Gold jewelery sales remain robust

People around the world continued to buy gold jewelery at increasing rates this year, with demand for the precious metal incredibly reaching $14.5 billion in the second quarter of 2007.

This was 37 per cent higher than the same period in 2006, a rise which shows little signs of being reversed, Barrick Gold's chief executive Greg Wilkins told Reuters.

Barrick Gold, the world's biggest gold mining company, detected no signs of slackening demand in the market for gold jewelery, despite Mr Wilkins' concerns for the wider US economy.

"We've seen a slowdown in housing and a potential for recession and that affects people's purchases of luxury goods, and jewelry is a luxury good", he said, adding that if there was any softening of demand "we don't see it more than perhaps any analyst on the street".

The gold industry will be heartened by the robust nature of demand for gold jewelery, especially with increases expected in sales of the metal as the year nears its end.

Buying gold jewelery often fluctuates according to seasonal trends, with sales for the final quarter of the year profiting from Diwali and Christmas, both festivals involving the offering of gifts, among which gold jewelery appears to be a timeless favourite.