Surveys

Survey: Jewelry, Watch Purchases Are Up in 2021

SurveysNov 29, 2021

Survey: Jewelry, Watch Purchases Are Up in 2021

Here’s what else Provoke Insights found in its latest consumer study.

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The Boheme Confetti Lune Noire chain from Delphine Leymarie Fine Jewelry’s new Confetti Lune collection, featuring onyx inlay and 18-karat yellow gold ($2,460)
New York—Consumer behavior has changed since the start of the pandemic, and it’s an area that continues to transform. 

To help brands keep up with these shifting behaviors and the trends that are popping up, market research firm Provoke Insights launched a biannual study gauging consumer thoughts. 

This fall, it conducted a 15-minute survey from Sept. 22-28 among 1,504 Americans between the ages of 21 and 65. 

When it comes to luxury accessories, the study found that more than 10 percent of consumers are buying jewelry and watches, up slightly from earlier this year.

According to the survey results, 6 percent indicated they had purchased fine jewelry in the past month, a 1 percent increase from January 2021. 

For watches, meanwhile, 7 percent of survey takers said they had purchased a watch in the past month, which is a 3 percent uptick over January. 

Interestingly, these purchases are being made by younger, more affluent consumers living in urban areas, Provoke Insights found. 

 Related stories will be right here … 

Luxury purchasers are more likely to want to take their time picking items—61 percent of those who said they had purchased jewelry or watches in the past month said they enjoy spending time to pick items.

And 49 percent of those who had bought jewelry or watches recently said they are more likely to stick with brands they know.

More of the luxury purchasers are willing to pay a premium for a sustainably sourced item, and they prefer to shop online—41 percent of luxury shoppers said this is their preference.

And though they might prefer e-commerce shopping, when they are in store, luxury consumers indicated they feel the experience has improved compared with shopping pre-pandemic, especially when it comes to store cleanliness and customer service.

Provoke also asked respondents about attire and fashion trends.

It found that Americans are still dressing “dressing down” compared to what they wore pre-COVID, with more than three-fourths saying their attire is more casual.

This includes jewelry, with women saying overall they’re wearing less jewelry than they were before, though that number appears to be decreasing. More women are back to wearing jewelry than at the start of the pandemic, Provoke Insights said.

To view the full Fall 2021 Trends study, visit ProvokeInsights.com

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