Gold, Silver & Platinum Prices
Gold: For the week, gold ended up significantly higher ending at $1726 (London Fix).

Silver: For the week, silver climbed as well and closed on Friday at $33.48 per troy ounce.

Platinum: Platinum prices surged as well ending up over $1600 an ounce for the first time since November of last year and closed at $1608.

Palladium: Palladium inched higher this week to close at $684.

Rhodium: Rhodium prices rose sharply this week to close at $1425, its highest level in 6 weeks but is still well down from the $2400 range it was at this time last year.

The primary driving forces remain the weak and sluggish economy, high unemployment (UI claims were up again this week), the weak US Dollar and the continuing slow housing markets.



But Why Does any of this Matter to Me When I Buy Jewelry?

Because all of this impacts the prices that you pay for everything from the big and important purchases like engagement rings and wedding bands to even the smaller items like ball stud earrings or faceted cz studs. While the metals markets largely influence the prices of fine jewelry, they also impact the cost of fashion jewelry items (including hair barrettes, ponytail holders, bracelets and even rhinestone earrings) since many of these items use small amounts of one or more of these metals in their manufacturing processes.

Essentially as the prices we pay for the metals, findings, components and finished goods that go into our product line go up, so do the prices that we have to pass on to our new and loyal customers.

We do what we can to keep costs down, but we do have to pass on price hikes from time to time.