The U.S. retail jewelry trade is composed of five main areas: bridal jewelry (30%), fashion jewelry (22%), watches (18%), precious stones (15%) and precious metals (15%) according to one of New York’s premier business valuation and litigation support firms.

Annual jewelry sales run about $27 billion a year with wholesalers and manufacturers accounting for an additional $27 billion.

That's $54 billion dollars a year - just for jewelry.

And fashion jewelry captures a an awe inspiring 22% of that $54 billion dollars. That's almost $12 billion dollars spend on fashion jewelry - every year.

Fashion jewelry is both trendy and timeless. Certain pieces are considered classics and can be worn with anything from jeans to formal wear. Other items have a certain shelf life or season and are usually discarded when that fashion cycle is through.

Between the two, there is a tremendous demand for high quality, fashion jewelry. Fashion jewelry is jewelry that is made from semi precious materials like turquoise, jasper and sea shells. It's often electroplated with either gold or rhodium (a member of the platinum family). Electroplated means that the gold or rhodium is chemically attached to a base metal. This electroplating gives the look of the pure metal and a fraction of the price.

While you can find fashion jewelry at department stores, your best bet for finding the classic jewelry you need along with this season's style is at a lia sophia jewelry party. lia sophia offers classic jewelry and the hottest trend jewelry at incredible prices. And, unlike what you'd get a department store, lia sophia jewelry comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee. If it breaks - it's replaced. Try finding that guarantee at a department store.

At lia sophia, we truly believe that if you can dream it, you can achieve it. From our generous compensation program to our Customer Save Plan, lia sophia puts you in the driver's seat.

As a lia sophia advisor, you can share your love for jewelry, make a fantastic income and reap the benefits of a home based business.

The jewelry business is one of the few areas where you can actually get paid to wear the merchandise! As you buy jewelry to start your business (inventory) you can wear that jewelry around town to generate interest. Try doing that with plastic wear!

Gold jewelry is popular among men and rightfully so. Gold is a beautiful metal that boasts masculinity and prestige. Gold is timeless and will forever be a classic piece of gentleman's jewelry. However, due to the rising prices of gold these days, men's jewelry is becoming less affordable by the year. Men's jewelry is particularly affected by rising gold prices because men's jewelry is significantly larger and thus heavier than women's jewelry. This means that for a woman's 5 gram chain, a $3 per gram increase in price only means a $15 increase. However, when you're dealing with a 50 gram men's chain, all of a sudden this is a whopping $150 increase in the price of the same item.

A Smarter Choice

A better alternative to solid gold jewelry is gold bonded jewelry for men. Gold bonded jewelry is created with a cheaper base metal, and manufactured with the same specifications as solid gold jewelry. The finish, which is the part that you see and feel, is coated with a thick coat of genuine 24k gold. This produces a very beautiful and durable finish that is similar to that of solid gold jewelry. Fashion jewelry has come a long way since you likely remember. Nowadays, fashion jewelry chains are heavier than ever and coated with a higher content of gold. You can expect to get much enjoyment out of your chain for the money.

Some argue that fashion jewelry is a rip off because the product will eventually wear out and you'll have to purchase another. Let's take a real life example. A decent sized men's Figaro chain in 14k would cost about 00. A gold bonded chain would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $20. When you buy the 14k chain at $800, you'll lose about $100-$150 in value the moment you step out of the store. Used jewelry is always worth less than new jewelry. If your gold bonded chain wears out, you only lost $20. You're losing a lot more when purchasing expensive solid gold jewelry. This is not mentioning what you could have done with the $780 price difference between the two.