Italian Goldsmiths Facing Troubling Times

Times are hard for the traditional artisans of Italy. Back in December I wrote about Italian luxury fashion labels dealing with higher manufacturing costs. An International Herald Tribune article points out that the fact that the same factors are also affecting Italian goldsmiths who also have to deal with the rising price of gold. Italy, which has been producing beautiful gold jewelry for thousands of years (as is shown by the bracelet from ancient Pompeii above), was once tops in gold jewelry production but now China, India and Turkey are all offering serious competition. So far the larger luxury brands have been saved because they buy gold in advance but for smaller companies which buy their own metals each week are more likely to feel the pinch sooner. The good news is that most luxury companies continue to keep jewelry production in Italy. There is good reason for doing this, surveys of luxury consumers show that they care where their products are manufactured. A recent Unity Marketing survey regarding habits of luxury consumers showed that over two thirds of the 1,300 consumers polled show a preference for goods made in the USA, Italy, France and Germany and associate China with poorer quality luxury goods.