Not a colored-stone question, per se, but let's say I want to put a colored-stone slider on this. You are my peeps so looking for your opinions please!
The same almost-retired B&M jeweler who was selling the oxblood coral has two handmade heavy 18K YG chains -- one a polished graduated link and one a sleek tubogas. They are "new" (unworn; old stock, I suppose), extremely well-made, contemporary, and European (maybe made within the last couple decades) -- one is French and one is German. I went to pick up the ring so it's a little like, "Hey, do you want fries with that?"
When I price them by gram-weight alone (and correct for 18K) and use the high recent spot price for gold, I see that one is only 50% over "melt value" (I hate that term, but whatever) and the other is only 30% over melt value. I am accustomed to 2X -- and that matches what I see on Lang for their heavyweight chains and also what I see on 1st Dibs (recognizing that this is a little inflated). And when I poke around online, I see anywhere from 100% - 400% markup as typical, and even up to 9X. (Presumably the highest markups are the lightest chains.)
I would not buy gold as an investment but this seems tempting. Plus, these are not commoditized "by the foot" machine-made 14K chains. (Also: I know that an elephant for a quarter is only a good deal if you have a quarter and need an elephant.)
Do you have a mental benchmark for this type of thing? Mine had pretty much been that I would never do better than about 2X (100% mark-up) on gold and it could be much higher if something were superbly made or engraved, etc. I am helped in this math by the gold run-up, which could head back down very soon. Again, I do not speculate in gold or jewelry and generally just buy simple, low-key things to enjoy.
The same almost-retired B&M jeweler who was selling the oxblood coral has two handmade heavy 18K YG chains -- one a polished graduated link and one a sleek tubogas. They are "new" (unworn; old stock, I suppose), extremely well-made, contemporary, and European (maybe made within the last couple decades) -- one is French and one is German. I went to pick up the ring so it's a little like, "Hey, do you want fries with that?"
When I price them by gram-weight alone (and correct for 18K) and use the high recent spot price for gold, I see that one is only 50% over "melt value" (I hate that term, but whatever) and the other is only 30% over melt value. I am accustomed to 2X -- and that matches what I see on Lang for their heavyweight chains and also what I see on 1st Dibs (recognizing that this is a little inflated). And when I poke around online, I see anywhere from 100% - 400% markup as typical, and even up to 9X. (Presumably the highest markups are the lightest chains.)
I would not buy gold as an investment but this seems tempting. Plus, these are not commoditized "by the foot" machine-made 14K chains. (Also: I know that an elephant for a quarter is only a good deal if you have a quarter and need an elephant.)
Do you have a mental benchmark for this type of thing? Mine had pretty much been that I would never do better than about 2X (100% mark-up) on gold and it could be much higher if something were superbly made or engraved, etc. I am helped in this math by the gold run-up, which could head back down very soon. Again, I do not speculate in gold or jewelry and generally just buy simple, low-key things to enjoy.
But these are kind of my thoughts, too.
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