Together with watches, jewelry constitutes a part of the market that is called “hard luxury” to differentiate it from fashion, accessories and cosmetics, which are made from “soft” materials.
LVMH’s Bulgari and Cartier as well as Richemont’s Van Cleef & Arpels and Piaget are examples of household brand names in this sector, which is otherwise characterized by jewelers’ own brands, with Tiffany, Lao Feng Xiang, Titan, Chow Sang Sang and Luk Fook being the biggest players in this field. The shown market data are based on an analysis of more than 100 of the biggest luxury companies in the world. A complete list of all companies and brands covered can be found in the methodology description. Accordingly, watches from smaller companies or artisanal production unaffiliated with the companies covered are not included. All data is shown at retail value, which includes markups for retail distribution and sales taxes.
Growth has lately been stimulated mostly by emerging markets but ever since the period of sagging demand in Greater China began, the global outlook can at best be described as stable.