By Michelle Graff and Hannah Connorton

New York --With only five and a half shopping days left until Christmas, most jewelers reported a busy weekend. Male shoppers, in particular, were out purchasing jewelry over the weekend to place under the tree for their significant others.

Still, some jewelers reported a slow weekend with business hampered by Internet competition or nearby jewelers offering rock-bottom prices.

National Jeweler publishes a weekly holiday sales roundup every Monday throughout the holiday season. The roundups are compiled using interviews with independent retailers from five regions of the country: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, South Central and West.

This is the sixth sales report of the season.

NORTHEAST
“It was a very good weekend, traffic was building all week and the weekend was very busy,” Jake Spigelman, owner of Jay Roberts Jeweler in Marlton, N.J., said.

Even Sunday saw busy traffic, which is uncommon at the store because of football games.

“It should have been busy, because it was realistically the last weekend before Christmas,” Spigelman said. “I was very happy with it. I think it will be good when everything is posted and the final numbers are in.”

The jeweler is gearing up for a week full of sales, as the last eight to 10 days until Christmas are usually very extremely busy. He said sterling silver jewelry has been popular among customers, especially with the David Yurman and John Hardy brands. Silver with gemstones and silver with diamonds have also been doing well.

“Silver is always very popular, especially this time of year,” he said. “It’s a very affordable gift; customers can go home and have something of substance to present. Silver is going to become more important to the jewelry industry as we continue along.”

Watch and a few last-minute engagement ring sales occurred over the weekend, as well as the sale of some gold and diamond jewelry, Spigelman said.

“Everyone’s looking to purchase something at a different level,” he said. “I think it will end up being a good holiday season.”

Sales have picked up at David Craig Jewelers in Langhorne, Pa., according to owner David Rotenberg.

“We had a lull last week and then it picked up again on Saturday,” Rotenberg said. “And we had some nice transactions on Sunday. We’re certainly on target.”

The jeweler said last year he was ahead of 2009, and this year he is even or ahead of 2010. Big-ticket sales have included diamond earrings, of which Rotenberg said he sells a couple of pairs a day.

“Sterling silver items are moving well, the two selling best are all sterling or sterling set with cubic zirconia,” he said. “The heavier sterling line has garnered interest, too, but the polished and conservative silver is not selling right now.”

Rotenberg said he is expecting to finish “double digits” ahead this year.

SOUTHEAST
Competition from online jewelry retailers is making it a tough selling season for Steve Allen, owner of Allen’s Jewelers in Albany, Ga.

“Sales were pretty bad this weekend,” Allen said. “We’re having a pretty rough year. It looks like the Internet is starting to hurt the small businesses big time.”

What he is seeing is customers coming in with jewelry they purchased online--rings, for example--and asking for adjustments, such as sizing.

“They want us to do the service, but they want to give money to the other people,” Allen said. “Customer loyalty is gone.”

The jeweler said his store is just under where his 2009 figures are. Sales so far this holiday season have included “a lot of Pandora,” diamond earrings and a few rings with colored stones.

“It’s nothing major,” Allen said of the inventory that’s moving. “I hope sales pick up in the next week or so.”

It’s been quiet at Elizabeth Bruns Jewelers in Charlotte, N.C., according to owner Wilson Glasgow.

“We’re not very excited about it,” he said.

Glasgow said he thinks a lot of people are waiting to shop until the last minute, and that lack of traffic and sales comes down to a lack of consumer confidence, the current economic situation and the country’s leadership “not exhibiting any confidence in what’s going on in America.”

“People are hesitant to spend their money,” he said. “The people who are coming in are spending money, but the traffic hasn’t started yet.”

Average ticket sales are good, Glasgow said, there just aren’t enough of them.

“Tickets are four to five figures easily,” he said, “but we’re not selling as much as in the past. Hopefully shoppers are waiting until the last minute.”

Despite being behind year-over-year, Glasgow said he’s expecting a busy upcoming week.

MIDWEST
Business on Saturday was slower than expected at Garfinkles Fine Jewelry in Highland Park, Ill., especially with the start of Hanukkah coming this week, said co-owner Jill Garfinkle.

“I had people. It’s wasn’t a bust,” she said.

She said while there is not a singular “must-have” jewelry item as there has been in years past -- think the “Tin Cup” necklace -- there were a number of husbands visiting the store hunting for holiday gifts for their wives.

Sunday, a day the store is not open during other times of the year, was “horrible,” with “absolutely not a person” visiting the store, Garfinkle said. 

“Excellent” and “amazing” is how Gene Gragg of Metal Works Fine Jewelry Inc. in Yorktown, Ind. described the weekend, which topped the same weekend last year.

“I was a little bit surprised at how well we did,” he said.

He said customers were snatching up anything they had, from rings to pendants to earrings. Many men visited the shop saying “I don’t care what it is. Just wrap it up,” Gragg said. “We all love those last-minute husbands.” 

He said he expects to be busy through the week, with business tapering off on Christmas Eve as people turn their attention to family activities or other shopping venues. “It’s not crazy time (in our store) like it is at the mall,” he said.

SOUTH CENTRAL
At Cunningham Jewelers in Tulsa, Okla., sales are starting to pick up, as regular male customers filter in to purchase items from their wives’ wish lists.

There is not much new traffic, though, as the store continues to face competition from a nearby jeweler running a “going-out-of-business” sale for the second year in a row.

“It’s picked up some. We had a nice Saturday,” Vicki Cunningham said, noting it was the strongest day of the holiday season so far for the store.

Sundays, however, remain slower.

She said they are counting on being extremely busy on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which is the day before Christmas.

“We usually have a fairly big Christmas Eve,” Cunningham said.

The weekend was “wonderful” at Newton’s Jewelers in Fort Smith, Ark., with the store doing twice as much business as they did over the comparable weekend last year, said Kelly Newton.

“Yesterday was nuts,” he said of Sunday, noting the store notched three or four large sales and, as of early Monday morning, had made two more before even officially opening the doors.

These sales included two large, high-quality engagement rings, a 2-carat and a 3-carat, that started at $35,000.

He said he expects the crowds to continue this week and through the early part of Saturday. “Historically, Christmas Eve has always been a great day,” Newton said.

WEST
Sales are not up appreciably but have climbed “enough to notice” this holiday season at Hart Jewelers in Grants Pass, Ore., said Tom Hart. Sales were “fine” over this past weekend,” he said.

“Everything seems to be percolating right along. This time of year, guys are coming in trying to find the perfect gift,” Hart said.

He expects more customers of this ilk to filter throughout the week, right through 2 or 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

“I expect to have a good Saturday,” Hart said.

Business is about at the level expected, perhaps a bit slower, this year at Butterfield Jewelers in Albuquerque, N.M., said Mike Butterfield.

Sales were solid over the weekend, with the store seeing more customers coming in who are looking for holiday gifts and recognize they are running out of time.