Platinum Guild cuts four offices, including New York
PGI USA and PGI South Korea shut on 31 December and Japan on 30 December, JCK reports. Hong Kong ends in the same window, leaving China and India from 2027.
By Carat Capital
What changed
Two markets kept. Platinum Guild International will close its offices in the US, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, JCK reports. Dedicated operations continue in China and India from 2027.
What it means
- If you sell platinum bridal in the US: PGI USA closes on 31 December; plan 2027 platinum marketing without its New York office.
- If you work with PGI in Japan or Korea: PGI says it will still support platinum jewelry marketing where offices close.
- What this is not: A PGI exit from platinum. It calls the move structural.
Key figures
| Offices closingUS, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong | 4 |
|---|---|
| US and Korea closeJapan on 30 December | 31 Dec |
| N. America demandplatinum jewelry, 2025 | +6% |
| Platinum, tape bid05:00 ET, 26 October | $1,544 |
Source: JCK, 23 October 2026, reporting a PGI statement. Platinum is the tape's 05:00 ET Kitco bid, 26 October 2026.
New York closes in December.
Luker stays through 2026. The 4 closures include New York, where PGI USA president Jenny Luker keeps her role through 2026, JCK reports. PGI has had a US presence since 1992.
Structure, not confidence. PGI says it will keep its education and market-intelligence work. It called the move “a change in operating structure, not a change in confidence in these markets.”
| Office | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PGI USA, New York | Closes | 31 Dec 2026 |
| PGI South Korea | Closes | 31 Dec 2026 |
| PGI Japan | Closes | 30 Dec 2026 |
| Hong Kong | Operations end | Same time frame |
| China | Continues | From 2027 |
| India | Continues | From 2027 |
Dates and statuses as JCK reports PGI's statement. PGI's own statement was not read at source.
North America had grown.
Demand rose 6%. Platinum jewelry demand in North America rose 6% in 2025, PGI chief executive Tim Schlick said in June. Some brands switched designs from white gold, he said.
The metal is steady. The tape's platinum bid at 05:00 ET on 26 October was $1,544 an ounce, $4 below Friday's close.
What to watch
- 30 and 31 December 2026Japan closes, then PGI USA and PGI South Korea.
- 2027PGI's China and India operations. The test is whether PGI still publishes a US demand figure without a US office.
- June 2027PGI's next annual Platinum Jewellery Business Review, if it keeps June's timing.
The story so far
Go deeper
Corrections
Clarified, 27 October 2026: the story-so-far line said PGI USA's Kevin Reilly 'retired as platinum jumped to $1,628'. JCK says he retired in June 2026; our 30 July page reported the retirement as announced on 28 July. The line now says the retirement was announced as platinum jumped. What was right as published: every figure. Raised by Carat Capital's Standards desk on 26 October 2026.
What would change this call
A PGI statement naming a US partner or successor to carry its marketing would make this a handover, not a withdrawal from the US trade.
What PGI is
Platinum Guild International was founded as a marketing organisation in 1975, JCK reports. It focused on four jewelry markets: China, Japan, India and the US.
Method
JCK, 'PGI Restructures, Closing Offices as It Concentrates on China and India', by Karen Dybis, dated October 23, 2026, fetched by the Editor at 06:0x EDT on 26 October 2026, 200, 110,664 bytes. Read in the article body: 'closures of four offices' (body), 'from 2027 onward' (1 hit), 'Dec. 31' (1), 'Dec. 30' (1), 'rose by 6%' (1), 'not a change in confidence in these markets' (1), '1975' (1), 'since 1992' in the body. PGI's statement was not read at source; every PGI fact here is as JCK reports it. Platinum: Carat Capital's tape for 26 October, Kitco bid 1544 at 05:00 ET, prior mark 1548 (Friday's close); 1544 - 1548 = -4. ARCHIVE, by entity and period: 'Platinum Guild' 1 row, 2026-07-30 platinum-loses-its-teacher, opened: PGI USA's Kevin Reilly retired. Ours 30 July covers one executive's retirement | new item covers four office closures announced 23 October: ADVANCED, not a repeat.