Signet has seen robust demand for engagement rings in 2022
CEO says diamond prices have risen around 15%-20% this year
Robust demand for engagement rings suggests 2023 is going to be another big year for weddings, according to one of the largest US jewelers.
Gina Drosos, chief executive officer of Signet Jewelers Ltd., said in an interview that Zales, Kay Jewelers and the company’s other brands are selling a lot of engagement rings this year. In the three months ended April 30, growth was particularly strong for items costing more than $3,000, Drosos said. Many of those were wedding items, which account for about half of the company’s sales.
Drosos and others have dubbed 2022 the “year of the wedding” on expectations that there will be the largest number of celebrations in 40 years, as pandemic-delayed couples head to the altar.
As demand surges, the price of diamonds has risen between 15% to 20% over the past six months, Drosos said. Some of that increase is due to sanctions on stones mined in Russia, the world’s biggest source of gems, although it’s hard to parse out the direct impact, she said. Signet and other jewelers told suppliers to stop buying stones from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Signet’s price hikes for shoppers have been more moderate than the jump in diamond costs, Drosos said, without providing specifics.
“We have been able to mitigate a large portion of those price increases given our vertical integration,” Drosos said. The company has increased production at a factory it owns in Botswana, for example.
Special thanks to Jeannette Neumann and Bloomberg for thsi update