The Fashion Jewellery Market
Saturday, February 13th, 2010Retailers are spoilt for choice these days when it comes to Wholesale Fashion Jewellery. The array of styles and designs available for bulk purchase is vast.
In order to attract customers, designers have become more sophisticated in their manufacturing methods and are paying more attention to the current fashion trends in order to product collections that appeal to a greater audience.
The throwaway fashion boom, fuelled by cheap fashion retailers such as H & M and Primark, has increased demand for low cost contemporary fashion jewellery, and this is good news for jewellery wholesalers.
Although precious jewellery will always remain popular, fashion conscious shoppers are increasingly turning to imitation jewellery because of its affordability, increasing quality of finish and the fact that as fashion changes they can easily update their accessories without breaking the bank.
With convincing imitation diamond rings and necklaces available for under $15 in some cases, it’s little wonder shoppers are opting for these items rather than spending hundreds of dollars on the real thing.
Fashion jewellery is a highly lucrative and competitive industry. There are a huge number of companies and private individuals, mostly in China and other Far Eastern countries, who manufacturer jewellery for bulk distribution, the majority of which is destined for western retailers.
Although demand is high this doesn’t mean that quality can be compromised. In an attempt to gain a competitive edge the more sophisticated wholesale jewellery manufacturers will station employees overseas, their sole purpose being to research market trends and feed back information about the latest jewellery designs.
Wholesale Jewellery doesn’t necessarily have to be a buy off the peg industry these days. Most wholesale suppliers will create exclusive ranges on request, however with specific tools having to be made and amortised into the unit cost, in most cases, this strategy tends to be used by the larger retailers as it is cost-prohibitive for independent retailers and small chains. Manufacturers can also be commissioned to make replicas of specific high-value jewellery pieces on demand, however this option will also carry additional tooling costs so the retailer must be certain that they will sell sufficient volume in order to cover costs.Tiffany jewellery tends to be imitated more than most because of their recognisable designs. Given the quality of workmanship it can be very difficult to tell the difference between the imitation and the genuine article.