I was lucky to inherit from my grandmother a few simple and suitable pieces of her jewellery for a young girl. Subsequently my mother, who turns 92 today and is still working, gave me some good rocks and things, some of which I wear more than others. I’m told by family and friends that buying gifts for me is easy because, as far as I’m concerned, the monetary value is irrelevant. This is important – on many levels. Unlike Tamara Ecclestone, whose Kensington home was broken into on Friday 13th December, I don’t own an estimated £50m in fine jewels and, judging by Twitter reactions, most people think that’s obscene.
The trouble with jewellery, fine art and antiquities, is that the retailer/gallery/auction house get to pocket roughly half of the sale price – after taxes and artist’s rights. Therefore, when it’s time to sell, they're unlikely to prove a good investment.
One way to get around this is to buy from up-and-coming creatives. Focus on design, rather than materials, where size matters – and big isn’t necessarily better – wearability, emotional context, and enjoyment the key. If not, only go for the best you can afford, with entry-level luxe (think Bulgari, Luis Vuitton and Tiffany) not ‘worth it’.
Museum quality American jeweller JAR (Joel Arthur Rosenthal), based in Paris’ Place Vendome since 1978, found many of his pieces being sold on the quiet a few years ago by victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Or go to specialists, like De Beers and Moussaieff for diamonds, Mikimoto for pearls (which flatter an older face). ‘Haute joaillerie’ lines from fashion designers Chanel and Dior are snapping at their heels.
Men’s watches make great gifts and tend to be a better investment. The young favour a bulky, sporty look, with Breitling a perennial favourite. Slim classics (the thinner the better) by Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe always look classy, while Omega and Rolex keep their value – and are easy to pawn discreetly if needed.
Spot metal prices are a bit meh this year, the standout once again palladium. Nothing to do with jewellery mind, but to electric and hybrid cars. A stunning new record high this month at $1,998 an ounce. Like platinum was to diesel cars in 2008 when it hit $2,290 an ounce, the rally was helped along by a boom in commodities speculation. Despite being perennially touted as a bargain investment by the World Platinum Investment Council, it’s crawled along my chart between $800 and $1,000 an ounce since 2015.
Gold, which had also crept across my chart since 2013, spending most of the time between $1,125 and $1,350, burst higher this summer, hitting $1,550 for the first time in years. Unfortunately, it’s made no further progress, merely holding around $1,500 an ounce.
Silver is often seen as the poor man’s gold, and perhaps because of this is subject to bigger price swings, encouraged by sudden speculative pressure; a real boom and bust rather than store of value. The first boom in 1974 took it from $1.40 to $6.75 an ounce. The famous one when the Bunker Hunt brothers tried to corner the market took prices from $5.95 to a peak at $49.45 in 1980. The third in 2008 was similar, from $8.45 to $49.80. It’s moved sideways over the past five years.
