For the noun meaning articles, especially of gold, silver, or precious stones, used for personal adornment, jewelry is the preferred spelling in American English. Jewellery is preferred in varieties of English from outside North America. Both spellings appear in Canadian English, but jewelry prevails by a two-to-one margin.
The spelling difference extends to jeweler (American English) and jeweller (British and Australian English), as well as to other derivatives such as jeweled–jewelled and jeweling–jewelling. But jewel (not jewell) is the correct spelling in all varieties of English.
Examples
For example, these American publications use the one-l spellings:
Police in Rosenberg are hoping the public can help them find more than 30 watches stolen from a jewelry store last month. [Houston Chronicle]
Downtown Denver jeweler Damon Musselman is in his first season as a beekeeper. [Denver Post]
One of his favorite gifts is a jeweled white robe presented by Elvis Presley, adorned with the words “The People’s Champion.” [CNN]
And these British and Australian publications use two l‘s:
A woman was robbed at knifepoint by a man who came to her home to view a piece of jewellery she had advertised over the internet. [BBC]
Mr Thiruvilangam, who had been a jeweller for 23 years, now worried every time someone walked into his shop. [The Age]
In spring, Berber women in brightly embroidered red slippers and jewelled black robes gather almonds from the groves. [Telegraph]
