HUB 生产基地 JNA May/June 2025 | 37 California-based Christian Tse Designs & Mfg Inc, which counts major jewellery brands among its clients, is seeing strong demand for both high-end and personalised jewellery from buyers in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. It also has clients in Europe and Asia, particularly Hong Kong and Japan. “People are looking for quality, traceability and faster turnaround – and that is where domestic manufacturing shines,” explained Christian Tse, president of his eponymous company. “Meanwhile, e-commerce has opened doors to younger buyers who want personal and meaningful purchases, not just a branded piece. Directto-consumer brands are driving a lot of that growth.” He revealed that US buyers favour custom bridal jewellery alongside timeless platinum and genderneutral pieces while Europeans lean heavily towards craftsmanship and heritage. Asians, for their part, are partial to luxury and investment pieces, especially fancy colour diamonds. “Price points vary, but design and authenticity tend to move products fastest across the board,” remarked the company official. Linus Drogs, president of Michigan-based Au Enterprises Inc and chairman of The Jewelry Symposium, agreed that consumer interest in custommade designs remains high but cited an overall weakness in US demand. Au Enterprises specialises in customised jewellery, which it distributes in the domestic market. “The custom jewellery sector remains strong, thanks to good customer support,” he noted. “However, demand in the US market is soft across most sectors, including luxury brands. Jewellery manufacturers and retailers continue to reduce their capacity due to continued industry consolidation.” Trump’s tariffs US-based manufacturers who source items from affected countries such as China for raw materials or Canada and Europe for diamonds could face tailwinds arising from hefty tariffs imposed by the US government. On April 9, Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher-band tariffs to enable trade negotiations, with the exception of China. A 10 per cent base levy on all imports, meanwhile, remains in force as of press time. Jewelers of America, the national trade association representing US-based jewellery businesses across the supply chain, expressed concerns about the impact of sweeping tariffs on trade relationships and the US jewellery industry in general. According to David Bonaparte, president and CEO of Jewelers of America, the association supports government efforts to “hold trading partners accountable” and boost US-based manufacturing, but the tariff approach is bringing about instability. “Should tariffs hit the country's critical jewellery imports, these could also harm relationships with key industry partners like India,” he remarked. Bonaparte further explained that while tariffs are shouldered by US importers, these are ultimately passed on to consumers through higher prices. With mounting costs, Americans are likely to cut back on discretionary spending such as jewellery. Jewellery packaging tariffs imposed during Trump’s first term in 2018 took a toll on the businesses and customers of some Jewelers of America members, Bonaparte added. “With majority of materials needed to produce jewellery sourced from overseas, and the bulk of jewellery manufacturing taking place outside the US, tariffs on imports would be disruptive to the diamond and jewellery supply chain,” he stated. Christian admitted that it is a challenge as some key materials used in jewellery production such as specific alloys or diamonds are not readily available in the US or are not at the quality or scale that the company needs. “We have worked around it by tightening relationships with domestic suppliers, recycling more metals in-house and looking for alternative sources outside the tariff zones,” he noted. “But in some cases, there are no easy substitutes. So, it is about staying nimble and keeping our process as lean as possible.” Moving forward, there is going to be a huge shift toward personalisation, ethical sourcing and unique materials. There is also steady interest in men’s jewellery and rare gemstones. – Christian Tse, president of Christian Tse Designs & Mfg Inc
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