold, the two-tone look is increasingly gaining ground with the 35- to 50-year-old crowd, he adds. "I think white became more popular when the retro, romantic look came back," Honeycutt says. "Those styles don't look as rich in yellow." Finally, at Bernard's Jewelers in Statesboro, Ga., white gold sales have grown steadily in recent years, dominating the bridal category and diamond designs. While white gold fashion jewelry sales lag slightly behind yellow gold designs, Sales Manager Pam Reed expects that to change in the next two years. "We're just seeing white gold sales continue to escalate," she says. "More young people are buying white, but really it's popular with all ages." gold color preference BY ITEM TYPE
Legend for Chart:

B - Yellow Gold C - White Gold

Ring Earring Neckwear Bracelet

60.9% 60.2% 61.9% 59.5%

39.1% 39.8% 38.1 40.5%

gold color preference GIFT VS. SELF-PURCHASE

B - Yellow Gold

C - White Gold

Gift Self-Purchase

76.1% 63.7%

23.9% 36.3%

gold color preference

B - Yellow Gold C - White Gold

GIFT PURCHASE BY AGE

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

45% 74.7% 76.3% 79.4% 77.4%

55% 25.3% 23.7% 20.6% 22.6%

SELF-PURCHASE BY AGE

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

26.6% 51.2% 64.7% 70.8% 69.8%

73.4% 48.8% 35.3% 29.2% 30.2%

gold color preference PAIRING WITH SPECIFIC GEMSTONES

B - Yellow Gold C - White Gold

Sapphire Tanzanite Diamond Ruby Pearl Emerald

51.5% 55% 63.9% 65.2% 66.5% 69.6%

48.5% 45% 36.1% 34.8% 33.5% 30.4%

~~~~~~~~ By Barbara Green Copyright of National Jeweler is the property of Nielsen Business Media, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.