What are the five top jewelry markets in the world brokken down by the
following classifications; fine,semi precious or sterling, fashion or
costume; and who are the typical consumers?
2004 results would be appreciated but 2003 could also be useful

I can only comment on high end jewellery.

I make and sell custom jewellery online @ www.platinumsmith.com.au and
I have been steadily investigating the online business in jewellery
ever since I started doing trade work for a huge on-line customer.

That said, I will take a shot at your question.

Diamonds can be good or bad and find themselves at high end boutique
jewellers or in the mall shops and the difference in look and cost is
immense.  So at the high end you had better be educated.

The area between boutique and costume is really blurred.  Generally
costume is not made out of expensive materials and is sold as fashion
accessories.  I know nothing about this market.

Up from there is silver and it can be high-end (say Tiffany) or out
right cheap.  It is actually not expensive and what you pay for is the
designers name and the workmanship etc.

A little higher and you have 9ct+ jewellery with diamonds that look
awfull and it is invariable made fast and for a look - there is no
quality there.

Then we have 18k+ gold (I know there are more), and most of this is
ok.  The general jewellery made today is assembled from castings. 
Done well the ring takes 2-5 times longer to make then some of what
you see.  The way it is finished is all important.

Then there is high end jewellery.  It can be made in any matal, but in
reality will be 18k or platinum with some exotic metals filtering in. 
The emphasis here is to create quality in every area and this field
caters for the fussiest people.

Last of all we have custom made jewellery which should be the best but
very often isn't.  A lot of custom made jewellery is called that
mostly because it sounds good.  (Same goes with the term 'hand made').
 Considerations must be made in view of materials, design, the
customers needs and expectations, and the quality must rival anything
on the market or best it.

Hope this helps.

Sorry if I am a bit off but this is a jewellers perspective.

www.cordis.lu/growth/calls/top-4.31.htm

Global Jewellery Market Value: 90 billion
of which: 

US $ 
45 % USA 
22 % Japan 
10 % Italy 
8 % UK 
6 % Germany 
3 % France 
5 % Other Countries


www.gold.org/value/markets/supply_demand/jewellery.html?PHPSESSID=84b45e0bdfd47100da7cc66c606cdd54

Some of the information that you seek is contained for UK and US in
Signet group's annual report which covers:
- Retail Jewellery Market Growth   
- Market Fragmentation   
- Top Speciality Retail Jewellers   
- Retail Jewellery Market Map  
- Retail Sector Growth 
- Speciality Retail Jewellery Market Size 
- Jewellery Purchase per Capita 
 
The Signet Group is one of the largest high street retailers in UK and
US of mass-market non-costume jewellery. See
http://www.signetgroupplc.com/signetplc/about/industrystats/

I can only speak for the high-end diamonds market as I look after
London sales for an Antwerp-based diamond trading and bespoke design
company: www.designsbyindigo.co.uk

According to the Diamond High Council of Antwerp (www.hrd.be) Antwerp
is the largest diamond market: "8 out of 10 of all rough diamonds are
handled in Antwerp" and "1 out of 2 of all polished diamonds passes
through Antwerp".

There are some more diamond market statistics that can be gleaned from:

1) De Beers annual report (they are still the largest supplier of
rough diamonds). http://www.debeersgroup.com/debeersweb/General/News+Archives/De+Beers+sa+2004+Annual+Results.htm

2) Alrosa annual report(they are one of the main competitors to De
Beers and supply rough diamonds from
Russia)http://eng.alrosa.ru/reports/ars2003eng.pdf

3) Canadian diamond statistics - there are a number of mines operating
in Canada which from some sources is estimated to be the third largest
producer of diamonds after Botwana and Russia see 
http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/11-621-MIE/11-621-MIE2004008.htm

From my perspective, there is no typical client for high-end diamond
jewellery - they are as varied as diamonds and designs. Typically
clients come to traders like us to get the diamond of their choice in
a design of their choice for a direct from Antwerp trade price - often
this is half the retail price. Despite being a small company with an
office in only Antwerp and London: we get clients who travel in from
all over Europe, USA , South Africa, Australia and from other parts of
the world - showing that consumers are more mobile than ever and will
seek out a diamond suppliers irrespective of geography.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes
Indira

A useful free resource to dip into is www.antwerpfacets.com for
diamond news and articles from the HRD

For example, for statistics on:

a) The Marketplace: U.S. market for jewelry and watches $57.4 billion in 2004 

U.S. consumers spent $57.4 billion on jewelry and watches in 2004, a
6.9 percent increase over the previous year, according to a study by
Dublin, Ireland-based Research and Markets reported in Jewelers
Circular Keystone. The market for all durable goods rose only 4.7
percent. see full article at
http://www.antwerpfacets.com/NewsAgency/detail.aspx?NewsletterID=87&NewsletterItemID=839

b) U.S. retail diamond jewelry market grows for 9th consecutive year 

The Diamond Information Center at J Walter Thompson has announced that
retail sales of diamond jewelry increased by 8.2 percent in the U.S.
in 2004. Total U.S. retail sales for the diamond jewelry
category?which represents over 50 percent sales worldwide?totaled
$31.5 billion in 2004, a $2.4 billion increase over 2003 sales of
$29.1 billion. Transactions grew by 4 percent over 2003 and average
ticket price showed a 4 percent growth as well.

For full article see 
http://www.antwerpfacets.com/NewsAgency/detail.aspx?NewsletterID=88&NewsletterItemID=858

There is also more info in their archives.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes
Indira