Nov. 17, 2025 "Jewellers contend with changing consumer behaviour this season amid high gold prices": Today I found this article on BNN Bloomberg:
Jewelry hasn’t lost its shine for gift-givers this holiday season, but business owners are expecting a bit more price sensitivity from customers after a surge in gold prices this year.
The holiday season remains a key period for the jewelry industry,
with gift items accounting for a significant share of yearly revenues.
But jewellers have had to raise prices as the cost of gold sharply increased
— soaring roughly 55 per cent year-to-date to top the US$4,000 per ounce mark.
“Anybody and everybody I believe is raising prices and if they’re not, they should be.
Because what you have in stock,
you cannot replace for the same price if you’re going to reorder it today,”
said Colin Nash, president of the Canadian Jewelry Group and owner of Nash Jewellers.
Based on what his business has seen,
consumers are still spending so far this year,
but by lesser amounts in the face of rising prices
— not just for gold,
but for the cost of living overall.
“I think that we’re still going to get the traffic,
it’s just a question of how much
and what are they going to be buying,”
he said.
Nash said he thinks some price-sensitive consumers may avoid higher-end gold products altogether in favour of less expensive sterling silver items.
James Poag, co-owner of James O. Poag Jewellers, said he is also seeing consumers keeping a tighter grip on their wallets.
“Maybe some of the product mixes are changing,
we’re seeing a lot of lab-grown diamonds
and a lot of larger hollow pieces of jewelry
as opposed to heavier cast pieces
just due to the price of gold,”
he said.
He’s also seen an increase in repairs,
with people choosing to restore older pieces
instead of replacing them,
while other customers are trading in older pieces of jewelry
and repurposing them into a new design.
Larger jewelry brands are also making adjustments.
Mejuri CEO and co-founder Noura Sakkijha said in a statement that the company introduced
10-karat solid gold products
to provide more accessible price points.
She added that offering a wide range of materials,
including 10- and 14-karat gold
as well as vermeil
and sterling silver,
gives consumers more choice.
“We also made selective and measured price adjustments on certain 14-karat pieces to reflect raw material increases.
At the same time, we’re seeing customers explore
different materials
and gravitate toward more delicate pieces in gold,
which we expect to continue during the holiday season,”
she said.
But not all price adjustments come from decisions made at the store level.
Nash said that since his company works with higher-end brands like
Rolex,
Tudor
and Roberto Coin,
those brands dictate price increases
and set their own manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
He said once a brand decides that a price increase is needed,
it notifies any stores carrying their product to follow suit.
“As soon as they (larger brands) say a 10 per cent price increase on each of the products,
we have to follow suit because the prices here have to match what they’re selling for in
Calgary,
Vancouver,
even in the (United) States,”
Nash said.
Poag added that sharp rises in gold prices have made repricing difficult.
“It is a constant battle. We have 2,500 rings, so it literally takes months to go through
to do repricing,
so there certainly is a significant lag time,”
he said.
Poag said since the run-up in the commodity price,
an average consumer might be paying about 25 to 40 per cent more,
depending on the gold content
and the item they are purchasing.
There’s no doubt the holiday season is a key time for jewellers.
Poag said it’s typical in the industry for December sales to account
for about 20 to 25 per cent
of annual revenues.
As sales start to ramp up, Nash said it’s difficult to predict where the price of gold will go as it continues to trade above the US$4,000 mark. Prices hit US$4,300 in October.
“Maybe we hit our ceiling, maybe it’s coming down, but I don’t know.
If I was a gambling man, I would still probably bet that gold will stay steady and keep moving just not at the pace that it has been,” he said.
Given the current price dynamics, Poag said he doesn’t think gold prices will come down significantly and it’s not worth it for consumers to delay purchasing in hopes of lower prices.
“I don’t think we’re going to see a significant downward trend,” he said.
---
Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2025.
Feb. 10, 2026 "Pre-owned jewelry gives off a new shine as gold and silver prices rise": Today I found this article on BNN Bloomberg:
TORONTO — This Valentine’s Day, everything old is new again for some shoppers.
Jewellers say customers are increasingly turning to pre-owned pieces because
they want to buy something that isn’t widely available
and doesn’t place a burden on the
environment
or miners.
That the items are often more affordable than buying something new is a bonus,
especially while gold and silver costs are soaring to record highs, said Lindsay Appotive, co-owner of Ottawa jeweller True Bijoux.
“The customer’s fully aware that the price of gold is shocking,” she said.
“I myself have sticker shock. I think we’re all trying to adapt to this crazy scenario.”
Pre-owned jewelry can range from pieces that are just a few years old to ones that have been around for decades or even centuries.
The jewelry industry doesn’t have standard definitions, but Appotive considers
anything more than 20 years old to be “vintage”
and anything more than 100 years old “antique.”
Vintage items are typically more affordable
than the harder-to-find antique items,
Appotive said.
True Bijoux typically prices its vintage pieces around half of what they would be new,
so a pre-owned 18-karat white gold, oval sapphire and diamond ring is now $7,995 instead of $16,000.
That’s a savings at any time of year, but especially now,
when gold has been hovering around US$5,000 an ounce just in time for Valentine’s Day.
It sat between US$1,000 and US$2,000 for the 15 years or so leading up to 2024,
when it began skyrocketing and increased even faster since U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in a year ago.
That strength has now spilled over silver.
Its price recently surpassed the US$100 per ounce threshold for the first time,
though it’s since pulled back to about US$82.
In response, many jewellers have raised prices.
Appotive has seen couples looking to lock in prices early because when they ask for a quote,
True Bijoux can only guarantee it for about 10 days “because the market is so crazy.”
“We have a lot of couples who are getting married in 2027
and they’re just so scared of the price of gold
that they’re giving us deposits and paying it over time,”
she said.
With prices so high, some customers are also warming to cost-effective options like
lab-grown diamonds,
lower purity gold,
thinner pieces
or jewelry made with metal blends.
Others are going the vintage route because
pre-owned pieces are not in every shop’s case and thus,
have a uniqueness to them,
said Emeline Calpetard, marketing and brand manager of Vancouver jeweller 100 Ways.
The lower price only heightens the appeal.
Previously owned pieces the jeweller sells cost between 30 and 70 per cent less than they would be if bought new,
she said.
A vintage, three-stone, oval cut sapphire and diamond ring, for example,
was priced at $595 on the company’s website,
which estimated it would cost $1,950 new.
But the rise in the cost of gold is causing even pre-owned jewelry to get more costly
though it’s still not as expensive as buying new,
said Angie Gardner.
The Toronto woman has bought at least five rings, several pairs of earrings and a pendant from online vintage jewellers in the last six years.
Most of the pieces are 10-karat gold with large stones.
Rings usually set her back $300.
She’s seen similar items priced at more than $700 by Canadian jewelry chain Mejuri when new.
“The nice thing about vintage jewelry is this has lasted in some cases, a lifetime, and what you’re buying is a good bang for your buck,” she said.
While she’s been paring back on purchases lately because the value of gold is pushing up prices, she admits
the savings are still sometimes so good
it’s a challenge to resist the temptation to buy more.
“I just got to look away,” she said laughing.
Though jewellers say most buyers of vintage pieces are purchasing for themselves,
it’s not unheard of for gift givers to pick up antique items,
especially when they know the history or style is something the recipient enjoys.
Customers at 100 Ways are also opting to purchase previously owned jewelry
because they don’t want to contribute to the
environmental
and labour costs that can come with mining for the diamonds or metals
that go into new pieces.
“So there is that circular economy aspect of it
and also just the beauty of having something that has been worn by someone else,”
Calpetard said.
“There is a story behind it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2026.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
My opinion: I have never worked at a jewelry store before.
I attended a job interview at one before.
I like this article because it's about:
-saving money
-saving the environment
-saving labor costs
Shopping:
This part stood out to me:
the savings are still sometimes so good
it’s a challenge to resist the temptation to buy more.
That's like me with going to garage sales because everything is very cheap,
and there is a free section.
There is the free libraries of "take a book, leave a book" and it's all free.
Facebook Marketplace: I had written about how I'm interested in coloring.
I went on Amazon.ca and there are these dual tip markers and they're in a zippered bag.
I go on Facebook Marketplace, and there are so many ads selling that.
Here are a few examples:
120 Piece Touch Alcohol Marker Set with Zippered Carrying Case Dual Tip Markers New
120 Alcohol Markers
100 Markers
CA$25
There are also a lot of those cute animal coloring books:
My week:
Sat. Sept. 12, 2026:
Max D, Ottawa, Ontario, would like to know:
Do you like energy drinks?
No
60.21% (2243)
I’ve never tried one
23.70% (883)
Yes
16.08% (599)
My opinion: No. I tried a Red Bull in my mid-20s and I didn't like the taste.
I used to like drinking pop as a kid up to my early 20s.
I hardly drink it.
Pop is average.
Mon. Sept. 14, 2026:
Anne B, Sainte Julie, Québec, would like to know:
How often do you get your hair cut?
Every 1–3 months
35.26% (1532)
A few times a year
32.13% (1396)
Rarely
23.27% (1011)
Every 2–4 weeks
9.34% (406)
My opinion: A few times a year. More like 2 times a year.
Thurs. Sept. 17, 2026:
Eric S, Mascouche, Quebec, would like to know:
Have you seen the latest Spider-Man movie?
No
88.42% (3465)
Yes
11.58% (454)
My opinion: No.
