Diamond retailers have been crunching the numbers, and their forecast is that marriage ceremony bells will quickly be ringing once more — together with their money registers.
After a prolonged, post-pandemic lull that adopted a 12 months of COVID lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 when singles weren’t assembly one another, reams of business information are pointing to a resurgence in marriage ceremony engagements, in line with specialists.
Signet — the jewellery big that owns chains that embody Jared, Zales, Kay and Blue Nile — is anticipating the ‘I do’s’ to develop by as a lot as 10% this 12 months.
That’s partly as a result of {couples} are reaching the three.25-year milestone that it normally takes to develop into engaged, in line with Signet’s proprietary database which tracks pre-engagement and relationship actions.
“Individuals weren’t out assembly one another throughout lockdown, which created an engagement hole,” Signet spokesperson Katie Spencer mentioned. “However engagements are again and are offering a tailwind to Signet.”
To capitalize on a contemporary wave of demand that started to rise late final 12 months, Signet is joining forces with De Beers — the world’s largest diamond producer — for a fall advertising blitz.
In a press launch final month, the businesses mentioned they count on engagements to surge 25% over the following three years.
On common, 2.8 million {couples} make plans to tie the knot every year, in line with Signet’s information.
Final 12 months, between 2.1 and a pair of.2 million {couples} obtained engaged, the corporate mentioned.
Bermuda-based Signet is slated to report quarterly earnings on Thursday.
A return to regular could be a shot within the arm to an business that’s been battered by inflation, bloated inventories and discounting largely as a result of a seismic shift away from natural diamonds to budget-friendly, lab-grown rocks over the previous few years.
“The jewellery business has not been capable of recapture the outsize development it had through the pandemic,” mentioned Jim Sanderson, an analyst at Northcoast Analysis, noting that lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 had sparked binge-buying by cooped-up jewellery fanatics.
“But it surely’s not as weak as feared,” added Sanderson, who not too long ago printed a survey that discovered “engagement season could be very robust” in comparison with a 12 months in the past.
Engagement ring gross sales started to pop at the start of 2023 for New York City-based Ritani in Midtown Manhattan, with the vast majority of {couples} buying lab-grown diamonds, in line with Ria Papasifakis, Ritani’s head of merchandise.
Ritani’s gross sales are up 30% in comparison with a 12 months in the past, however the variety of rings it has offered is up by 42% as LGD’s pricing continues to say no.
“We’re actually busy proper now as a result of lots of people get engaged through the summer time prematurely of vacation spot holidays,” the jeweler added.
Most engagements within the US can be multicultural, led by Hispanic People, in line with Signet.
In December, Signet chief government Virginia Drosos famous that {couples} transferring in collectively — “a late-stage milestone” — was up 9 factors from a 12 months in the past and that Google searches for engagement rings are 10% greater, which was the primary improve in two years.
“The proportion of {couples} transferring to the engagement section has improved by 5 factors, a statistically important motion during the last 18 months,” Drosos mentioned on the time.
What’s extra, practically 80% of non-married Millennial and Gen Z adults say they wish to ultimately get engaged and married, which is a “notable enchancment” from a 2018 survey, in line with Drosos mentioned.
