Valentine’s Day is coming — are you prepared? If you’re planning to head off to your favorite 47th Street jeweler for that all-important romantic gesture, you might want to hurry. He may not be there much longer.

Walk down the fabled Diamond and Jewelry Way, and you will witness a street, and indeed a business, in transition. Empty booths, and even empty lots, give some hint of the turmoil within, which is causing many longtime vendors to retire, develop a Web site, or open stores elsewhere.

Kevin Puskul is the owner of jeweler Bucciari and has worked at the prestigious exchange Jewelers on Fifth for 31 years. He has a large, well-positioned booth just off Fifth Avenue where he sells attractive and fairly expensive pieces to a loyal clientele. Like many others, he is concerned about the vacancies popping up along 47th Street and cites many reasons for the turnover.

“There are more high-end stores opening up around the country,” he says. “Buyers don’t need to come into New York. Also, the product on the street has changed. It’s not as high quality; a lot of it is made in China.”

Also, Mr. Puskul laments the rents local landlords are charging, which have spiraled higher in recent years. “When I started out, I was paying $1,600 a month. Now I’m paying many times that amount,” he said.

Across the aisle from Mr. Puskul is an empty booth, until recently leased by an outfit called Weiser, which finally threw in the towel and moved down the street to an exchange with considerably less foot traffic — and less cache. Mr. Weiser had been at the exchange for 25 years and was struggling with the rising rents. He had tried to negotiate with the landlord, but to no avail. According to Mr. Puskul, the benefits from being at the most-coveted exchange are waning, with fewer buyers coming in from the avenue.

Mr. Puskul recently opened a store in Edgewater, N.J., where he sells lower-priced jewelry to a somewhat different clientele. He has also tried selling on the Internet, but has found success only in selling brand-name merchandise, at unprofitably low prices.

The challenges to the longtime diamond district are numerous. Perhaps the gravest threat to the retailers is the emergence of the online jewelry trade. Ebay and well-known jewelry sites such as Blue Nile are enticing buyers who find shopping from home easier than driving into the city. Many of the stores along 47th Street have established Web sites to stay competitive, but the Internet is cluttered with vendors, and it is hard to establish a following.

The owner of Firenze Jewelers, Jeffrey Levin, has been in the trade since 1976 and currently serves as chairman of the 47th Street Business Improvement District. Three generations of his family have been involved in the business, which specializes in diamond jewelry.

Mr. Levin says a number of the old-timers on the street are discouraged by the difficulty and expense of keeping a Web site up to date. He also sees a number moving off the street to offices and showrooms on the upper floors of buildings in the area.

Though Mr. Levin’s business is prospering, he acknowledges that the Internet business and flood of imports has pressured dealers. “We’re only making a 5% margin on diamonds,” he says. In the past, dealers could make margins of up to 50%.

Alex Twersky, who works for Finesse, a wholesaler of loose stones, says retailers on the street are facing more competition from luxury department stores, chain stores such as Kay, and even so-called big-box retailers. A division of Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, is featuring a 2-carat emerald cut diamond ring for $16,000 on its Web site, while Costco is offering a diamond necklace for just under $90,000. Imagine! Mr. Twersky says jewelry is increasingly being sold as a commodity, which is not good for the small retailers.

Ironically, retailers have expanded their jewelry offerings because overall the business is growing. As more women have entered the work force, they have come to look at jewelry as yet another accessory and have become regular buyers. Mr. Puskul’s clients are nearly all professional women who are adding to their jewelry wardrobe; he hardly ever meets a husband.

Sam Shafizadeh operates his eponymous stall midway down the street, and says bad publicity also has turned people away from 47th Street. Shocking tales over the past few years of money laundering, fenced goods, and even murders have grabbed headlines and deterred shoppers. Last year the federal government instituted new anti-laundering regulations for jewelry and precious metals dealers, suggesting widespread problems.

One of the tasks of Mr. Levin’s BID has been to improve the security of the block. He calls the street today one of the safest in the world, given the number of police and security personnel on hand. Possibly the most off-putting bad press surfaced in 2005 and concerned a scandal at the Gemological Institute of America. The GIA carries out the grading of gemstones and issues certificates that attest to the quality of a stone. Various wholesalers were caught bribing GIA employees to upgrade the dealers’ stones falsely.

Nothing could have been more damaging to the district in further undermining the confidence of buyers. Since the industry routinely advises buying pieces authenticated with a GIA certificate, the disclosures were shocking.

Although he acknowledges that 47th Street has its issues, Mr. Levin is optimistic. A new 725,000-square-foot office building is planned for midblock, which could bring much-needed relief on rents and become the anchor for a revitalized district. He says he hopes the building will add to the BID’s revenues, allowing for further improvements in sanitation and perhaps advertising.

In the meantime, the remaining street dealers have plenty of offerings just perfect for Valentine’s Day. Just remember to comparison shop — and request a GIA certificate. Does that spoil the romance?

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