Pandora to Shift Charm Bracelets From Silver to Platinum
Nytimes reports that Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry brand by volume, said it will make more of its charm bracelets with platinum to hold down costs after a sharp rise in silver prices. The company buys more than 300 tons of silver every year and plans the change as part of efforts to reduce reliance on sterling silver.
Silver has set a series of record highs and, at $80 per ounce, is more than twice as expensive as a year ago. Platinum has climbed more modestly, about 3 percent to roughly $2,100 an ounce, and Pandora said it will introduce a line of platinum-plated products and aims within a year to have shifted at least half of its silver products to platinum plating on a metal alloy to mitigate raw material cost increases.
Chief executive Berta de Pablos‑Barbier said heavy dependence on a single commodity is risky.