The credit crunch now hits our Jewellers

It seems even the jewellers are suffering due to the recession, which sales of gemstone jewellery and jewellery in general are down.

Countries which export the stones used for jewellery are seeing a sharp decline in demand, and the companies from there are being hit harder than producers of other, more essential goods. The larger Jewellery retail companies such as Bulgari and Tiffanis are seeing sale and demand from the two bigger markets, the US and Europe down by about 80 percent during the christmas period, and many jewellers have more concerned about just surviving for the year, rather than making a profit. November and December usually bring in forty percent of their business, so the huge decrease in people buying jewellery. This saw retailers bring forward their January sales in the run up to Christmas in an attempt to jumpstart their business and gets as much customers through the door as possible. Even diamonds, a girls best friend has seen sales decline, demand ahs dropped and so has the price- but not by too much, as they're still selling better than gemstones.

In India though it seems that they have found another use for their gemstones, opening their first 'heat treatment' centre for coloured gemstones such as rose quartz, turquoise and rubies. Heat threatment involves using extreme heating and cooling methods to change the pyshical or chemical process of the stones, which will usually soften or harden the item in question. Up till now heat treatment work was being sent to Thailand, Japan and Germany to be done, but now India can compete with them and train up more professionals at the centre.

So the recession has hit, and now the jewellers are going to have to do something to survive in the long run or face bankruptcy - a grim prospect for anyone.