Thursday, 23rd February 2006 (4071 views)

Jewellery has been confirmed as the Valentine's gift of choice by a recent study on British spending habits.

According to Barclaycard Business, British lovers shelled out three times more on jewellery for their beaus than on flowers, this February 14th.

The research looked at debit and credit card spending on jewellery and flowers, and found that there is a "marked" variance in spending levels up and down the country.

While Londoners finished top, spending an average of £146 per Valentine's Day transaction, inhabitants of Powys in Wales spent just £32 per transaction.

The top ten UK regions all had an average transaction spend exceeding £90, while the figure for the bottom ten ranged from £32 to £58.

"There is a significant difference across the country in the average amount spent on traditional gifts such as jewellery and flowers, indicating that while we may believe in the notion of spoiling our Valentine, not all of us want to suffer the real price of love," commented Barclaycard Business spokesperson, Brendan Rogers.

The most spent on jewellery in a single transaction was £64,000 in Manchester, while one Norwich-based Casanova shelled out £316 on a bunch of flowers.

Recent figures from US market research outfit comScore also indicate the growing popularity of Valentine's Day jewellery on the other side of the Atlantic. It registered a 24 per cent rise in jewellery and watch purchases to $219 million between the beginning of 2006 and February 9th.

 

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