More from National Jeweler

[pricescope]

February issue of National Jeweler has a lot of stuff dedicated to the internet.

Jewelry leads pack as holiday Web sales surge

Online revenues for all retail merchandise leapt to $66.5 billion for the holiday period from Nov. 1 through Christmas 2004, representing an increase of 26 percent over the same period in 2003. Jewelry sales accounted for $413 million of that rise, with the online jewelry category seeing a jump of nearly $100 million over the $315 million spent online for jewelry in 2003, comScore Networks found.

$413M or $1.9 as this source said? (like the title though "Retailerscope"

)

Study: Buyers seek lower-priced jewelry online

Most consumers who purchase jewelry online buy items priced under $250, a new study from the Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) has found.

So amount of diamond bought over the web is still relatively low.

….Eugene Fram, a professor of marketing at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., and an expert on Internet retailing says: "Brand name is very important [online]. It gives consumers a sense of safety. When you buy something without seeing it physically, there's always a question as to whether it's a safe product."

Doh! I knew it!