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JEWELRY INDUSTRY TRENDS
	The following information is based on statistics and projections made by the Department of Commerce - Office of Consumer Goods, and the Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths Association (MJSA) National Government Affairs Committee.
Facts
PRECIOUS JEWELRY ï includes jewelry and other articles worn on or carried about the person, made of precious metals, with or without stones   COSTUME JEWELRY ï includes precious metal plated jewelry which does not contain more than 50% of a precious metal and contains no precious stones or jewelry made of non-precious metal and non-precious stones               Did you know that ...

47% of the U.S. 2,720 precious jewelry manufacturers are located in the Northeast - primarily New Jersey, New York and southern New England		31% of the 1,018 U.S. fashion jewelry manufacturers are located in Rhode Island
Number of All Employees in U.S. Jewelry Industry (in thousands)           1994 1993 1977 Jewelry, precious metal (SIC 3911) 31.1 34.0 41.3 Silverware & plated ware (SIC 3914) 6.7 6.7 10.6 Jewelers' metals & Lapidary (SIC 3915) 5.7 6.6 8.1 Fashion Jewelry (SIC 3961) 18.8 17.1 25.0 TOTALS 62.3 64.4 85.0
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, International Trade Administration
We have the answers to your questions about Nickel-Free jewelry
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History of Jewelry Industry
During colonial times, early Dutch settlers, many of whom were experienced in pewter and silver, emigrated to New England. The actual birth of the U.S. Costume Jewelry Industry is said to have occurred in 1794, when Nehemiah Dodge, a goldsmith and watch repairer in Providence, Rhode Island, developed a method for plating base metal with gold. He patented processes to make quality gold jewelry of less than 18K (the standard at that time). It is he who is given credit for the commencement of costume jewelry production. By 1810, 100 workers were employed by jewelry manufacturers in Rhode Island. Small businesses were developing throughout southern New England. As the turn of the century approached, skilled jewelry craftsmen were being replaced by machinery. Production and labor became more specialized. Instead of just "jewelers", there were toolmakers, die cutters, and machine operators. Production was broken down into electroplating, enameling, engraving, chasing, die sinking and lapidary work. Mass production of jewelry had begun in Rhode Island. To this day, American jewelry manufacturing has remained an industry comprised of small businesses, most of them in the northeastern portion of the United States with the costume jewelry manufacturing mostly concentrated in Rhode Island. There has, however, been some shift to California, Texas, Florida and South Dakota. In recent years the jewelry industry has been affected by substantial consolidation with the development of national chains. This is due in part to the development of enclosed shopping malls, competition from department stores, catalog showrooms and television shopping networks. In addition, suffering from high rent costs in shopping malls, jewelry retailers are reducing their overhead by skipping the middlemen and purchasing their inventory directly from the manufacturers.
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U.S. Outlook
U.S. Growth Projections       ï the market in the U.S. can be broken down into three segments: females under 25 years old, females 25-35 years old,and females over 35 years old       ï the 35-55 year old age group will continue to expand and they are the leading purchasers of jewelry       ï working women now purchase 2/3 of women's gold jewelry and are also the primary purchasers of silver jewelry (number of working women is expected to increase at a rate of 1.5% per year)       ï teenagers and those in their early twenties have more money to spend today than they did just five years ago and they tend to follow pop culture trends       ï  consumer spending for costume jewelry has decreased due, in part, to the recent fashion trend of wearing smaller, more understated jewelry, and wearing less jewelry at a time       ï growth in imports is likely to continue increasing due to increased international trade and reduction of tariffs       ï  exports from low-wage countries will increase competition for U.S. companies in foreign markets as well as in their market
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International Outlook
PRECIOUS METAL JEWELRY   COSTUME JEWELRY       Leading suppliers are Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand, Israel and India   Leading suppliers are China, South Korea and Taiwan back to the top
Sources:
George R. Frankovich. "History of the Rhode Island Jewelry and Silverware Industry" MJSA National Government Affairs Committee MJSA White Paper - The American Jewelry Manufacturing Industry, January 1997 U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Consumer Goods. "Other Consumer Durables" U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook 1998

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