Roberto Coin sees jewellery pickup in 2011

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian

LONDON (Reuters) - The jewelry industry will only see a pickup in 2011 with this year being the "worst," Italian jewelry designer Roberto Coin said on Wednesday.

"I see a (2011) pickup around the world because the damage cannot go any further than in 2009 ... (2009) is the worst," Coin told the Reuters Luxury Summit in London. "(There will be) certain improvement (in 2010), but not that much." Jewelry brands have not been spared by the global economic crisis which has sapped demand for pieces and even well-heeled clients have cut back. Last month, Italian jeweller Bulgari (BULG.MI) posted its first quarterly loss in 10 years.

All markets had been affected, but Coin cited Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria as areas where he saw demand.

For the first six months of this year, he said the Roberto Coin brand -- founded in 1996 -- was down 20 percent at the wholesale level. As wholesaler, he said the brand sold more than $200 million last year.

Coin, who has said "jewelry must be immune from economic pessimism," is famous for his bespoke diamond-rich gold pieces.

He has created a Capri Plus collection which offers pieces of identical design made with materials from ebony to silver and gold and from semi-precious stones to diamond.

Price tags vary from $2,500 to $50,000, retail value.

"It's a top-down strategy, very innovative in the jewelry industry," Coin said.

"We are saying put that in the window now, put all the five different price points, show them to the clients, show them the price and let them decide which price they feel comfortable with, but you are showing the same design."

Coin, who would previously do different collections at different prices, said the line had "been a success" at jewelry fairs. "At the moment we reached out to the retailer, and the retailer loved it," he said.

Like others, Coin said consumers were looking for more valuable pieces in the current tough climate.

"The more unique you make the pieces, and then the more the high-level clientele will restart to rebuy because they want something more unique than everybody else," he said.

Coin, who sells his pieces worldwide through various sales points, also has a small number of his own shops in the United States, Dubai, Venice and Rome. He said he was opening in the near future in Prague and Moscow.

"We are waiting for the opportunity to go to either Bahrain or Kuwait," he said. "We will do it very slowly, we are not in a hurry."