According to the Associated Press, the wealthy were back to big spending this past holiday season.  That means high-end jewelry retailers like Tiffany's and Damiani saw shoppers searching for most expensive jewelry in diamonds and gold.

Tiffany & Co. talked of holiday sales that were better than expected and raised their profit outlook for 2011 accordingly.  They noticed that more people were buying expensive fine jewelry and diamond rings then in months past.  Though silver jewelry was what Tiffany customers had been buying in the past during the recession, the diamond retailer noticed that numbers were lower in that category in favor of high-end diamond jewelry.

"Financially speaking, wealthy Americans much better withstood the latest downturn than have lower-income Americans," said John Lonski, chief economist of Moody's Capital Markets Research Group. "There was a drop-off there for a while, but it seems as though they've rebounded quite nicely."
LA model and author Ariane Sommer bought herself a $3000 diamond ring from Italian jeweler Damiani because she said she hasn't splurged on herself in over two years.

According to stats, the major splurges happened the week before Christmas.  A Gallup poll says daily spending by upper-class shoppers rose 45 percent to $183 before Dec. 26. It only rose 18 percent for all shoppers. 

This is a big difference from six months ago when wealthier American were worried about a stock market slide and cut back.  As the stock market comes back, they are starting to buy from higher-end brands again. 

While the numbers aren't back to what they were before the recession, things are looking up. Luxury jewelry spending rose 10.4 percent higher from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, than it had been last year around the same time, says MasterCard Advisor SpendingPulse.

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