I started collecting jewelry when I was a teenager.
I would save the dollars earned in my job cleaning horse stables in order to buy a sterling silver piece from Tiffany & Co., amassing an impressive collection of designs (if I do say so myself) throughout the years.
While I still have all those pieces today, my focus has since shifted away from sterling silver — to gold. A bigger investment, to be sure, I've adopted a slow-and-steady approach to building my gold jewelry collection.
And, along the way, I've found a few tips helpful to guide the curation of my collection:
1. Buy brands — Like every expensive purchase, buying gold jewelry is an investment. And, I like to think of it as one that can hold its valuable (within reason, of course) over time.
Having said this, I try to buy pieces from renowned jewelry brands whenever I can. Why? Because they are sure to hold their value better on the resale market due to the brand connection versus a non-branded gold piece, which will only sell for roughly its weight value.
Having said this, I do have gold layering chains from generic jewelry stores and also pieces from up-and-coming brands that I've loved too much to pass up on. Jewelry is, after all, intensely personal, so if I love it, I buy it. I'm not exactly worried about investment value with pieces like these.
2. Steer clear of costume — I'm not a fan of costume jewelry, even if it's designer. If I'm going to go the non-precious route, I'd rather buy fun-and-funky accessories that don't fall into the jewelry category.
3. Stick to diamonds and gemstones — When I'm buying jewelry, I never purchase the pieces that feature CZ or crystals. Instead, I opt for semi-precious stones and gemstones such as citrine, morganite, sapphire — and, of course, diamonds. These pieces are sure to become keepsakes in a collection for years to come.
4. Going for gold — When it comes to gold, I opt for only vermeil — gold over sterling silver — or solid gold varieties. I have pieces ranging from 10-karat to 18-karat solid gold. Gold fill (gold over brass) or gold tone (gold metal over a base metal) metals don't seem to work well on my skin because I seem to have an acidic skin pH, which makes many of the coated styles tarnish or turn my skin green.
5. Buy the best that you can afford — Trust me, I'd love to buy the chunky gold HardWear necklace from Tiffany & Co., but it's simply not in my budget right now. Instead of going out and buying a dupe, I'd rather skip on the look and save for the real thing. If it's truly not feasible to save for, I'll admire it from afar, keeping it on my when-I-win-the-lottery type of wish list, and instead find quality jewelry pieces that are in my current budget and fit my long-term jewelry collection goals.
Shop a few of my favourite gold pieces below:
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