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As investors continue to pour money into precious metals to avoid the vagaries of the stock market, those us of who work In the jewellery industry are faced with ever increasing prices for our base silver and gold.

The price of silver has doubled in the past year, and is now at an all-time high, up 50% since November 2010. This leaves jewellers with the age old quandary; do we reduce costs or increase prices? The obvious answer in a tough economy is to reduce prices. However, there is always a compromise to be made when prices need to come down, and when it comes to jewellery, sometimes the compromise is quality.

To reduce the prices, the only option you have is to reduce the weight of precious metal. Some jewellers do this by simply reducing the weight of the metal, making chains finer and chunkier pieces lighter. This is fine within reason, but if you take the weight down too far you find that the links no longer hold their shape and pieces that looks solid at the outset are much more flimsy when subjected to day to day wear and tear. Another option is to replace solid silver and gold with plated pieces, cheaper metals plated with silver, rhodium (this gives it a bright silvery look) or gold. This reduces the price, but also significantly reduces the quality as over time the plating will wear off.

At Corazon Latino, our reputation is based on the quality of our jewellery, so we have taken the decision to maintain our quality and keep all our pieces at the current weights. Yes, that means we have had to increase our prices but we believe our loyal customers will appreciate our honesty and prefer to know they are still buying the same chunky handmade silver jewellery we have always offered them.

Every jeweller has to make their own decision about how they will react to these tough market conditions, and this will depend upon their own market and customer profile. Our advice to shoppers looking for silver or gold jewellery over the next few months, check the weights of the pieces carefully and the finish. Look out for lower carats in gold and plating in both gold and silver. When you have these facts it will be much easier to compare different online stores to be sure you’re getting the best possible value for money.

Tags: Metals, Precious Metals

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