Jewelry retailers have of course been suffering through months of low demand. The Christmas season was down sharply from previous years. Whitehall Jewelers Inc., Shane Company, Fortunoff, and Robbins Bros. Corp are among the larger retailers who have filed for bankruptcy protection or gone out of business. Zales is closing 115 stores. Online shop Blue Nile is weathering out the storm so far with no debt and $54.5 million in cash. They’re smartly keeping their inventory focused on classics that will sell as couples continue to get engaged and married. Over on the materials side, the price of platinum plunged by half last year, which meant that jewelers who bought inventory when prices were closer to $2000 an ounce, had to take losses selling in the more recent $700-1000 range. Gold, considered a safe haven in a volatile market, has risen, causing a different problem for jewelers who need to buy. DeBeers, who made a huge business of controlling diamond inventory, though new suppliers have halted their monopoly, has taken out a $500 million loan to make it through the downturn. They are also slowing down or halting production at their various mines. The expected demand from the growth of wealth in China and India was curtailed as the recession spread and DeBeers has excess stock to work through.