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Jan 18, 2010
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Jewellers turn to new materials for inspiration

By
Reuters
Published
Jan 18, 2010

By Jan Harvey

VICENZA (Reuters) - Jewellery designers are turning to alternative materials such as leather, textiles and ceramics in a bid to create innovative designs and offset high gold prices, Paola de Luca, co-founder and creative director of jewellery trends forecaster TJF Group, told Reuters.



The jewellery sector has become increasingly intertwined with the fashion industry, de Luca said.

"With this merging of the fashion brands into the jewellery industry, now we have a new approach to design, and jewellery is becoming more and more an accessory," she said.

"Jewellery is becoming more design-intensive, more fashion-oriented and there is a strong need for new iconic pieces. The only way to achieve that considering the economy is to use a mix of materials.

"That includes leather, which is very popular this season combined with precious and semi-precious material," she said, "Fabrics and textiles are very much used in combination with metals as well."

As well as following trends in the fashion world, this is a response to the soaring price of gold, she said. Spot gold prices hit a record high $1,226.10 an ounce in early December and remain at elevated levels.

This has led jewellers to produce pieces with a lighter gold content. Roberto Neri, owner of jeweller Mulino d'Oro, estimates he sold 20 percent more pieces in 2009, but using 20 percent less gold.

Other precious metals, such as silver and platinum have also climbed strongly so far this year.

"The fact that the gold price is very high and the economy has tightened has strongly influenced the luxury market, and has pushed designers to use more materials," said de Luca.

"That is why gold is now associated with leather, and resins, and semi-precious and non-precious stones, ceramics, and even wood. It is really a combination of gold being very high and the consumer becoming more sophisticated."

At the very top of the market, however, metal prices are much less of an issue. Consumers attracted to the luxury reputation of high-end brands such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Boucheron are unlikely to baulk at rising raw materials costs.

In this niche, brands are looking to fresh takes on traditional ideas for 2010, de Luca says.

"The 1940s and 1950s, at the high end of the market, are very much a design reference," she said.

"The houses at the very high end of the market are very much looking in their archives and revamping and redesigning and reinterpreting their heritage to deliver a very strong combination of heritage with a modern twist."

Exclusivity is also a watchword at the luxury end of the market, she added.

"There is a new generation of young designers who are coming out more and more with limited edition pieces," she said.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Hans Peters)

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