AMZN: Amazon.com Jewelry and Watches Sales up More Than 100 Percent in Second Quarter 2006

Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced that second quarter 2006 jewelry and watches sales increased more than 100 percent year-over-year. Each quarter, an increasing number of Amazon.com's millions of customers are shopping the Amazon.com Jewelry & Watches store, especially for important gift-giving occasions, such as Mother's Day and summer engagements.

"More and more customers are discovering the convenience and value for gift purchases on Amazon.com," said Steven Goldsmith, vice president, Amazon.com Jewelry & Watches store. "Particularly for engagement rings, customers are finding huge selection amongst some of the lowest prices for high-quality engagement rings."

Custom-built engagement ring sales on Amazon.com in the second quarter increased 254 percent year-over-year. In addition, Amazon.com's selection of unique loose diamonds has increased 30% since January 2006 from 2.1 to 2.6 million unique loose stone/setting configurations. With the extensive loose diamond selection and low prices ranging from $235 to $120,000, customers can also choose from a wide range of sizes and cuts. Through Amazon's proprietary "Create Your Own Ring" feature, customers can easily choose from more than 200 setting styles and many shapes and cuts, such as the Asscher and Princess cuts and the current customer favorite, the Round Brilliant cut.

Every piece of jewelry sold by Amazon.com is inspected by jewelry professionals to verify quality attributes and ensure an excellent product. Customers will find detailed product specifications about each of the piece's components, including gemstones, settings and metal stamps. A Learning Center provides buying guides for pearls, diamonds, precious metals, and watches. Loose stones are independently certified to be a specific cut, clarity, color, shape and weight. Finally, the store provides all of the tools and helpful information that Amazon.com customers know and love, such as Customer Reviews, Top Sellers lists, So You'd Like To guides and Listmania lists.