Japanese are marrying less and buying fewer rings, cutting demand in the second-biggest platinum jewelry market in the world to the lowest in at least 33 years, according to Johnson Matthey, a refiner in London.

Net consumption of platinum for jewelry will probably drop 15 percent to 305,000 ounces, or 8.64 million grams, this year, Rainaldo O'Meara, a research manager at the refiner said. The number of wedding-age Japanese is falling, cutting marriages in Japan by more than 26 percent in 2006 from 1970 levels, Health Ministry figures show..

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