Americans spent more than $6 billion on jewelry in 1997, and are projected to spend nearly $8 billion by 2006. In addition, the U.S. online jewelry market will grow from $77 million in 1999 to more than $1 billion in 2004, according to the IDC, a leading provider of IT industry analysis and market data. Compare that to the nearly $1 billion in jewelry stolen in 1998, with only 4.4 percent recovered, according to statistics provided to the Insurance Information Institute by the FBI. With consumer jewelry spending continuing to rise, and increasing numbers of non-traditional retailers and websites adding jewelry to their inventories, consumers should be aware of ways to protect themselves and their jewelry purchases as the holiday shopping season begins.
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