JEWELLERY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19980, 23 December 1926, Page 6

JEWELLERY.

Generally speaking, said one jeweller of long experience, trade has been a little quieter all round this year. All the jewellers, f course, had a good time while the Exhibition was going on. For a month aliter its closing there was a decided slump, but since then trade had been getting better all along. Christmas trade at the : beginning of the week was just . .beginning to liven up, and he expected it to be quite a normal season. Practically all jewellers are back now to pre-war stocks, The tendency has been to reduce prices all along, and they are now down to what may be considered normal. The importations have been very satisfactory and jewellers find that British firms are much more attentive than they used to be. . Some consignments have been slow of late in coming to hand, but that was on account of the big strike. There has been keen foreign competition during the year fiom Czecno-Slovakia and Germany, which have bean trying very persistently to establish lines of fancy wares here. Customers as a rule do not appear to be greatly concerned now as to the origin of such articles. At the same time the slocks of British goods ohow marked improvement, and British manufacturers are bcink quite successful with various mckle lines that used to be largely in German hands. “1 have every faith in the Christmas trade,” concluded this jeweller. . Another jeweller in a big way of ousiness said he did not think anyone could call this a good year. He considered that the economic conditions of the country bad been dead against brisk trade. If New Zealand imports £5,500,000 more of goods than she exports, that £5,500,000 has to he paid for somehow, and as a result money has not been free here. However, even a small rise in the value of produce would soon put the position right. From July onwards there certainly had been a decided shortage of money to spend in such a trade as the jewellery trade, but the speaker admitted that bis returns would bo within a very little of what they were last year. He did not see any reason why this Christmas should not be as good as last. “Travellers in the north,” he declared ■ cheerfully, “say we in Dunedin don’t know what bad times are. ’ Speaking of changes in the trade, ho pointed out that brooches and pendants have now gone right out, and fancy goods of lower value have largely taken their place. There is a great demand for pearl beads, and indeed for beads of every description. With the cheapar novelty lines that are in favour it takes a much larger number of customers to make up the same value. A fair amount of Czechoslovakian and oven of German goods are handled. It is impossible to avoid it. To illustrate the point the jeweller produced several very neat little clocks. One, a square fiat metal one. with a very pretty blue face of turquoise appearance, w-as priced at 17s 6d. Two others smaller, of gilt metal and very neatly nfiished, were priced at 7s 6d and 8s 6d. "And I can get my profit out of them at that,” said the jeweller. ‘But will they go? Do they keep time?” asked the reporter in astonishment. “Oh, rather,” was the response, “They have good works, and we don t hesitate to recommend them." The jeweller went on to refer to the revival of interest in old British workmanship and said that the demand for “Grandfather” clocks had increased remarkably of late. During the past year or two he had sold 30 or 40 of these. They used to be priced at about £IOO, but now they could be bought at as low as £3O or even £22 Recent’y he imported a trial shipment of four he importjd a trial shipment of four “Grandmother” clocks which are something the same as “Grandfather” clocks, hut considerably smaller, <nd all were quickly disposed of During the past 12 months British goods have all come down to pre-war prices, and the British manufacturers are turning out some very nice articles. They are paying more attention to the requirements of Do minion trade and are sending out more novelties of the kind that used to be wholly in the hands of foreigners.