What JIS Buyers Wanted: Color, Gold, Personality—and Jewelry Worth the Spend

At the JIS Fall show in Miami Beach, buyers showed an appetite for bold yellow gold, vibrant gemstones, meaningful charms, and fine jewelry that feels personal, playful, and wearable.

If there was one takeaway from walking the aisles at the JIS Fall show in Miami Beach, it was that buyers may be thoughtful about their purchases—but they’re still willing to spend when the jewelry gives them a reason to.

Exhibitors described productive appointment schedules throughout the weekend, with several noting introductions to new buyers and opportunities to grow their customer base. Sunday brought an added burst of energy to the show floor, while conversations across the weekend suggested a market that was engaged and actively looking for pieces with enough color, scale, craftsmanship, or story to justify their place in the case.

That tracks with what longtime industry consultant Tammy Lail said during a JIS Trends discussion, moderated by Jen Cullen Williams. Despite economic uncertainty and high gold prices, Lail cited industry data showing jewelry sales up 7% with units down just 3%, which she viewed as an encouraging signal heading into the holiday season.

Golden rules

On the show floor, that willingness to spend was especially visible in yellow gold. Lail counted big, bold yellow gold pieces among the strongest trends she was seeing at JIS, with far less white metal and platinum in the mix. Vibrant gemstones—especially richly colored emeralds and sapphires—were another standout.

Exhibitors echoed that assessment. At Dune Jewelry, buyers were asking for higher-end pieces with natural diamonds, generally starting around $250 wholesale, as well as larger designs where the individual elements the brand is known for were easy to see. The brand’s Icon collection, which includes pieces made with materials tied to cultural figures—including a Dolly Parton design incorporating guitar strings, glitter, and rhinestones—also speaks to another theme that surfaced repeatedly at the show: Customers want jewelry with a story.

At Bapalal Keshavlal, pink sapphires and other richly colored sapphires were drawing interest, as was enamel. The latter was described as specifically appealing for younger consumers looking for jewelry that feels fun and easy to wear. Seyaa Jewels, a brand specializing in lab-grown diamonds, was also seeing interest in classic shapes such as ovals and rounds, alongside fancy color stones.

It pays to play

Color showed up in motifs, too. Cristina Sabatini presented playful fish and shell designs among a wide selection of other colorful themes, while other exhibitors leaned into enamel, opaque gemstones, and playful forms.

That sense of playfulness extends to the higher end as one of the more interesting developments in fine jewelry right now. Luxury, at least among some customers, doesn’t necessarily need to look serious—or even obviously expensive. Parisian brand Van Den Abeele offered a clear articulation of that idea. The brand’s jewelry is colorful, whimsical, and made with precious materials. According to designer Delphine Crech’Riou, some customers actively like that an observer may not immediately recognize how valuable a piece is—but its wearer knows.

Discretion can be part of the appeal, particularly at a time when some luxury consumers may feel uncomfortable broadcasting the value of what they’re wearing. For the brand’s France-based designer, concerns about security amid broader instability have made that distinction especially relevant.

It’s a fascinating counterpoint to the appetite for bigger jewelry seen elsewhere on the floor. Customers may want pieces with presence, but presence doesn’t necessarily mean conspicuous wealth. Jewelry can be bold because of its color, shape, or personality rather than because it loudly signals its price.

Malheurs Des Hommes provided one of the strongest examples of buyers responding to something genuinely distinctive. The brand’s yellow flower necklace, which retails for approximately $36,000, had already received four orders during the show. According to the brand, customers were looking for pieces that felt “big and different”—and were willing to pay accordingly.

Diamonds in the mix

Natural diamonds also remained important for several exhibitors. Dorian and Rose offers natural diamonds and more recently branched into lab-grown, but said customers were gravitating largely toward natural, particularly in its pieces made with 18k gold. The company has begun experimenting with some 14k designs as a concession to pricing pressure. The slightly rosier color of the alloy was a departure from its normally rich, bold gold.

At Shiva, meanwhile, much of the assortment remains 18k gold with natural diamonds, with some 14k offered as well. Buyers there were asking for diamonds and charms, among other categories, while the brand also showed limited pieces with opaque colored gemstones, which it said have been gaining traction again in certain markets.

Still, JIS offered no evidence of a blanket rejection of lab-grown diamonds. Smiling Rocks, whose assortment is entirely lab-grown, reported a good, busy couple of days at the show and remained optimistic as it worked to connect with new customers.

Lail likewise described lab-grown as an important part of the retail mix, particularly because it allows jewelers to reach accessible gift price points and offer categories such as tennis bracelets at prices that work for a broader customer base. In other words, the natural-versus-lab conversation at JIS felt less like a binary choice than a question of purpose. Natural diamonds continued to carry weight for customers prioritizing traditional preciousness and high-end materials, while lab-grown offered retailers another tool for delivering size, sparkle, and value at certain price points.

How charming

Then there were charms—and there were many!

Several exhibitors mentioned them independently, and the category appeared especially relevant in the U.S. market. Shiva was hearing requests for charms, and Van Den Abeele noted strong American demand for them.

As JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky pointed out in a JIS trends chat on the show floor, charms prove an excellent entry point into gold as jewelers continue to manage its high prices along with customer demand. But personalization itself appears to be evolving. During the following day’s trends talk, Lail observed that customization today goes beyond simply adding a name or initial. Shoppers increasingly want gemstones, symbols, or other details that connect a piece to a person or memory, often layering several charms together.

The story’s the thing

That helps explain why the idea of storytelling surfaced so often in conversations around the show. As Van Den Abeele’s Crech’Riou expressed, the sentiment was that demand can vary wildly from one customer to the next—some want something big, others something small—but scale isn’t necessarily the deciding factor. What matters is the story behind a piece and whether it fits the customer’s aesthetic. The designer offered another succinct take on current demand: Customers want something precious that they can actually wear—fine jewelry that is fun enough for everyday life.

That may ultimately be the thread tying together much of what stood out at JIS. Gold is expensive. Consumers are aware of economic uncertainty. Retailers are paying attention to price. But the response doesn’t appear to be a retreat into tiny, anonymous jewelry. Instead, buyers seemed interested in jewelry that makes its case clearly: gemstones positively saturated with color, visible gold, natural diamonds where preciousness matters, lab-grown where price point matters, charms carrying personal meaning, and bigger designs with enough character to earn attention.

For retailers preparing for the quickly upcoming holiday season, Lail offered one more practical point: Shoppers typically enter a store already knowing who they’re buying for, why they’re buying, and approximately how much they want to spend. Rather than merchandising exclusively by category, she recommends creating assortments around the price ranges customers actually shop, making the decision easier and less intimidating.

And for Christmas inventory, time is running short. Lail characterized JIS weekend as the final window for many holiday orders requiring production and replenishment, though retailers remain well positioned to shop ahead for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

For all the discussion surrounding prices, uncertainty, and shifting consumer habits, JIS offered plenty of evidence that people still want jewelry. They may simply be asking a little more of it.