A Multifaceted Future: The Jewelry Industry in 2020

The jewelry industry seems poised for a brighten up future. Annual global sales of €148 billion are expected to grow at a healthy clip of 5 to 6 percent each year, totaling €250 billion by 2020.

Internationalization of brands and Industry consolidation

In the 1980’s, National apparel Brands were the pronounced leaders in their assigned/target markets: C&A in Germany and Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom. Today, many National brands have been outranked by international brands such as Zara and H&M. Others have built or expanded their international presence. Hugo Boss’s sales outside Germany, for example, grew from 50 percent of its total sales in 1990 to more than 80 percent today. Apparel has become a truly global business.

Growth of Branded Jewelry

Branded items already account for 60 percent of sales in the watch market. While branded jewelry responsible for only 20 percent of the overall jewelry market today, its share has doubled since 2003.

In our research, we identified three types of consumers driving the growth of branded jewelry:
● “New Wealth” consumers who wear branded jewelry to show off their newly acquired money.

● Prominent-market consumers, for whom established brands inspire trust and the sense of an upgraded lifestyle a purchasing factor quoted by 80 percent of our interviewees.

● Young consumers who turn to brands as a means of self-expression and self-realization.