This week’s 17th of May holiday has revealed another indication that the Norwegian economy isn’t doing as poorly as some might like to think. Sales of the decorative and expensive silver and even gold jewelry that adorns the traditional Norwegian costumes known as the bunad are soaring, along with sales of the garments themselves.
“We’ve sold 15 percent more of the belts made of silver or decorated with silver this year,” Kristin Myhre of silversmiths Sylvsmidja in Voss told news bureau NTB. “It seems like folks feel a need to show status, and in these times of a downturn, bunad silver is a safe way to do it.”
The smelters at the family-owned firm have been roaring in recent weeks, with around 3,000 kilos of silver turned into buckles, clasps, pins and belts with intricate designs. Myhre said sales have continued to steadily increase for years, but this year the growth has been well into the double digits.
Linda Brenden, marketing chief at the Bjørklund jewelry store chain, confirmed the trend. “We’ve had a huge incease in the sale of bunad silver,” Brenden told NTB. “There’s no doubt that the bunad has become a trendy folk costume, also among the young,”
newsinenglish.no staff
