Mother’s Day jewelry spending to top $7.5 billion in 2026

Jewelry is set to be the biggest Mother’s Day gift category by dollars spent in 2026, with shoppers expected to pour $7.5 billion into pieces that carry more than sparkle. The real story behind the number is sentiment: this is the season for gifts that can be customized, worn daily and tied to a name, a date or a family story instead of passing as a generic gesture.

That appetite for specificity shows up in the numbers. The National Retail Federation projects total Mother’s Day spending will hit a record $38 billion, with consumers planning to spend an average of $284.25 each. Jewelry leads all gift categories, ahead of special outings at $6.4 billion and electronics at $4.4 billion, while flowers and greeting cards trail at $3.2 billion and $1.3 billion. NRF said 84% of U.S. adults plan to celebrate the holiday, and among those celebrating, 54% expect to buy for a mother or stepmother, 22% for a wife and 13% for a daughter.

For personalized jewelry, that matters. NRF found that 45% of consumers plan to purchase jewelry for a loved one this Mother’s Day, and its 2025 survey showed shoppers were especially drawn to gifts that felt unique or different and created a special memory. That is the territory where initials, birthstones, names and family motifs outperform more generic fine jewelry, because each one turns a simple pendant or ring into a private keepsake. A bezel-set birthstone, for example, reads differently from a prong-set stone: it feels more secure, more wearable and better suited to the kind of everyday piece a mother may never want to take off.

The strongest examples in the market lean into that intimacy rather than away from it. Fourteen August’s Irene ring, named for founder Diana Bufalini’s mother, captures the emotional logic behind the category in one object. The name is not decoration. It is the point. In a season when shoppers are looking for gifts that feel singular, a piece with a personal name, a meaningful stone or a family reference carries more weight than a purely ornamental design.

NRF has tracked Mother’s Day spending since 2003, which makes the 2026 figures especially telling: jewelry spending rose from $6.8 billion last year to $7.5 billion now, even as online and department stores remain the top shopping destinations at 33% each. For mothers, stepmothers, wives and daughters alike, the winning pieces are likely to be the ones that feel authored, not selected by default.