Jewelry spending up by luxury consumers

Luxury consumers spent 54.6 percent more on jewelry and 20.3 percent more on watches in the second quarter of 2007 than they did in the first quarter, a new study finds.

The increase represents an overall boost in spending by luxury consumers who shelled out an average $15,283 on luxuries in the second quarter of the year, a 9 percent increase over spending in the first quarter, according to Unity Marketing's Luxury Tracking survey of 1,000 affluent consumers.

Luxury consumers also increased their spending on luxury fashion accessories by 28 percent, on cosmetics and beauty products by 33.8 percent, and on wine and spirits by 12 percent.

But in spite of the increased spending, luxury consumers' future spending intent appeared at its lowest level in more than a year, forcing a four-point decline in the Luxury Consumption Index to 96.2 points.

The average income of those polled in the Luxury Tracking survey is $155,500 and the average age is 44.3.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork