Investing In Jewelry
To the serious and single-minded investor Gold, Platinum and Silver jewelry items are unlikely to come near the top of the potentially profitable opportunities that he or she will research.
It is reasonable to propose, that before venturing into this market, a tremendous amount of investigation should be carried out and knowledge assimilated that is not relevant to other investment vehicles.
Reliable contacts and dealers in the jewelry trade must be sought out and cultivated.
Perhaps most importantly the investor should treat jewelry as an all-consuming hobby so collecting aesthetically pleasing items that may, or may not, show a profit will still give pleasure.
This is as good a reason as any to explain why many savvy female investors take an interest in this market.
Silver jewelry as an investment, unless in the specialized antique market, is unlikely to provide serious investment opportunities unless sufficient volume can be purchased to produce a profit on the melt down value of the metal.
Investing in Gold Jewelry
Gold Jewelry as an Investment Vehicle.
Points to consider
Gold jewelry has been around for thousands of years, it has never gone out of fashion, never dates or fades. As a consequence there is a choice of two investment paths to take, antique or modern.
Antique jewelry with or without gemstones follows the pattern of other antique items in so far as age is not by any means the overriding factor.
There will be items of 100 years old or more that may not have a scarcity value to attract buyers into paying a premium over the basic value of the metal and gemstone content.
Entering this end of the market will therefore require an additional specialized knowledge of antiques and hallmarks. This will also apply to the antique silver jewelry market.
2700 tonnes of Gold is used annually in manufacturing jewelry.
Gold has a tendency to wear away over time and decrease in volume and weight when in use. It can also be subject to scratching resulting in loss of weight.
It is important to be familiar with the hallmarks and the symbols denoting purity. 18K means that the item is 75% pure, 14K = 58.5% pure. 1K is one twenty fourth part of 100% pure metal.
The balance is made up of other ingredients to make the item more durable or whiter.
It is believed that half of all the gold sold in the United States is stamped with a false
Karat weighting so only deal with established, reliable and registered merchants.
Trust is paramount; it is easy for jewelers to take advantage of unsuspecting investors who are not fully versed in the pitfalls of the market.
Investing in Platinum Jewelry
Platinum Jewelry as an Investment Vehicle.
Points to Consider.
Unlike Gold, Platinum has not got a long history of use in jewelry, anything earlier than 1900 is rare indeed.
Examples of Edwardian Platinum jewelry, often rings set with gemstones, can be purchased but beware of modern antique style platinum jewelry.
Studying antique platinum jewelry will need less application than studying gold antiques but it is essential to have a sound knowledge, particularly of the hallmarks, before entering the market.
Platinum is over thirty times more rare than Gold.
Approximately 85 tonnes of Platinum is used annually in the manufacture of jewelry.
Most of the Platinum used in jewelry is between 90% and 95 % pure.
The content is indicated in parts per thousand and not in Karats as in gold.
The properties of Platinum allow for more intricate and finer jewelry designs than possible with Gold.
Platinum is considerably more durable than Gold and will wear better and last longer in use.
Platinum is more resistant to scratching than Gold and if this occurs the metal is displaced and can be restored by a specialist and not lost, as is the case with Gold.
Platinum jewelry has become extremely fashionable and could be considered as the preferred jewellery of choice amongst the ‘glitterati’
In the US during the II world war Platinum was designated as a strategic metal and supplies were cut off from the jewelry trade.
Items that can be guaranteed as sourced from this period will have a considerable rarity value.
As with Gold, find a trusted and established dealer before parting with your money.
Bear in mind that the current value of the metal content of the piece and a view on the future direction of the price of the metal becomes an intrinsic factor in determining its’ potential as an investment.
Probably the best known of all diamonds is the Koh-I-Nor.
This gem is part of the British Crown Jewels and is set in Platinum.
It can be said that you get more for your money when investing in Platinum.
Palladium, which is recognized as a Platinum Group Metal (PGM) has overtaken
Platinum in the amount used in jewelry manufacture.
Both metals have considerable use in industry, particularly in automobile manufacturing where they are often interchangeable, so that usage can become dependant upon any price/supply differences.
When one has a price or supply advantage over the other a buying opportunity may occur in the jewelry market.
Summary
Investing in precious metal jewelry is to enter a highly specialized market with many hazards for the unwary and ill equipped.
Trust and integrity are priorities when buying or selling through a dealer in the market place.
There is no substitute for intensive research into all aspects, not only in the jewelry application, of the metal under consideration as an investment.
As an investment guru once said, “ If in doubt, stay out”.
