• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 11, 2012

When it came to high-end spangles, consumers hit the brakes moving into the holidays, with Tiffany & Co. reporting disappointing sales results for the holiday period.

"After achieving very strong and better-than-expected sales and earnings growth in the first three quarters of 2011, sales weakened markedly in the United States and Europe during the holiday season, reflecting restrained spending by consumers for fine jewelry,” its CEO Michael J. Kowalski says in a statement. As a result, the retailer lowered its forecast for the year ahead.

For the two-month period ending Dec. 31, net sales gained 7% from the prior year, with comparable- store sales increasing 4%, or 2% on a constant currency basis. And sales at its New York City flagship actually declined 1%, while combined Internet and catalog sales fell 4%.

But lower-end jewelers turned in stronger performances. Zale Corp. says sales at its stores in the bling-intensive months of November and December rose 6%, as did same-store results, although the company predicts slightly lower profit margins for the quarter, “primarily driven by the holiday advertising campaign and marketing for the launch of proprietary products.”

And at Signet, the Bermuda-based parent of major specialty chains in the U.S. and the U.K., overall same-store sales gained 7.8%, with its U.S. division turning in stronger results. Same-store sales in the U.S. -- which account for 81% of sales -- rose 9.8% at Kay and 10% at Jared.

“We believe our strong performance in both the U.S. and the U.K. for the holiday season and year to date is due to the exceptional execution by our teams in both divisions,” CEO Mike Barnes says in its release. “Our performance is built on the long term competitive strengths of the business, including the great customer experience which our teams deliver, the strength of our merchandise, our continued investment in advertising to support our store concepts and merchandising initiatives, and our US customer finance programs, which are highly effective in supporting our customers jewelry purchases.”