Gold price fall may aid designers and affect jewellery
High quality global
journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the
link below, do not cut & paste the article.
Theft of jewellery has risen by 22 per cent in two years, according to Churchill, the UK insurance group. A growing number of cash-for-gold services has made it easier for thieves, encouraged by the soaring price of gold in recent years, to sell stolen jewellery. Churchill even urged householders to update their home contents insurance cover saying increased gold prices made it more likely their jewellery was undervalued.
But last week saw gold suffer its steepest price decline in 30 years. Already in Asia, demand for jewellery and gold bars has spiked. MKS Capital, which runs one of Switzerland’s biggest gold refineries and supplies Asia, said it had sold out and predicted a delivery time of two weeks to fulfil new orders.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article.
Andrea Morante, CEO of Pomellato, welcomed the news. “Hopefully, the losers in this situation will be the speculators and hedge fund managers who have gambled on gold and helped introduce instability for industries that depend on gold as a raw material,” he says.
If prices stabilise or continue to drop, large jewellery manufacturers will pay less for the material they use. Small, young and independent designers will feel less constrained by their basic outlay costs.
In recent years, to combat rising gold prices that have coincided with recession, many jewellers introduced silver collections, including Gurhan, a Turkish designer based in New York, who is famous not just for his Hollywood following but for previously working exclusively with 24-carat gold. Others created gold lattice, filigree and lace styles that demanded less precious metal.
Alisa Moussaieff, owner of the Moussaieff store on Bond Street, admits the recent plunge in the price of gold is “definitely significant”. In India and certain parts of the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, some jewellery is valued by its weight in gold, which means prices changed immediately. But Moussaieff maintains that, at the very high end, prices will remain unaffected because precious gems make up a far higher proportion of the value. Furthermore, big brands are unlikely to drop their prices because a fall would devalue the perception of their pieces.
Duncan Semmens, director of London’s Burlington Arcade and jewellery dealers Hancocks, says: “Our jewellery is valued for its historical and artistic qualities and our clients aren’t buying these pieces simply for the sum of their parts.”
In Geneva in May, a solid gold trophy on a malachite base made by Bulgari, which once belonged to Gina Lollobrigida, star of the 1956 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, will go on the block at Sotheby’s. The piece is estimated to fetch between $50,000 and $80,000. “Prices at auction are rarely determined solely by the gold price – many factors contribute, not least of all provenance,” says David Bennett, Sotheby’s chairman of jewellery for Europe and the Middle East. “Although the estimate was based on the gold value, the Gina Lollobrigida provenance and the uniqueness of the object will obviously play a significant role in what it realises on the night.”
Even so, Fran?ois Curiel, international head of jewellery at Christie’s, says prices of gold jewellery in smaller auctions are immediately adjusted to reflect the current price of gold. “Nevertheless, over a five-year period, the price of gold has appreciated more than 45 per cent,” he says.
Most customers will not benefit from reduced prices for jewellery and watches because wholesale jewellers set their prices for the season, according to Marisa Horden, owner of Missoma, a jewellery brand sold in 12 countries and popular with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.
While gold’s price was soaring, many found it more profitable and appealing to scrap their gold jewellery than to wear it,High quality stainless steel necklace chain with durable color. or even sell it as jewellery. But in Hatton Garden, London’s diamond district, last week, one jeweller saw an immediate reaction from clients who came in to invest in gold by the kilo.
“Within two days of the news breaking that gold had dropped $200 an ounce, I sold several kilos to clients who are shrewd investors. They paid about ￡30,000 a kilo and maintain that while their money in the bank isn’t showing interest, gold is still a safe bet,” says Lewis Malka, managing director of bespoke jewellers Joseph Sterling. About 20 per cent of Mr Malka’s business is now made up of buying and selling gold.
Liv Ballard, the Los Angeles designer, counts Elton John among her regular clients. “Whether at $600 a troy ounce when I began designing or closer to $1,400 as it is today, warm gold jewellery and precious stones will always make a comforting insurance policy – the first thing tossed into the pillow case if one has to flee into the night,” she says.
Theft of jewellery has risen by 22 per cent in two years, according to Churchill, the UK insurance group. A growing number of cash-for-gold services has made it easier for thieves, encouraged by the soaring price of gold in recent years, to sell stolen jewellery. Churchill even urged householders to update their home contents insurance cover saying increased gold prices made it more likely their jewellery was undervalued.
But last week saw gold suffer its steepest price decline in 30 years. Already in Asia, demand for jewellery and gold bars has spiked. MKS Capital, which runs one of Switzerland’s biggest gold refineries and supplies Asia, said it had sold out and predicted a delivery time of two weeks to fulfil new orders.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article.
Andrea Morante, CEO of Pomellato, welcomed the news. “Hopefully, the losers in this situation will be the speculators and hedge fund managers who have gambled on gold and helped introduce instability for industries that depend on gold as a raw material,” he says.
If prices stabilise or continue to drop, large jewellery manufacturers will pay less for the material they use. Small, young and independent designers will feel less constrained by their basic outlay costs.
In recent years, to combat rising gold prices that have coincided with recession, many jewellers introduced silver collections, including Gurhan, a Turkish designer based in New York, who is famous not just for his Hollywood following but for previously working exclusively with 24-carat gold. Others created gold lattice, filigree and lace styles that demanded less precious metal.
Alisa Moussaieff, owner of the Moussaieff store on Bond Street, admits the recent plunge in the price of gold is “definitely significant”. In India and certain parts of the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, some jewellery is valued by its weight in gold, which means prices changed immediately. But Moussaieff maintains that, at the very high end, prices will remain unaffected because precious gems make up a far higher proportion of the value. Furthermore, big brands are unlikely to drop their prices because a fall would devalue the perception of their pieces.
Duncan Semmens, director of London’s Burlington Arcade and jewellery dealers Hancocks, says: “Our jewellery is valued for its historical and artistic qualities and our clients aren’t buying these pieces simply for the sum of their parts.”
In Geneva in May, a solid gold trophy on a malachite base made by Bulgari, which once belonged to Gina Lollobrigida, star of the 1956 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, will go on the block at Sotheby’s. The piece is estimated to fetch between $50,000 and $80,000. “Prices at auction are rarely determined solely by the gold price – many factors contribute, not least of all provenance,” says David Bennett, Sotheby’s chairman of jewellery for Europe and the Middle East. “Although the estimate was based on the gold value, the Gina Lollobrigida provenance and the uniqueness of the object will obviously play a significant role in what it realises on the night.”
Even so, Fran?ois Curiel, international head of jewellery at Christie’s, says prices of gold jewellery in smaller auctions are immediately adjusted to reflect the current price of gold. “Nevertheless, over a five-year period, the price of gold has appreciated more than 45 per cent,” he says.
Most customers will not benefit from reduced prices for jewellery and watches because wholesale jewellers set their prices for the season, according to Marisa Horden, owner of Missoma, a jewellery brand sold in 12 countries and popular with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.
While gold’s price was soaring, many found it more profitable and appealing to scrap their gold jewellery than to wear it,High quality stainless steel necklace chain with durable color. or even sell it as jewellery. But in Hatton Garden, London’s diamond district, last week, one jeweller saw an immediate reaction from clients who came in to invest in gold by the kilo.
“Within two days of the news breaking that gold had dropped $200 an ounce, I sold several kilos to clients who are shrewd investors. They paid about ￡30,000 a kilo and maintain that while their money in the bank isn’t showing interest, gold is still a safe bet,” says Lewis Malka, managing director of bespoke jewellers Joseph Sterling. About 20 per cent of Mr Malka’s business is now made up of buying and selling gold.
Liv Ballard, the Los Angeles designer, counts Elton John among her regular clients. “Whether at $600 a troy ounce when I began designing or closer to $1,400 as it is today, warm gold jewellery and precious stones will always make a comforting insurance policy – the first thing tossed into the pillow case if one has to flee into the night,” she says.
0 条评论:
发表评论
订阅 博文评论 [Atom]
<< 主页