Photo: Khaled Ghareeb/Unsplash
If you’re looking for a long-term investment in your jewelry, this article lists multiple reasons why you need high-quality jewelry that will last beyond one season.
First off, don’t settle for the most affordable choice you got. When it comes to jewelry, you might as well invest in high-quality products that are worth the cost. According to Statista, over 30.49 million people bought high-quality jewelry in 2017. But what makes expensive essentials better than their cheaper counterparts?
Basics of jewelry
Most people can distinguish between jewelry categories: necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and pendants. Watches aren’t as mandatory and are often only recommended for men, which is of course a matter of preference. Women tend to focus on the core three: necklaces, earrings, and rings. You can start building your jewelry collection by focussing on those three categories.
1. Higher Durability
Hard metals like gold, sterling silver, and diamonds can remain intact for centuries. Because of their hard texture, they are nearly impossible to break. And even if they do, they’re easy to repair. Jewelers can also easily resize or reshape jewelry, which makes them suit you perfectly while still maintaining its strength and durability.
This sort of durability is not expected from cheap jewelry, which is often made with cheap strings and wires that snap even with the slightest pressure. Some are too fragile and will immediately crack and shatter when you drop them or step on them by accident.
Photo: Kat Smith/Pexels Cheap jewelry isn’t stable either, which is why you’ll eventually end up with choking hazards. High-quality jewelry won’t bend or let go of the stones, even when used regularly. This is because the prongs that hold the stones are stronger than those used in low-end products.
2. Longer lifespan
When regularly cleaned, sterling silver can last a lifetime. Pure gold will last even longer and can be passed on to the next generation. And precious stones like diamonds can last for thousands of years and remain as beautiful as the day you bought them. High-quality jewelry will survive constant wear and tear, as it can’t break or bend that easily.
Pure gold is slightly more flexible, but that’s why it can last for generations. Gold also doesn’t lose its precious qualities when it bends, a jeweler can easily bend the gold back into its original shape. Cheaper jewelry on the other hand can tarnish and rust and won’t be able to be fixed by jewelers. This is because the chemical reaction changes their very nature, so you’ll have to dispose of them once they are damaged or go bad.
3. Natural beauty
The thing about jewelry is: that it looks the way it costs. Low-quality products will inevitably look cheaper than expensive jewelry. Cheap jewelry essentials won’t pair well with your fashion choices either. They usually lack the shine that high-end jewelry carries, so they often look monotonous and boring.
People prefer high-quality jewelry because of its natural beauty. The best diamonds embody the 4 C’s, Cut, Clarity, Carat, and Color, like nobody’s business. Unlike cheap jewelry, they are easy to mix and match, especially with couture fashion and new trends. This is why all professional runway models only wear high-quality jewelry.
4. Emergency use
One of the most valuable uses of high-quality jewelry is the fact that you can save them for emergency use. Suppose you’re suddenly out of money, the emergency loan from pawning your jewelry might be your only hope. And since only real silver, gold and gemstones have a real market value, pawnshops only accept those.
The value of silver, gold, and diamond hasn’t gone down over thousands of years and is still rising in today’s market. Gold can still be used as a form of currency. The price of diamonds depends on the 4 C’s. If every C fits into the higher standards, they will have a high exchange rate. You won’t get the same money pawning a cheaper piece of jewelry with low-quality diamonds. Sterling silver is becoming a global standard, every country now has something similar to a standard rate for 92.5% silver jewelry. So if you pawn sterling silver jewelry pieces, you can expect a high exchange rate.
In short, you can rely on your jewelry essentials to save you from a financial rut. The value of your high-end jewelry will never go down so you’ll always get a decent rate when you pawn them.
5. Can be maintained
Even with high-quality jewelry, you’ll eventually have to go to the jewelry shop for repairs. No matter how durable they are, there will inevitably be a few scratches. If you bought your jewelry from a reputable shop, you will get free cleaning services if you show proof of your purchase. This is not the case for low-end jewelry, which you’ll have to clean yourself – if it’s worth keeping and not ready for the trash yet.
The reparation of prongs and clasps costs a little more, going from $20 to $250 depending on the type of metal and alloys that hold the gems. The cost for resizing and reshaping high-end jewelry also fits in this range. The metal string of a necklace will eventually snap after a few decades, these costs are very variable depending on the material.
So while cheap jewelry is mostly a one-time deal that you will have to dispose of, high-quality jewelry is made to last a long time and can always be fixed for a good price.
6. More unique design
The problem with low-end jewelry is that they don’t have any unique characteristics because they are mass-produced and sold by the thousands. In this way, it’s easy to encounter someone with the exact same jewelry. No one else will have an exact duplicate of the high-quality jewelry you have, you have the guarantee that your items are unique.
Photo: Scott Webb/Pexels Jewelers don’t tend to make duplicates of their work and when they do, every piece has its own unique characteristics. High-end jewelry often comes in limited editions after all. And if you’ve seen enough of the traditional diamond engagement ring, you can find alternatives with many other gemstones to pick from. Your unique design will make you stand out while everyone around you is wearing a copper necklace with gems of no value.
7. Reward yourself
A recent study shows that more than half of women buy expensive jewelry as a reward to themselves. Unlike any other rewards like clothes or cars, jewelry doesn’t wear out and sticks with you for many years. You’ll have to buy a new car after ten to twenty years, but a diamond’s value only increases.
Your significant other might have the means to buy you jewelry, but will never exactly know what you want. So there’s no need to wait for someone else to buy you high-end jewelry, just buy some yourself! 30% of customers buy gifts for themselves during the holidays, which is why you shouldn’t feel guilty about your purchase. So reward yourself and don’t settle for anything less than the most prestigious of gifts.
8. Prestige
There’s no doubt that high-end jewelry always comes with a price. Good earrings might cost you $75 a pair. Wearing high-end jewelry comes with a sense of prestige that nothing else can give you and lets you know you’ve hit an important milestone in your life. Make a statement with it: you can afford it and you can maintain it for many years to come. Buying expensive jewelry gives you the same feeling of achievement that you have when you buy your first house or car. That’s why a lot of celebrities and well-to-do folk wear it in the first place, to let society know that they’ve taken a step ahead of the crowd. You too can carry that prestige with the right essentials that make you shine.
9. Practical fashion
There’s an air of elegance that comes with wearing pure silver, platinum, and gold. It makes you look fashionable in an instant. As they say, diamonds are a woman’s best friend because of their eternal beauty and value. And men have been giving women diamond jewelry for at least 500 years now, which goes to show how valuable they are.
Wearing expensive jewelry has many positive psychological effects:
- Feel powerful
- Feel elegant
- Feeling of authority
- Feel innovative
Back in the 1990s, women wore clothes with a masculine design, like blazers with thick shoulder pads. Those clothes aren’t longer needed for women to showcase their power and authority. High-quality jewelry can achieve the same effect while also looking elegant.
10. Good for engagements & heirlooms
Weddings and engagements ring always are of the highest quality. These jewels are associated with elegance and are meant to be flamboyant because they symbolize an important moment. These rings can be a mix of different metals or gems. Some prefer pure white gold and diamond stones, other silver rings with multiple smaller stones.
In many families, the mother gives her son or son-in-law an heirloom she kept over the years. Passing unique jewelry pieces is something many families still do. Your heirlooms shouldn’t be limited to engagement or wedding rings. Other jewelry essentials like necklaces and earrings can be a great investment too. These can be passed on to your children or grandchildren in many years and still hold significant value.
