Jewelry and Savings

[braga123]

Truth be told, I spent too much on jewelry this year. I am an impulsive shopper, and am surrounded by estate opportunities which I can never seem to pass up. I would like to clarify that I do not go into debt for my purchases, and I have a healthy savings account, pension, home, etc. I travel, have fun, enjoy dinners out. IOW, most of my disposable income goes toward these impulsive purchases. I rationalize that since I am getting deals, I am not wasting my money. I used to spend a lot on designer clothing and handbags, but now I tend to gravitate to jewelry instead. YET Suze Ormann would probably scoff at me for my purchases because according to her, there is no such thing as too much in a savings account. I guess what I want to know from others:

Do you think that purchasing jewelry is a better investment than purchasing other luxurious items or just saving the money in the bank?
What percentage of your disposable income do you consider excessive to spend on jewelry?

Please do not limit your responses to these questions.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Personally I think money is only useful if you're..well, using it to further your happiness.
In the end, you can't take it with you, so assuming all your expenses are in order, your debts/loans paid off, you have a nest egg/plan for retirement/kids etc, and you still have a healthy stash of flexible cash, then you should put it towards what makes you happy. Whether that's travel or shopping or whatever hobby makes you happy.

Personally I do think quality jewelry retains better value than clothing and handbags, you can at least resell them at 50%-75% of cost which is more than I can say for dresses and shoes, haha.

As far as how much to spend, I think it's personal decision making. I have a "fun account" that is 100% money that has no purpose other than to be there for me to spend frivolously, lol, and for the most part, 80% goes towards shiny things because that's what makes me happiest!

 

[dk168]

Having tried to sell some of my jewellery in the past and did not get as much as I had hoped, and the hassles involved, I no longer buy jewellery for investment, and hope that I would never need to sell again.

If I buy anything nowadays, it will be for my personal enjoyment.

I would probably donate whatever I cannot carry with me to the grave to charities or give them to friends, as I am childless and my immediate family does not need looking after.

DK

 

[JewelFreak]

The only way to buy jewelry or stones as an investment is to beat Laurence Graff to them; I buy without expecting any future windfall. Am I going to wear it? Or does it give me a thrill just to look at it unset? I answer those questions & no longer buy on impulse as I did earlier. It's a learning curve. All but 2 of my impulse buys over the years are kind of meh stones on which I'll end up eating most of what they cost.

Nobody in my family is interested in gems (poor schmoes) so to my will I plan to attach a page w/photos of each piece that's worth having appraised & sold at better than a garage sale, explanations of what they are, & lab reports where I have them. Proceeds to go to charities.

I have a separate bank account for gems & settings & only buy what that will support.

--- Laurie

 

[Smith1942]

Personally I think money is only useful if you're..well, using it to further your happiness.
In the end, you can't take it with you, so assuming all your expenses are in order, your debts/loans paid off, you have a nest egg/plan for retirement/kids etc, and you still have a healthy stash of flexible cash, then you should put it towards what makes you happy. Whether that's travel or shopping or whatever hobby makes you happy.

Personally I do think quality jewelry retains better value than clothing and handbags, you can at least resell them at 50%-75% of cost which is more than I can say for dresses and shoes, haha.

As far as how much to spend, I think it's personal decision making. I have a "fun account" that is 100% money that has no purpose other than to be there for me to spend frivolously, lol, and for the most part, 80% goes towards shiny things because that's what makes me happiest!

Hear hear! I couldn't agree more with this. Although, with my cancerous family genes I'm not even sure about the retirement part, lol!

I used to feel guilty about every penny spent. No more! I have bought and bought and bought over the last couple of years - which only works out to a fraction of what we actually have - and it has made me SO happy. I think, all told, I've spent about 35k over 2-3 years. As some PSers might know, I decided to get all the core basics of my jewellery collection now instead of paying the prices of the future. But I have never wasted it - I have waited for sales, tax-free weekends, bought pre-owned, and have never bought something that isn't a good deal. I have pristine pre-owned Cartier and Tiffany rings that were 60 and 70% off retail. Another example is the 0.52 D AGS triple 000 diamond from JA for $1,150. An example of holding back for price reasons is the earrings in Tiffany that I love, but they are plain metal with no stones and are 1k. If I get them at all, I'm waiting for the tax-free weekend, and I passed them up last tax-free weekend too. I worked out that I got an average 35% discount on my jewellery shopping in the last two years - so that discount on every single piece. I've been very aggressive on price.

2013 was a very bad year for me and my jewellery has made me happy in the middle of it all. I look at it, or think of it, and I feel filled with reasonless happiness. That's priceless. Sometimes, lying in bed at night waiting for sleep to come, I think of my jewellery and I always drop off happy instead of dwelling on bad things.

I also don't spend on much else. Not interested in clothes, bags, shoes, or vacations and I have no pet expenses or costly hobbies. Also we don't run a car as we live on a tiny higgledy-piggledy street in central Boston with nowhere to park, and since we're in the centre don't need a car anyway. We do hire one sometimes for days out.

I have never bought for investment purposes, although I got such good deals on my jewellery that I'm sure I could sell them for a good price in years to come. I have bought all my jewels because I love them so very much that they make my heart sing.

ETA: I've got the most gorgeous pair of new earrings to show off on SMTB next week that I bought on my recent trip home to the jewellery quarter of my home town. They are pear-shaped opal drop earrings on French wire, surrounded by a halo of round opals. They are TDF!

 

[missy]

Like MTG, I buy jewelry only as an investment in my joy and pleasure at having and wearing such beautiful pieces. I do not expect to sell them or make any money from them hence I never use investment money to purchase them. Having said that I am also somewhat impulsive in my purchases and just adapt what I spend my (disposable income) budget on as necessary.

For example this holiday season I didn't run across any jewelry I *had* to have but did find some boots I just had to make mine so I spent over 2K on (4 pairs) boots instead of jewelry. And I love wearing them so for me it's money well spent just like if I had bought diamonds. Ofc they won't wear as well but just like jewels I don't plan on reselling to recoup any of my purchase dollars but instead plan on wearing them and enjoying them for as long as I can.

 

[Smith1942]

Missy - your comment about the boots reminds me of my own Christmas trip spending. When I was home in England just now I bought eleven books, three scarves, a pair of pearl drop earrings, the opal halo earrings mentioned above, an opal pendant, plus some expensive Kiehls toiletries at the airport and some posh tea at Fortnum and Mason. I shouldn't have done but it all made me so happy! All of those things only cost about $1.1k all together so I figure that's not too bad in the grand scheme of things!

Enjoy your nice new boots!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

As a general rule, I would say jewelry is not an investment. At most, it can be portable wealth, in case you need to get out of town quickly (and you will take a heavy hit on value). I hope this is not the case!

If you take Ormann to the extreme, the best thing would be to sock away all the money left over once you've rented a room somewhere and bought food for the month. That is not living well. You need a balance between saving, planning and enjoying. Like MakingtheGrade, I use a "fun money" approach. My budget has a line for fun as well as living costs and savings. That is money I can spend on things that make me happy. It can be special theater tickets, frivolous designer clothing, jewelry or even donated to a worthy cause. Since my budget considers the other important stuff, I can spend this with a clear conscience or save it for a special goal.

 

[momhappy]

There aren't really many luxury items that I would consider an "investment" and you're probably fooling yourself if you think that. I buy luxury items in the form of shoes & handbags (mostly) and they are definitely not an investment. I suppose jewelry might be a little better in terms of retaining and/or increasing in value.
Could I (and my husband) save more and spend less? Absolutely. However, my husband and I are both obsessed with our savings and it's grown considerably over the years. We pretty much refrain from purchasing too many "big ticket" items mostly because we hate the thought of seeing the total on our savings account go down. I'd love to purchase a right hand ring in the form of a gorgeous, fancy yellow diamond, but it would bother me terribly to deplete the savings (thus, taking some of the "fun" out of the purchase). I'm sure that a financial advisor would tell us that we could be doing better when it comes to saving vs. spending, but I'd say that we are doing fairly well in striking a balance for both.

 

[ame]

Truth be told, I spent too much on jewelry this year. I am an impulsive shopper, and am surrounded by estate opportunities which I can never seem to pass up. I would like to clarify that I do not go into debt for my purchases, and I have a healthy savings account, pension, home, etc. I travel, have fun, enjoy dinners out. IOW, most of my disposable income goes toward these impulsive purchases. I rationalize that since I am getting deals, I am not wasting my money. I used to spend a lot on designer clothing and handbags, but now I tend to gravitate to jewelry instead. YET Suze Ormann would probably scoff at me for my purchases because according to her, there is no such thing as too much in a savings account. I guess what I want to know from others:

Do you think that purchasing jewelry is a better investment than purchasing other luxurious items or just saving the money in the bank?
What percentage of your disposable income do you consider excessive to spend on jewelry?

Please do not limit your responses to these questions.

I don't think jewelry is an investment, happiness or not. I'd rather have the money accruing interest and value, frankly. But I am also someone that believes in fewer and better pieces within my budget than a lot of stuff.

 

[braga123]

Thanks all! I am enjoying this thread. When I use the term investment, I don't mean that the items will accrue interest, etc. I guess that what I mean is that when compared to designer handbags, clothing, etc, at least jewelry is worth the gold or platinum weight and when cared for, will last longer than other luxury items. I realize that purchasing jewelry does not compare to putting it into savings account or retirement account, but a part of me feels that you can sort of get the best of both worlds. IOW, you can wear your cash. Does that make sense?

 

[anne_h]

Like most of the others, I do not consider jewelry a financial investment. If one wants to maximize returns, I'd suggest more traditional vehicles such as stocks, bonds, real estate, etc. The gems and jewelry that most PSers buy are not of investment quality IMO. There is such a world but it is very, very expensive.

Jewelry for me is a fun, personal expense. It's in the same category as clothes, handbags, vacations, etc. I don't expect a return or that my heirs will realize a fortune when they liquidate my collection. lol

I am 35. We support three children and are paying down our mortgage quickly. We each have our own retirement savings. We are saving also for the kids' educations.

I have always been career oriented and have grown my skills and income considerably over time. Statistically, my peak earning years are still ahead of me.

Right now ~10% of my gross income goes towards savings (retirement & non). I expect to increase this once we no longer have to pay daycare for the youngest two kids. The bulk of the rest goes towards mortgage (expedited pay-down plan) and other household/family expenses. Anything left over I use for fun stuff, including jewelry. Or the occasional stock purchase.

Of course we could re-arrange our lives to save more or pay mortgage down even faster, but we want a comfortable life too. I guess it's really about personal priorities and a sense of balance.

Bottom line - I spend on jewelry what feels "reasonable" to me. If I can pay my portion of the mortgage & bills and save/invest some income, then I like to be able to spend the rest on whatever I want. Doing that enables me to feel I'm enjoying some of the fruits of my own labor, which is important to me.

Anne

 

[missy]

Missy - your comment about the boots reminds me of my own Christmas trip spending. When I was home in England just now I bought eleven books, three scarves, a pair of pearl drop earrings, the opal halo earrings mentioned above, an opal pendant, plus some expensive Kiehls toiletries at the airport and some posh tea at Fortnum and Mason. I shouldn't have done but it all made me so happy! All of those things only cost about $1.1k all together so I figure that's not too bad in the grand scheme of things!

Enjoy your nice new boots!

Thanks Smith. Enjoy all your goodies too-they sound lovely! I have to say I went a bit overboard with boots this year but I can be impulsive that way. I started out saying no way I was going to spend so much on boots and then ended up getting 3 pairs of the Stuart Weitzman 5050 boot LOL. And none of it on sale unfortunately. I couldn't follow your smart footsteps that way. But when I really like something I really like it.

 

[missy]

Truth be told, I spent too much on jewelry this year. I am an impulsive shopper, and am surrounded by estate opportunities which I can never seem to pass up. I would like to clarify that I do not go into debt for my purchases, and I have a healthy savings account, pension, home, etc. I travel, have fun, enjoy dinners out. IOW, most of my disposable income goes toward these impulsive purchases. I rationalize that since I am getting deals, I am not wasting my money. I used to spend a lot on designer clothing and handbags, but now I tend to gravitate to jewelry instead. YET Suze Ormann would probably scoff at me for my purchases because according to her, there is no such thing as too much in a savings account. I guess what I want to know from others:

Do you think that purchasing jewelry is a better investment than purchasing other luxurious items or just saving the money in the bank?
What percentage of your disposable income do you consider excessive to spend on jewelry?

Please do not limit your responses to these questions.

I don't think jewelry is an investment, happiness or not. I'd rather have the money accruing interest and value, frankly. But I am also someone that believes in fewer and better pieces within my budget than a lot of stuff.

Ame, I agree with this though I may not always follow this rule but I try. My dh does though and he is always urging me not to skimp and get what I love and just stop buying things because they are on sale or a better price. Quality over quantity. Wise words to live by.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I was a great saver for years and years. The priorities for spending for a long time was for kids clothes, braces, college savings, etc. One day I turned 50 and realized I had been too busy to really ever enjoy spending money on things I personally enjoyed, and jewelry is my favorite item to buy for pleasure! I buy quality only as I am conscious of leaving heirloom-worthy pieces to my children and grandchildren.

That said, I do think I spent too much this year. I enjoy the hunt for great pieces at great prices, and that is part of my entertainment. I don't work much now and our last child will start college this fall, so I need to really step back my buying for awhile. We have never stopped our normal savings, though, so my buying jewelry has always been with extra money. I spend little relatively on clothes and purses. I just feel like high quality jewelry is a better way to spend money since it will last indefintely and be handed down.

 

[Circe]

I think it's a better allocation of funds than many. I don't buy with the express purpose of spending my retirement years funding a Palm Beach lifestyle via the sale of my old treasures, but I do, on some level, factor the possibility in when I choose to buy a new piece of jewelry instead of a pricey handbag, or whatever. But it definitely comes lower on the list than retirement savings, the college fund, etc.

 

[Laila619]

Well, I am a stay-at-home mom, and my DH is not a huge earner, but we still do okay with just one income. We have two kids now, and hope to have one or two more. So I can't really justify any major jewelry purchases anymore. Small ones are fine though. When I add up how much money I have wasted over the years on settings, postage to mail my diamonds to vendors, unwanted purchases, etc. it really makes me sick. Wish I could get some of that back.