no one wearing diamonds in NYC

[Black Jade]

I''m making a short visit to NYC--we''ll be here about a week. (It''s almost done). Anyway, this is so strange--I keep reading how large diamonds are supposed to be in NYC. I used to live here years ago but never noticed that (but then, I was not into diamonds). so I thought on this trip, I would look around. I''ve been looking since Monday and haven''t seen more than 2 or 3 women wearing diamond engagement rings at all. On the subway, bare ring fingers. Around Brooklyn, where I''m staying, bare fingers, even in the very upscale area of Park Slope. Went to Manhattan yesterday, no one wearing any rings on the subway there, and we were at a Broadway play and I didn''t see any noticeable rings there, either. My original e-ring, which is a .33 carat, has been the biggest ring I have seen here so far!

Now, when we went out, my SIL, who has a diamond on the larger side (I believe its around a carat, though I don''t know for sure) wasn''t wearing hers, because of the heat, which she says makes her fingers swell. Could the muggy weather be the issue? Or am I somehow in the wrong venues? My brother, who works in finance, was teasing me on the phone because I am wearing my original diamond earrings, from 25 years ago (.10 ctw) and saying they were ''invisible'' and that no one would wear them in NYC, and that I should retire them and only wear my new ones (1.81 ctw) in public. But I haven''t seen anyone wearing any diamond stud earrings, either (and ears don''t swell, do they?) What is it? The heat? Have all the rings gone to the pawn shop since the financial crisis? Or am I just in the wrong places?

Opinions?

Not a serious topic, obviously--but I do feel curious.

 

[litebrite]

I haven''t polled anyone on this, so the following is just my perspective.

1) Most people are on vacation. So the people you might be seeing are tourists themselves

2) Not everyone in Manhattan or the 5 boroughs has crazy bling. I went to a bachelorette and I definitely had the largest e-ring (and mine''s less than 1 ct) of anyone there. I have also seen someone my age with a huge 2.5 ct knockout, but her husband works on Wall St. So it''s definitely different carats in different crowds.

3) Go to Madison/ 5th Ave if you want to see bling bling in person.

4) I think the re-pression or whatever you want to call it (somewhere between recession and depression) has caused some people to wear slightly less ostentatious stuff these days. I know I feel guilty when I go clothes shopping and I am not a big spender. There are articles about people not shopping in person and instead having bags sent to their homes because they don''t want to look like they are living it up when so many people are unemployed.

5) I definitely saw the largest in person bling of my life on a woman eating at Union Square Cafe not too long ago. A honking pear ring of 4-5+ cts, plus not v good quality (that I could tell) studs of 3-4 cts each. Probably $100,000 in total on her including other jewelery. And I saw a v bright, maybe 1-2 ct/stud pair of diamond studs on a woman at Bed Bath and Beyond last week.

6) I don''t see a lot of women wearing engagement rings on the train or bus. Though I saw a huge 5ct RB honker across the train a few years ago. I couldn''t stop staring and she got self conscious.

7) If you have only seen 2-3 e-rings while here, that is not a representative sample (as my stats prof would say.)

go check out chowhound.com for some really great eats while here!

 

[oldminer]

There is a lot, a whole lot, of fine jewelry and huge diamonds in hiding in all major US cities. It is a combination of many things which has made it less fashionable or popular to wear flashy jewelry in public. The economy, global issues of fairness, the environment, what movie stars do, and the realistic fear of injury in a forceful theft. All of these are "reasons" although the lsat one is high on the list of what really is problematic. People living in more protected environments are pretty casual in the way they dress, but big diamonds are still seen around even with very casual clothes. There are few dressy opportunities to wear big jewelry, but diamonds can be worn most any time if you feel safe doing it. Once you give up feeling safe about it, then it just does not feel the same.

While there is a growing business in buying jewelry from dealers and the public, there is no huge rush to dump jewelry to these buyers at this point in time. Pawn shops are doing more buying, but there still are markets to sell better and desirable unwanted jewelry into besides melting it. Much of this market is external to the USA and the bigger buyers place items according to their knowledge of the international markets rarther than try to sell it locally when many people have opted out of wearing or spending for it here.

It is all cyclical and we will see it turn around over time. It may take several years for the cycle to swing back, but safety concerns must be addressed or it will not swing back with as much energy as it once had.