Davenport & Company’s “Jewelry Industry Advisor” is back in print after a three-year hiatus. The jewelry-specific newsletter tracks valuation, merger and acquisition, and capital-raising activity related to retailers, distributors, and manufacturers of jewelry, as well as miners.

According to Joe Oliver III, director, Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Richmond, Va., “We’ve seen a 47% increase in M and A activity in the United States in the past six months. In particular, we’re seeing much more interest and discussion in the jewelry sector.”

This sort of jewelry industry activity might be due largely to several key trends, such as consolidation among diamond wholesalers and jewelry manufacturers. Also, on the retailing side, designer jewelry is growing while companies focusing on the middle market are being squeezed. “Jewelry remains such a fragmented industry compared to others such as apparel and perfume,” says Oliver. “The level of branded products in jewelry is lower, which is driving some of the consolidation. You have to be bigger to serve the retailer, to manage the financing side of the business, and to make attractive enough margins to compete.”

Now a biannual newsletter, the “Jewelry Industry Advisor” (printed in partnership with jewelry industry analyst Ken Gassman) will be of interest to those who track financing and merger trends relating to middle-market jewelers. According to Oliver, “middle-market retailers and suppliers with revenue of $10 million to $100 million make up a major part of the jewelry industry.”

For more information about the newsletter or for jewelry-specific financial consulting, call Oliver at (804) 697-2920, or look for information in the online JCK Research & Stock Art Store at http://store.yahoo.com/jckresearch/index.html. A one-year subscription (two issues) to the “Jewelry Industry Advisor” costs $199. A holiday issue will be available around Christmas.