NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- Just one in seven Americans (15 percent) plans to purchase jewelry this holiday season, according to the findings of a new survey by Money Magazine and market-research firm ICR.

A similar number are undecided.

Neither sex was more likely to make a jewelry purchase (just 15 percent of men surveyed and 14 percent of women), but considerably fewer Americans ages 55 and over indicated they would be buying jewelry (4 percent versus 19 percent for those under age 55.)

When asked how much they would ever spend on a single piece of jewelry, more Americans would opt for a less expensive item, with two-in-five (41 percent) indicating the most they'd spend is less than $250.

Those with household incomes $75,000 and above were most likely to make a jewelry purchase above $1,500 (41 percent of those polled) as were younger Americans (30 percent of those under 35 years old) and those with at least a college degree (27 percent).

Approximately two in five Americans (42 percent) would substitute less-expensive metals - such as palladium, titanium, or stainless steel - for gold, silver and platinum. Forty-five percent would not make substitutions.

The Money/ICR poll was conducted by telephone with a sample of 1,010 Americans between Aug.16 and Aug. 20 . The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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