Up 8.6%, in fewer boxes: America's half-year at the jewelry counter

§1A strong half, narrowly built.

American jewelry retail just printed a strong half built on a narrow base. Revenue rose 8.6% in the first six months of 2026 against the same period last year, according to retail analytics firm Tenoris, and June alone grew 13% — acceleration, not fade, into the summer. The engine, though, is price: the average purchase rose 19% across the half and 20% in June, while the number of items sold kept falling.

§2Where the units went.

The unit decline is concentrated where most customers live. Pieces priced under $1,500 — the bulk of American jewelry transactions — continue to shrink in unit terms, which means the growth is being carried by fewer, wealthier purchases. Tenoris notes the shift favors specialty jewelers who lean into premium merchandise; it is harder news for anyone whose business is built on volume at the entry price points, where gold at $4,000 an ounce has quietly repriced the starter category out of its own customers' budgets.

By category, bracelets were the half's best performer, up 14% with double-digit growth in spend per item. Pendants and earrings grew more slowly but held solid; pearl jewelry, in Tenoris's telling, was a quiet standout — a thread this paper pulls separately today on the Gemstones desk.

§3Two diamond machines.

The diamond counter split into two machines running opposite programs. Natural diamond jewelry managed single-digit revenue growth on declining units and rising average prices — fewer stones, dearer stones. Lab-grown diamond jewelry posted double-digit revenue growth driven by unit gains rather than price, the category still converting new customers even as its per-carat values sit near their floor. Same showcase, two different businesses.