Jewelry, Watch, Precious Stones & Metals Wholesalers NAICS 423940

Jul 21, 2025 - Jewelry Prices, Employment Down

• Jewelry and watch prices were 2.9% lower in June 2025, compared to the previous year, according to the Consumer Price Index by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Prices for the category were up 1.7% from the previous month. Employment by jewelry, watch, precious stone, and metal merchant wholesalers fell 1.7% in April 2025 compared to a year ago, according to the BLS. Employment in the industry for the past decade has fallen by 20.3%, lower than the 13.6% growth in overall private employment. Average wages for the nonsupervisory employees in the industry grew 4.3% in April 2025 year over year, reaching $30.08 per hour. Producer inflation for all wholesale trade industries, which includes jewelry, watch, precious stones, and metal wholesalers, was up 3.3% in May 2025 compared to a year ago, according to producer price data released by the BLS.
• The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index increased slightly in July 2025, rising to 61.8 in preliminary July data from 60.7 in June, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The consumer sentiment index hit a recent peak in December of 74, buoyed following the presidential election, but dropped to 52.2 in April 2025 as consumers expressed uncertainty about tariff effects and rising inflation. The record low of the index during the past 10 years was in June 2022, when it reached 50. In July, respondents’ inflation expectations for the coming year were an anticipated price increase of 4.4%, which was tracking higher than in January, when respondents expected prices to grow by 3.9%. However, July’s inflation expectation results were lower than June’s, when respondents expected a 5% price increase for the coming year. The index serves as a predictor of consumer spending as it indicates consumers’ perception of their financial prospects and the broader economy.

• Fewer jewelry businesses were operating in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) reported in Rapaport. The total number of companies active in the US in the first quarter was 22,330, which is nearly 3.4% fewer than the same quarter in the previous year. Jewelry manufacturers accounted for 2,119 of the industry, a decline of 4.6%. Jewelry retailers accounted for 16,959 of the industry, a decline of 3.5% year over year, and wholesalers fell 2.5% to 3,252. During Q1 2025, 212 businesses exited the sector, a nearly 20% increase from the same quarter a year ago. Of the businesses that exited the sector, three went bankrupt, 34 closed due to mergers or takeovers, and 175 closed for other reasons. The number of new businesses during the quarter fell to 90, compared to 94 a year earlier.
• De Beers announced in May 2025 that it planned to close its lab-grown diamond brand Lightbox, according to Rapaport. CEO Al Cook said the move reflects the company’s commitment to natural diamonds. The company had launched the Lightbox brand in 2018. However, lab-grown prices in the jewelry industry have dropped 90% at wholesale since the brand launched, per De Beers. Noted Cook, “Overall, we expect both the cost and price of lab-grown diamonds to fall further in the jewelry sector.” The company plans to continue its synthetic-diamond production unit, Element Six, focused on industrial and technology solutions. Jewelry wholesalers must monitor a changing diamond market landscape.