| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Research has revealed that women spend large amounts of money on designer jewellery over a lifetime. JP Diamonds discovered that females spend an average of £39,000 on designer jewellery during their life which is significantly more than the standard British salary of around £25,000. The wholesaler found that the average women takes 13 annual trips to the jewellers and spends in excess of £500 on designer jewellery per year with little over a third of the money going on gifts for family and friends. It was also established that nearly half of the 3,000 women surveyed would prefer to go without makeup than not wear designer jewellery as those questioned said they regularly wore trinkets such as earrings, necklaces and rings worth at least £570. Joe Boll, of JP Diamonds, said: "We experience two very different kinds of customer - we have those women who like to spend little and often, and others who want to spend all their savings on beautiful jewels in one go. "Either way, approximately 60 per cent of our customers are women, as men only tend to shop alone for engagement rings and eternity rings." JP Diamonds also uncovered that 80 per cent of women said they bought designer jewellery in a bid to freshen up old outfits and make them look more glamorous in order to look like their fashion icons. Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez was the survey's respondent's top choice when asked to name their favourite celebrity diamond wearer and the curvy American was closely followed by Brits Elizabeth Taylor and Victoria Beckham. Meanwhile, designer jewellery retailers are bullish about the impact of the value added tax (VAT) increase on sales and some have refused to pass on the additional cost to their customers. Shoppers were encouraged to beat the VAT increase by buying designer jewellery online before January 4th as those who beat the deadline were able to escape the rise from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent. Many sellers have told Retail Jeweller that they have been largely unaffected by the increase as there has been no noticeable change in sales volumes compared to the same period last year. Designer jewellery prices are unlikely to increase as retailers hope to generate good will between themselves and their customers during the current uncertain economic climate. David Hughes-Lewis, owner of Jonathan David Jewellers in Cardiff, told Retail Jeweller that the government should reduce VAT to 15 per cent if it wants to stimulate consumer spending.
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