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In Roman times, an iron ring was the mark of a political figure, like Julius Caesar, and widows wore rings on their thumbs to denote their status.

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UK Jewelry Marketplace

The UK jewelry market grew at a compound rate of 3.7% per annum from 1997 to 2008 and grew by 2.6% in 2008, the last full year for which data is available (source: Office of National Statistics). Office of National Statistics figures are subject to frequent and sometimes large revisions. During 2009 revised figures were released that reduced the previous three year’s data by an average of 10.4%. In addition, management believes that Office of National Statistics data is of limited value in evaluating the market in which the UK division competes, due to the importance of the high end international jewelry retail business within the UK marketplace. Data for calendar 2009 is due to be published on March 30, 2010. Per capita spend on jewelry in the UK remains at approximately half of the level of the US.

The performance of the UK jewelry market can also be judged from the volume of jewelry items containing gold hallmarked by Assay Offices in the UK. Hallmarking volumes grew at a compound rate of 2.2% from 1997 to 2008. The volume declined in 2008 by 34.2% and in 2009 by 32.6% (source: Assay Offices of Great Britain).

Market structure

The UK market includes specialty retail jewelers and general retailers who sell jewelry, such as catalog showrooms, department stores, supermarkets, mail order catalogs and internet based retailers. The retail jewelry market is very fragmented and competitive, with a substantial number of independent specialty jewelry retailers. From business directories, management believes there are approximately 7,300 specialty retail jewelry stores in the UK, a decrease of about 100 on the previous year.

In the middle market, H.Samuel competes with a large number of independent jewelers, only one of which has more than 100 stores. Some competition, at the lower end of the H.Samuel product range, also comes from a catalog showroom operator, discount jewelry retailers and supermarkets, many of whom have more stores than H.Samuel.

In the upper middle market, Ernest Jones competes with independent specialty retailers and a limited number of other upper middle market chains, the largest three of which had 143, 66 and 34 stores respectively at January 30, 2010.

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