Why is the jewelry at chain stores cheaper than the jewelry at individual jewelers?

Answer 1

There could be many reasons for this. Buying power, what country they bought it from, quality of stones, and of course greed may have something to do with it.

Chain stores can negotiate lower prices because of the volume they buy.
Smaller stores need to make a certain return on their investment and have to do that on a few items, where the chains can do the same thing on volume, or so the thinking goes.

And weather they buy direct from the manufacturer or go through a middleman.