Mexico City. /
Before the health contingency a jewelry house in Mexico sold around 100 pieces of engagement rings per month, and since the beginning of the pandemic, the figure increased between 300 and 350 pieces sold per monthaccording to the Jalisco Chamber of Jewelry.
The health crisis wreaked havoc in many industries, but the impacts were not felt in the jewelry sector, despite the decline in mining production that was observed in 2020 as it was not considered an essential activity.
In an interview with MILENIO, Álvaro Azpeitia Covarrubias highlighted that The demand for specialized items, such as engagement rings, which are mostly made of fine gold and are usually decorated with diamonds, were a trigger so that their value did not decrease.
“Although the percentage of sales of total items dropped, we can see that there was a demand for specialized items, for example, the engagement ring, which obviously due to the type of piece we have higher values than a traditional ring,” he asserted.
The value of gold was another factor in favor of the sector, since it served as a refuge for investors throughout the pandemic, which made it more expensive, he highlighted.
“On the other hand, international markets mark gold as one of the best investment attractions in this time of uncertainty. Gold became an important benchmark for the jewelry industry to continue growing, ”he said.
Gold acts as a commodity in the market, as a referent, so its value is constantly changing. Before this panorama, The maximum price observed by the agency for this precious metal was on February 23, when a gram of fine gold was sold for 1,350 pesos.
In 2020, the value of the sector increased by 2 percentHowever, the continued demand for specialized items, such as the engagement ring, will help it continue with its usual growth rates before the health contingency, which were 4 percent, according to Azpeitia.
“This year we want to recover the rhythm and growth that we had before the pandemic, that is, we were growing at rates of 4 percent and we hope to match it, and forget about the pandemic in the case of the jewelry sector as an economic recovery,” argument.
Digital tools, essential in recovery
The Jalisco Chamber of Jewelry is the representative of this industry in the World Jewelry Confederation; During the pandemic, the implementation of digital tools also contributed to the fact that the value of the sector did not result in negative annual variations.
He added that, Approximately nine out of 10 jewelry stores began trading onlinewhich motivated them to continue selling, mainly what they had available from inventory.
“We had to look for opportunities within this great challenge that represented us, thanks to the fact that the jewelry sector has always sought new markets, new opportunities… We had growth even when we were in a pandemic, and this was definitely due to the fact that we basically began to detect an opportunity to approach digital media”, he said.
KL
