Online
jewelry sales have exploded in recent years, reaching $2.5 billion in 2006,
up from $2.1 billion in 2005 and $1.7 billion in 2004, according to IDEX Online,
a business-to-business diamond trading exchange that analyzes data from the U.S.
Department of Commerce. Buying a $10 paperback from Amazon or a 99-cent
new release from iTunes is now commonplace. But has online shopping matured to
the point where people don't blink at dropping a $20,000 half-carat diamond into
an online shopping basket or a diamond stud
earring and proceeding to checkout?