SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2006--Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced that second quarter 2006 jewelry and watches sales increased more than 100 percent year-over-year. Each quarter, an increasing number of Amazon.com's millions of customers are shopping the Amazon.com Jewelry & Watches store, especially for important gift-giving occasions, such as Mother's Day and summer engagements.

"More and more customers are discovering the convenience and value for gift purchases on Amazon.com," said Steven Goldsmith, vice president, Amazon.com Jewelry & Watches store. "Particularly for engagement rings, customers are finding huge selection amongst some of the lowest prices for high-quality engagement rings."

Custom-built engagement ring sales on Amazon.com in the second quarter increased 254 percent year-over-year. In addition, Amazon.com's selection of unique loose diamonds has increased 30% since January 2006 from 2.1 to 2.6 million unique loose stone/setting configurations. With the extensive loose diamond selection and low prices ranging from $235 to $120,000, customers can also choose from a wide range of sizes and cuts. Through Amazon's proprietary "Create Your Own Ring" feature, customers can easily choose from more than 200 setting styles and many shapes and cuts, such as the Asscher and Princess cuts and the current customer favorite, the Round Brilliant cut.

Every piece of jewelry sold by Amazon.com is inspected by jewelry professionals to verify quality attributes and ensure an excellent product. Customers will find detailed product specifications about each of the piece's components, including gemstones, settings and metal stamps. A Learning Center provides buying guides for pearls, diamonds, precious metals, and watches. Loose stones are independently certified to be a specific cut, clarity, color, shape and weight. Finally, the store provides all of the tools and helpful information that Amazon.com customers know and love, such as Customer Reviews, Top Sellers lists, So You'd Like To guides and Listmania lists.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and third-party sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished, and used items in categories such as health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, significant amount of indebtedness, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, payments, fraud, consumer trends, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, and all subsequent filings.

CONTACT: Amazon.com, Seattle
Media Relations, 206-266-7180

SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc.