As gold and silver prices have fluctuated sharply over the past year, independent jewelers have had to make quick decisions about pricing, margins and messaging. Now, they’re using London Fashion Week to showcase their covetable styles and communicate industry value and stability.
Toby Vernon, founder of 5-year-old jewelry company The Ouze, said changes in materials prices have not slowed demand for the company’s products. Instead, they have sharpened how it talks about value. The Ouze produces handcrafted rings, pendants, earrings and bespoke engagement pieces in sterling silver, 9-karat gold and 18-karat gold, often set with diamonds and raw sapphires. Core silver styles typically start at $250-$400, while gold rings range from $900-$3,000, depending on weight and stone. Bespoke engagement pieces can run significantly higher, depending on materials.
“The problems we [experienced] were that the invoices were getting higher, and at the end of the year, our margins were less than last year,” Vernon said regarding the initial spike in gold prices. “We only just increased prices for our January collection, to reflect our new [materials] prices.”
Shoppers expected the price adjustments. “A lot of people were asking, ‘Is it a good time to buy?’” he said. “[Jewelry prices] making headlines and being in the mainstream press helped a little bit.” The Ouze has also offered discounts to shoppers who bring in scrap metal, helping lure customers while allowing the company to protect margins that are now tight, he said.
Because customers have been worried about further price increases, they’re actually buying more gold jewelry than in seasons past.
The company presented its February collection, dubbed “The Process Is the Point,” during London Fashion Week on Friday. “We treat these presentations more like an installation, and then the jewelry follows,” Vernon said. “We wanted to show the process of making jewelry, rather than just the finished piece.”
Finished pieces were displayed alongside wax models and pieces that appeared half-made. “You’ve got to melt a piece of jewelry maybe 10 times, and then you polish it a couple of times, and then you have the final piece,” he said. “But there are all these past failures and experiments and samples that come before the finished point.” In a market aware of gold’s price per gram, that transparency reinforces why a piece costs what it does. Vernon likened jewelry to music, in which hours of preparation precede a performance. Music sheets hung from the rafters of the show space to display the similarity in the two processes.
The broader London jewelry industry has stepped into the London Fashion Week spotlight alongside The Ouze. Ida Petersson, co-founder of the Good Eggs Agency, said the momentum has been building for years.
“The jewelry scene in the U.K. has been rising quietly for quite some time,” she said. “It has been a pleasure to see the category and its very talented designers take more of a center stage at London Fashion Week over the past year, with both shows and presentations appearing on the official schedule.” Other jewelry brands on schedule this week include Octi, Samantha Siu and Completedworks.
For its part, Completedworks, known for sculptural earrings, gold vermeil and fine gold pieces that typically range from $300-$1,500, staged one of the most anticipated presentations on the schedule. Actress Jemima Kirke drew attention through the show’s performance element. Completedworks also opened a pop-up at Nobu Hotel London Portman Square for the duration of LFW and released a sneaker collaboration with Asics on February 21.
The trend feels timely, Petersson said. “Like its ready-to-wear designers [including Simone Rocha and Chopova Lowena], London’s [jewelry] creations are brave, original and just the right side of quirky, which feels particularly relevant as we move away from minimalism.”
International players have taken note of London’s growing role as a jewelry hub. U.S. brand Foundrae opened its first store outside the U.S. in London in 2023, followed by Spinelli Kilcollin, which debuted its first international boutique in Mayfair in 2024.
“Business has been good,” Vernon said. The Ouze’s team has almost tripled in size, with metal artists and office staff supporting branding and graphics. “Now we’re able to refine the branding and the messaging and step up the whole brand.”
The Ouze is stocked at Harrods and Liberty, while direct-to-consumer sales in the U.K., the U.S. and Japan continue to grow. It will be stocked in Dover Street Market this year.
“I think in the age of AI, it’s even more rewarding to celebrate [jewelry’s] people and craft,” Vernon said. “You just can’t fake it.”
Gold prices are expected to remain elevated in 2026, with a Reuters poll showing median forecasts around $4,275 per ounce and some institutions projecting up to $4,600–$5,000 per ounce this year. Silver prices are also forecast to remain high, with analysts in the Reuters poll projecting $50 per ounce on average this year. According to U.K. research company Mintel, the U.K. jewelry and watches retail market is expected to exceed £6.4 billion ($8 billion) this year.