It's no news - I've already been talking about how gold and platinum prices are going up. But, of course, the price increases of precious metals has a trickle down affect. That means for those of us purchasing jewelry we can expect prices to start (if they haven't already) rising.

From Gold rush may push jewelry prices up:
Rising gold prices have been great for investors. But if you're buying a piece of gold jewelry this spring -- ouch.

As wedding season approaches, prices for gold jewelry are expected to jump 10 percent to 20 percent over last spring, the World Gold Council, a gold-mining industry trade group, estimates.

"It's going to be very tough to break the news to consumers that after so many years of stable prices, prices have to go up," says Peggy Jo Donahue, a spokeswoman for Jewelers of America, a trade organization for jewelers.
The price of gold hit $632.60 a troy ounce Wednesday, the highest since 1980. It's is up 46 percent from a year ago and 138 percent from 2001.

The jewelry-store price of gold isn't soaring quite that fast. In part, that's because gold makes up only about 25 percent of the price of a piece of jewelry, notes Whitney Sielaff, editorial director of National Jeweler magazine. The rest comes from designer and overhead costs.

Stiff competition in the jewelry business, too, should help moderate the effect on consumers.