Wholesale Silver Jewelry Prices Spike!

Silver prices, mirroring a rise in petroleum costs, have spiked over the past week, rising from the low $16's per ounce to over $17. As I've mentioned before in this blog, precious metals have been tied to the price of oil for the past several years.

As we recover from the current economic downturn, it seems logical that demand for oil will increase as well. At the Tucson Gem Show, I spoke with several large silver wholesalers from India and from China about this issue. The consensus was split, with one camp predicting higher prices and the other calling for a reduction.

Knowing what we know about the world economy and that great driver of commerce, China, I am looking for prices to rise in the long term, probably higher than we have seen in recent history. You might remember two summers ago when oil neared $200 per barrel, when the world economy was really rocking. I think we'll see a return eventually to those kinds of numbers if not this summer, then by next summer for sure.

As prices rise, I'll be posting tips and direction for dealing with higher silver prices. Stay tuned for more info as the situation develops! For more info and articles on wholesale silver jewelry, visit my website: Whirled Planet Wholesale Silver Jewelry.

Tucson Gem Show 2010 Review

The Gem Show was pretty subdued this year, as buyers and vendors deal with the continued collapse in consumer spending. Most vendors I spoke to seemed to be happy with sales volumes, and they were hopeful for the coming year. The hot stones this year seemed to be the same as last year: mystic topaz, kunzite and prehnite. There wasn't any new "must have" stone. There was a huge influx of Chinese crystal, however. In a direct challenge to Swarovski, the crystal beads had rich, colorful coatings and there were a wide variety of size and shapes to choose from. To give an idea of what this could mean for Swarovski, a typical 4mm bicone, the heart of their bead line, sells at retail for about 12¢, though it can be purchased in bulk through some dealers for as low as around 5¢ per bead. The price most dealers at the show were charging for a strand of 100 bicone 4mm beads was $1. That represents a price advatnage of about 80% over Swarovski. Chinese manufacturers have been trying to get their production right on this type of crystal for several years, but it looks like they have finally succeeded with a decent product and finish. Make no mistake, this crystal is not as good as Swarovski. It is very close, however, and at 80% less than Austrian crystal, I am sure consumers will go for it. The response from Swarovski should be interesting. I am betting they will go for the quality difference, but given what I saw at the show, this probably will not be enough to convince consumers to shell out five times more for a product that is hard to discern from the Chinese version. I heard several people remark at the show that they thought this would be a real challenge for Swarovski. We'll have to wait and see what happens when all this new product finds it way through bead stores and designers to end consumers. My bet is that buyers will vote for Chinese crystal in big numbers... For more info and articles on the world of wholesale silver jewelry, please visit our archive of past newsletters.

$15 Silver?

Silver touched below $16 per ounce briefly today! We have been seeing an overall decline in price over the past week or so. Let's hope it continues.

The US Dollar has been gaining in strength against the Euro for the past month or so, with only a couple of hiccups. It seems like this might have something to do with the decline in prices. A stronger Dollar is better for imports, too (it makes the cost of buying imported goods in the foreign currency cheaper).

I'm hopeful we'll see further declines in silver and rising strength in the Dollar.

Restock of Popular Items

I just received a new shipment from Thailand of popular products. Peace signs jewelry is still selling well, and we have several well-priced designs. Those little sterling silver peace sign posts shown to the left are just $2.75

We've also restocked our celtic amber earrings, and a couple of charms including our breast cancer charm.

Silver prices seem to be a on slightly downward trend since last week. Right now the spot price is about $16.80 per ounce, but it has dipped below $16.40 today. Let's hope for more of this!

Silver Prices

Silver seems to be holding steady at the absurdly high price of around $18.50 per ounce. To give a historical perspective, in the late 1990's, silver was in the $4 range.

The price of silver is dependent on a lot of variables. It is of course dependent on supply and demand, but that is only part of the story. Supply is relatively limited, and new sources are hard to come by. As the price goes up, it becomes more economically tenable to revisit abandoned mines or mines that are less productive per ton of raw material.

Demand is also driven by speculation. When the US Dollar is weak compared to other currencies, like it is right now, investors tend to move their money into commodities like gold, silver and platinum. These are traditionally safe places to store value in times of economic uncertainty.

Another factor that entered the demand equation in the last few years was the creation of Exchange Traded Funds. These investment vehicles allowed investors to own silver without physically taking possession of it. This eliminated a lot of the logistical issues associated with moving silver bullion around from place to place, and it allowed buyers and sellers to come together quickly and easily. The net result is a more volatile market where transactions take place without regard to physical location and can be conducted quickly and efficiently.

Recently, silver prices have been tracking crude oil prices. There is not an exact correlation, but there is a link.

So where do we go from here? Silver prices have jumped 30% in the last six months, but we have seen these price levels in the last few years, albeit briefly. The last price rally to this level was relatively short-lived. In this case, we are looking at higher prices during an economic down-turn.

When the economy recovers and demand for the silver used to make all sorts of electronic, medical and photographic equipment bumps up, will this necessarily will mean higher silver prices? It will depend on the Dollar, speculative demand and who knows what else. If I had the answer, I guess I'd be rich and retired right now instead of writing this blog!

Stay tuned for more silver price updates as they arise.

Tucson Gem Show

It's that time of year again! The Tucson Gem Show starts in a couple of weeks, and I am starting to get excited.

It's been a rough year or so for a lot of businesses, and this is especially true of jewelry wholesalers. Not only has demand dropped significantly, but silver prices have jumped about 30%.

I expect the mood to be somewhat subdued at this year's show, much as it was last year. On the wholesale level, I will be looking to reconnect with my suppliers from India. I do have some money to spend, but I will be looking for special pieces that really stand out.

I'll also be looking for deals. I expect to find suppliers that are hungry for new customers, and others that are just looking to move some units.

For our retail stores, it's going to be much the same thing. I don't have a lot to spend, but I do need some cool new products that will generate interest and draw customers into the stores.

I'll post here when I return with photos and a synopsis of the show.

Ai, Ai, Ai! Jewelry of the Sea...

On my last trip to Thailand in September, I visited Ai, a designer I have sourced from many times in the past. She has always had really unusual products, but she tended toward heavier pieces.

Since the price of almost a

ll silver jewelry is to some extent based on the weight of the silver from which it is made, her pieces tend to be more expensive than other suppliers. Some of her line was special enough that I could justify spending the extra money on, but a lot o

f it wasn't.

This time when I met with her, I was totally blown away. Not only was her line outstanding in the way it looked, she had incorporated some mother of pearl, gemstones and marcasite to spice things up a bit.

Best of all, her pieces looked substantial, but she had spent a lot of time making the weights lighter. The net result was a line that has lots of pop, and lots of bang (for the buck).

I bought pretty wide from her line as a result. The photos I took are nice, but really they don't do the pieces justice. To see what we have, visit this wholesale silver jewelry link.