The FINANCIAL — In total 68,236 kilograms of costume jewellery was imported to Georgia from January-October 2012. In contrast, the amount of jewellery made from real precious metals that was imported came to 1,516 kilograms, almost 22 times less than the amount of bijouterie imported.
The FINANCIAL — In total 68,236 kilograms of costume jewellery was imported to Georgia from January-October 2012. In contrast, the amount of jewellery made from real precious metals that was imported came to 1,516 kilograms, almost 22 times less than the amount of bijouterie imported. Industry representatives say the increased crime rate, recently predicted by Georgian PM Ivanishvili, will help to expand the bijouterie business, by decreasing sales of precious metals.
Almost half of the total amount – 32,836 kilograms – of bijouterie in Georgia is imported from China. Portugal and India are two of the dominant exporters of bijou in Georgia, with around 7,000 kilograms.
The majority of brands that have entered the Georgian market recently also offer their own lines of costume jewellery. The list includes: Bershka, Aldo, Zara, Paul and Bear, and Stradivarius.
Keti Nemsadze, seller of bijouterie accessories, was previously involved in the gold business. She now rents a counter at the Gold Stock on Tevdore Mgvdeli Street, Tbilisi. She imports jewellery from China. In her words, she decided to start selling bijouterie five years ago in response to observing increased demand for it.
“Gold jewellery and accessories are mostly bought as a source of investment. If you pay close attention you will notice that the majority of Georgians prefer to sport bijouterie accessories. They are cheap and carry little risk of being stolen from the wearer.”
“Economic ups and downs directly affect sales of gold. In any case costume jewellery is less risky. Besides this, at the moment there has been a lot of hype regarding borrowing in Tbilisi which will affect the decision of consumers to pay a lot of money for luxury accessories. As a result bijouterie remains the best choice on the whole,” said Nemsadze.
When selling real gold jewellery Nemsadze sometimes didn’t even manage to sell a single ring for weeks, while with bijouterie not a single day passes without dozens of items being sold.
“Chinese products are dominating on the Georgian jewellery and accessories market. But we shouldn’t forget that Asia has the longest continuous legacy of jewellery-making anywhere, with a history of over 5,000 years. Early types of jewellery making in China both started and became widespread around 2,000 years ago. Besides their traditions we know that even company brands use Asian workers and accordingly, all products carrying a brand’s label have a sign that they have been made in India or China,” Nemsadze pointed out.
Imported items of precious metal jewellery amounted to 1,516 kilograms for January-October 2012. Lithuania and Turkey are the main exporters of jewellery in Georgia with more than 500 kg. The data provided by the Georgian National Statistic Center showed that 22 times more costume jewellery was imported to Georgia compared to fine jewellery made from precious metals.
“Georgia is not importing gold accessories in significant amounts. The market mostly works by purchasing and selling. I had many customers who would return to me in periods of difficulty selling items that they had originally bought from me,” Nemsadze said.
“In recent times there have been less reports of fake gold jewellery being sold under false pretences. Such reports were mostly surfacing from people who had bought their jewellery from street sellers. Buyers however still do not have big trust in those selling jewellery made from precious metals. People may not necessarily doubt an item’s authenticity, but some will always suspect that the product is overpriced and that the quality does not correspond with the price,” she added.
Namsadze says that the prices of gold products have dropped. That is the reason why many people do not consider gold to be a stable source for investment anymore.
2012 has not been a successful year on the whole for jewellery retailers in Georgia. “We had 15-20% sales reduction in 2012 compared to the previous year,” Gia Kiknadze, General Director of Baccarat Jewellery, told The FINANCIAL.
In the run up to New Year’s Eve sales at Baccarat Jewellery almost doubled. “Pilgrim is the bestselling bijouterie brand in our stores. The average price for items of fine jewellery is GEL 65-90. At present we are offering 20-40% discounts to our customers,” said Kiknadze.
According to Kiknadze no special jewellery trends have been predicted for 2013. Accessories with hematite plating have become popular recently. Accessories with gold plating, red, green and blue gemstones all remain stably popular,” Kiknadze said.
“The sales increase we saw in 2012 compared to 2011 was minor,” said Nina Talakvadze, Marketing Manager at Arttime.
Arttime is a wholesaler and retailer of Swiss watch and jewellery brands. Average prices at Arttime vary from GEL 600 to 800. Demand for products increases by 70% in general at New Year. Watches worth around GEL 600 are the shop’s bestselling items.
“Huge, circular corpus golden wristwatches with gems will be the biggest trend in 2013,” said Talakvadze, Arttime.
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