While precious gem sales, especially diamonds have taken suicidal dives during the global financial recession, jewellery sales have bucked the trend to rise and sales of high quality but not very expensive watches have soared.

"We have seen a dramatic acceleration in sales since Pandora was launched in South Africa in May," Claus Jakobsen, managing director of Scandinavian Brand House which distributes Skagen watches and Pandora jewellery, both of which in their respective categories are world leaders.

"Adornment is intrinsic to human nature, people like giving and receiving jewellery and a good watch is a status symbol, so with the economic downturn although a woman might not buy diamond earrings and her partner might not have the funds to spend R20 000 on a watch, they still want quality and the prestige of good jewellery without busting the budget.

"We have seen a four fold increase in sales of Pandora since we launched it on the market five months ago and it is continuing to accelerate ahead of the festive season. Pandora sells an item of jewellery every second worldwide and in South Africa it is doing exceptionally well because it embodies romance, has very high quality manufacture and yet is affordable in everything from wooden to Murano glass to diamonds in charms for bracelets or earrings or pendants. "

A special 2010 football design

Pandora will soon add a tiny watch to its range reflect the passing of time as a bead on bracelets or pendants. It also introduced a pink ribbon to show its commitment and that of wearers to the fight against breast cancer.

In 2010 it will have a special 2010 football design and too, has especially created a Big Five animal range for South Africa.

Jakobsen says: "Pandora is aspirational and so is a great fit for the very high aspirational market seen in South Africa. You can spend as little as R160 a bed to several thousand rand, but over the years if building a bracelet as an example, within a couple of years you can have an item of jewellery worth R10 000 or more that has cost only a few hundred rand every time there has been spare cash.

"With Skagen watches, they range from less than R2000 a watch to under R7000, but our fastest selling makes cost less than R2000 for men and women and include high quality titanium, stainless steel and leather finishes.

Looking good on anyone's arm

"We have 100 of a collector's item in Skagen watches, the 20th anniversary men's and women's watches which feature exclusive, platinum-plated cases with clean, round layered dials in a range of sizes from small to extra large." The beautiful cases connect to the brand's distinctive best-selling, stainless steel mesh bands — fitting the wrist perfectly and looking good on anyone's arm.

Adding to the collector's appeal, for the first time in the watch maker's history, the case backs are numbered and include the signatures of Charlotte & Henrik Jorst, all enclosed in a specially designed collector's watch box.

"These watches sell at R1800 each and are being snapped up fast, " Jakobsen said, "they are simple, clean, affordable and ideal for a special gift for a special person with refined tastes."

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