# Jewelry as Investment



## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

I have been thinking about starting a jewelry collection as an investment strategy instead of buying bars of gold or silver from a broker. This is not only because the jewelry looks like more fun, but it seems easier to start with smaller amounts of money than buying bulk gold or silver. 

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How can the average person know that a silver medallion, for example, is worth the same as an equal amount of bar silver?

And what about gold? I know 18 or 24-carat is the best to go for, but what are the differences between "gold-fill" and "gold-plated" and what about gold-plate over sterling silver? I have seen a lot of that and it makes me wonder if it would do double value. 

It certainly seems better in a traveling situation to have a gold chain on one's person than to try to lug a small safe of bullion around!


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

A lot of the value in jewelry is in the design and the value does not always hold up well. Gold plated silver has less value than equal amounts of either metal. I would not recommend jewelry as an investment, if you like it and want to collect go for it, but unless you are getting really good deals on used stuff it will most likely be worth less than what you pay for it.


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## Casie (Feb 26, 2014)

The downside is: Higher markup per ounce. Jewelry stores are notorious for marking up jewelry 150% or more. Buying from a person or a pawn shop is dangerous unless you can identify the metal without help. There is quite a difference in 24k, 18k, 10k, white gold, platinum, rose gold and sterling.

The upside is: You can load up on gold chains like Mr. T, board a plane and enter a new country without skipping a beat. Bullion must be declared (and taxed).

Buying 24k jewelry to accumulate generations of wealth is an age old tradition in India. I know a successful family that required a business start up loan many years ago and the bank had no interest in loaning money on their home or land. But they instantly granted the loan with their family gold as collateral.

My advice, if you are going to do this, is to stick 100% to 24k gold chain, bangles, bands. No designer names. No gems. No plated/filled. Minimize your loss per ounce by NEVER buying a designer peice. Be able to weigh all your jewelry together as a unit (all 24k). And don't pay extra for diamonds if you aren't an expert. They are creating bigger better man made diamonds today. And if you can't tell if it's natural or man made, if you can't look at a stone and determine Carat, Cut, Color, Clarity... you should avoid them!

Honestly, the PM with the most potential for profit right now is silver. Have you considered investing in some 1oz Silver American Eagles? Or maybe 90% "junk silver" Morgans or Mercury's? Any silver under $20 an ounce is a deal to me!


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## PalmettoTree (Jun 8, 2013)

I have a neighbor that worked as a jeweler. I bounced this exact question off her. She said pawn shops were the best place to buy loose gemstones. She said they will keep the bling regardless of actual value because they can move that retail. The rest they cut the silver and gold from the stones because they can move it wholesale. She said most will let you use their jewlers loop. Do not trade with those what will not or say they don't have one. She said to stay away from diamonds unless you are buying for a woman.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

Well, this is interesting. I have been watching tv shows with designers talking about the gemstones and where they come from. I agree about diamonds being a poor choice because of the man-made ones but the other gemstones seem ok for small investing, although they might be prone to fads, and there are issues like "fusion" which I think is actually gem-dust pressed back into form (a common practice with turquoise)

I think I will start off with silver and gold chain. The silver seems like a safe bet for a beginner because the designers I have been watching have described their craftspeople using specific kinds of solid silver techniques. It should be fairly easy to check those claims. 

I also have been watching those "prospector" reality shows and the one that is set in Greenland really got me thinking. It seems that a lot of unexploited land is now becoming available because of the retreating glaciers and so I wonder if this means there might be a glut in the gem market because of such rich supplies suddenly appearing? One program showed rubies all over the place, almost like granite! they are prospecting for gold, too. 

I have noticed that the designers are turning more and more to non-metallic elements even when using genuine gemstones which suggests to me that they are having trouble keeping up with the metals market in their attempts to keep their designs affordable.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

microprepper said:


> I have been thinking about starting a jewelry collection as an investment strategy instead of buying bars of gold or silver from a broker. This is not only because the jewelry looks like more fun, but it seems easier to start with smaller amounts of money than buying bulk gold or silver.
> 
> Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How can the average person know that a silver medallion, for example, is worth the same as an equal amount of bar silver?
> 
> ...


Higher carat purer the material. 14carat is about 58%. Filled comes in different varieties from about 1/8th to 1/20th of the material.

So say you have a 1 ounce bracelet that is 14 carat gold fill (at 1/20th amount) that would be 1*58%*5% which equals 0.029 of an ounce or 2.9% of an ounce. there being 437.5 grains to an ounce, you would 12.68 grains of gold in that bracelet.

Now the real issue is resale value. Unless you have a way to melt and seperate the metals through smelting then you have no way to melt down for the raw materials.

You may be able to hawk it. The thing about pure comodites such as .999 or 995 materials is that they don't require as much work, nor is there as much speculation in their value.

A pure gold item will get way more value than a gold fill, and many people may not even deal with gold fill objects.

The other part of a fill though is, what is the other object. In the past gold fill was also filled with silver with a surface coating of gold. However you can get pretty much anything on the inside of a gold filled object. There are standards though.

Unless you plan to operate a melting and forging business or a jewlery shop I would not choose jewlery as a primary investment strategy. You could use this inventively, however I would treat this with caution and do not think this $10 14 carat gold ring is worth half an ounce of gold if it weights one ounce. But I would think that you may get a portion of that. If you see it at a low value you may be able to trade it for a portion of its value. Take into consideration though that jewelergy copper and iron rings etc.. were at one time currency and very rare. Nails in the middle ages were incredibly valuable.

IMO there are a lot of metals floating around, if you buy jewelery I would consider them for hawk value, or at wholesale because anyone with half a brain will be able to get the stuff from suppliers for way less than retail rates.

Do not look at a jewelery from the retail value, look at all your values from the supplier perspective. That is the true value. How much does it cost you to get it and how much would it cost you to make it. Look at all investments this way, and if you invest in things you can use, then you have a sound investment strategy.

Now bear in mind 12 grains of gold is retailing at $35. If you pay say $5 for that you may be able to relize a resale of $10 at retail, and double your money. Now if you have your own melt and smelting operation and deal in high quantities (effectively a hawker) than you could make some money if you get low cost materials and make high purity gold.

Now this in mind, I would take it with a grain of salt. I would suggest going to your local hawker and ask what they would pay. The businesses are often regulated. IMO you need to look for customers if you want to get any exchange value out of it. Bear in mind some jewelers actually use raw gold etc.. to make nice looking jewelry for people, then this is sold at a higher value than what it cost to produce it. What you might be trying to do is reverse that process.

Hawk value take note, not retail. If you have a customer base then you can realize some market gains, minus taxes.

There are lots of things people think are precious or valuable - but they are only as valuable as they are to you, or to someone else.. take that into consideration..


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## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

We just had our junk handy down jewellery appraised on April 29th, It consisted of one Gold ring from Venezuela, and a gold chain with a mounted coin from Egypt, total appraisal amount was $4800, and included certificate of authenticity, whether or not the cert's make a diff in a SHTF scenario I will never know till that time, however, I'm not counting on using them as barter, if I live to be an old man, I will pass them down as they were passed down to me, If for some reason, Push comes to shove and we need to pay some outstandings, then we can hock them off to a jeweler!


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## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

Old SF Guy said:


> Where I think investment in anything that can carry intrinsic value is a good thing I guess it all depends on what your prepping for and the duration that event will last. For short term difficulties that are regional ( governmental oppression) and things like jewels retain some value for trade or barter then they are good. For more national issues (EMP/invasion/etc) where the basic fundamental trade falls prey to humanistic suffering and privation...jewels carry little value as they are decorative vice substantive. The only value is their rarity....when food is more rare then the value of jewels drops significantly. My 2 cents.


That's where I think over jewellery or gold and silver, that seeds, tools, guns, ammo...etc would be more useful!


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## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

Old SF Guy said:


> Plus my wife got mad at me and threw all the jewelry I had ever bought her in the garbage...so jewelry has no value in my mind....nor does saying I'm sorry.....


Sorry really has no meaning anyway!


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## jro1 (Mar 3, 2014)

jewellery to me has no value! so how many others are like minded? There might be some street vendor who will melt down jewellery and turn it into some kind of valuable for people in the end days! Perhaps stamped jewellery might hold some type of value, but I find it very unlikely


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Jewelry has a value. Take that piece of jewelry to a pawn shop and you will get between 1 and 10% of what you paid for it. Sell it on Ebay and you can get a little more. Sell it at an auction and you might get 50 to 120% of what you paid for it. Jewelry and art is a good investment as long as the rich have money and they are confident in the future. When times get hard the value of jewelry and art goes down and when the economy is good the prices go up. It is a barometer of the faith people have in the future.

Chain is rarely made of anything higher than 10 carat gold. Gold is too soft to hold together so they use other metald to make it last longer but it is worth less. Chains are also made of welded or soldered links - that means that there is less gold because the links are soldered or welded with a lesser quality of metal. If you are going to buy gold or silver get bars or ingots. Coins have a face value that people will use to their advantage but a bar that is stamped .999 fine and has a trademark on it from a recognized mint is always worth spot price unless you are selling to a dealer. They typically pay less than spot price and sell at slightly over spot price.


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## Casie (Feb 26, 2014)

I thought some of you guys might like to see some great graphics on how much gold is estimated on earth, where its at now, how much of it is jewelry or coins, and who is buying it!

THE 2014 GOLD SERIES: PART 1 OF 5
"The Most Sought After Metal on Earth"
The Gold Series: The Most Sought After Metal on Earth (Part 1) | Visual Capitalist

THE 2014 GOLD SERIES: PART 2 OF 5
"Unearthing the World's Gold Supply"
The Gold Series: Unearthing the World's Gold Supply (2 of 5) | Visual Capitalist

THE 2014 GOLD SERIES: PART 3 OF 5
"The Eclipsing Demand of the East"
The Gold Series: The Eclipsing Demand of the East (Part 3 of 5) | Visual Capitalist


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

Interesting links, thank you. I agree with the endtimes food value differences. I do believe that investment in canned goods is also a very important part of a strategy, and it can be managed exactly as an investment if you budget and watch price inflation. The gold and silver would, in my mind, be mainly a buttress against times of political and banking uncertainty. The hawking practice is probably the most likely way I would use the jewelery, since that is already an easy market to get into. You don't have to know anyone to go into a pawn shop and I have learned to use them. (Dare I confess some years ago I lost an inherited necklace that way when I was in the middle of a train-wreck?)

It is very easy for gov't or other agencies to freeze a bank account and leave you stranded if you are a member of a vulnerable population but they don't generally get involved with pawnshops, as far as I know. 

Back when I was more involved with antique collectibles I heard a story from a Chinese-American friend of how his family had preserved a ancient vase that was brought out on special occasions for display, then hidden away the rest of the year. They were able to use the vase to pay a smuggler to get them out of China during the Red Guard days. It may have had little to do with the actual value of the vase but everything to do with the communication of a cultural heritage that motivated the smuggler to accept it as payment. One just never knows.

Monetary investment seems to suggest silver, however. I noticed that pure silver is more common in jewelry than gold because there are some ethnic styles such as the Navajo and some Indian (India) groups that adhere to old practices of working with pure metal. It will be nice to have one or two solid gold pieces but I don't see much of value being offered. 

I am staying out of the mall-type jewelry stores and looking more to the artisans themselves.


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## Mish (Nov 5, 2013)

Awesome idea!! I love jewelry! I do believe people should stockpile jewelry! I'm going to go buy some right now! hehe


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## john10001 (Mar 20, 2013)

microprepper said:


> I have been thinking about starting a jewelry collection as an investment strategy instead of buying bars of gold or silver from a broker. This is not only because the jewelry looks like more fun, but it seems easier to start with smaller amounts of money than buying bulk gold or silver.
> 
> Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How can the average person know that a silver medallion, for example, is worth the same as an equal amount of bar silver?
> 
> ...


It would be an excellent investment and perfect for an economic SFHT situation. Just read the story of Esteban Morales in Agrentina's Economic collapse! He suggests that just basic 9ct gold jewelry is excellent and the best choice. Small rings, ear rings and similar items are great.

From what I recall reading he says that 24ct pure fine Gold is not such a good choice for SHTF situation because the gray and black market will not necessarily know or be paying you true value of the fine gold but just the junk 9ct gold value.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

The hard part is knowing how to choose a trading partner in the SHTF days. How can you tell someone knows how to look at metal and evaluate it? What are the tests that might be done in a less-than-ideal setting, where there is no high-end equipment? 

What are some easy ways for even us naïve people to evaluate a gold chain, for example?


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## PalmettoTree (Jun 8, 2013)

microprepper said:


> The hard part is knowing how to choose a trading partner in the SHTF days. How can you tell someone knows how to look at metal and evaluate it? What are the tests that might be done in a less-than-ideal setting, where there is no high-end equipment?
> 
> What are some easy ways for even us naïve people to evaluate a gold chain, for example?


Clean weight / water displacement =weight per unit volume

Is likely the cheapest field test. Even that requires a graduated flask and an accurate scale. This method is not entirely accurate since with gold you must allow for karat purity.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

PalmettoTree said:


> Clean weight / water displacement =weight per unit volume
> 
> Is likely the cheapest field test. Even that requires a graduated flask and an accurate scale. This method is not entirely accurate since with gold you must allow for karat purity.


So it would be possible to memorize the appropriate results in such a test and then see if someone was being honest during a negotiation? Nice! Got my homework cut out for me....


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

Mish said:


> Awesome idea!! I love jewelry! I do believe people should stockpile jewelry! I'm going to go buy some right now! hehe





microprepper said:


> The hard part is knowing how to choose a trading partner in the SHTF days. How can you tell someone knows how to look at metal and evaluate it? What are the tests that might be done in a less-than-ideal setting, where there is no high-end equipment?
> 
> What are some easy ways for even us naïve people to evaluate a gold chain, for example?





PalmettoTree said:


> Clean weight / water displacement =weight per unit volume
> 
> Is likely the cheapest field test. Even that requires a graduated flask and an accurate scale. This method is not entirely accurate since with gold you must allow for karat purity.





microprepper said:


> So it would be possible to memorize the appropriate results in such a test and then see if someone was being honest during a negotiation? Nice! Got my homework cut out for me....


What I have learned lately: Silver as a pawnable commodity has been degraded by the "925" counterfeits coming out of China. I have some solid silver pieces that are old but most pawn-shop personnel are not allowed to accept them because they are not expert enough to tell. They tell me now the more reliable "925 sterling" mark, that says "sterling", is all they will accept.

I worry about something similar happening to the ability to judge gold by the volume because of the recent design innovations with gold-over-resin. This may make older gold pieces more reliable than new.

Lessons learned: buy new, provably-sterling sterling silver and cache the old stuff for when I can see a higher level expert than the average pawnshop employee. Buy old, solid gold of 14K or less to keep alongside the purer stuff.

These lessons certainly affect my shopping strategy: watch for sales of certified sterling in retail shops, but also grab old silver from antique & thrift shops where it may start showing up after people fail to get their pawn value out of it.

Also, avoid gemstones except for known values or their ability to enhance resale at auction, etc. Cache some for use with experts, but keep the main weight of "investment" metals in plainer pieces.

Why do this instead of coin and bullion? Because I am not investing for a return as I might invest in stocks. I am investing for intrinsic trading value in a situation when the banking and other financial structures have collapsed and I am relying on other people for help in traveling, sheltering, or other basic needs. These people are not likely to be the same experts I can seek out while I have the luxury of living in an intact society.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

As a general rule jewelry is a poor investment for prepper purposes. You pay art prices that are well over the value of the materials so if you have to trade it as precious metals you lose 60 to 90% of what you paid for it. Chains are the worst because they cost more per ounce than any other kind of jewelry and have the least resell value because of all the solder in them - each link is soldered together and that detracts from the value of the metal. Gems are worth more in good times (high inflation and high disposable incomes) than they are in desparate times.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

microprepper said:


> I have been thinking about starting a jewelry collection as an investment strategy instead of buying bars of gold or silver from a broker. This is not only because the jewelry looks like more fun, but it seems easier to start with smaller amounts of money than buying bulk gold or silver.
> 
> Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How can the average person know that a silver medallion, for example, is worth the same as an equal amount of bar silver?
> 
> ...


I have read all the other posts and agree with most of them and agree this is a bad idea

Jewelry should only be seen as a prep when Everything else is done, so that eliminates 99% of us. If you don't have 2 years of food, your property paid for, reliable water, reliable waste treatment, etc.... Then what are you thinking?

That being said I also agree with most here that perceived values and actual value of a trinket of jewelry will not be as sound an investment as a good 1889 Morgan tarnished silver dollar.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

Montana Rancher said:


> I have read all the other posts and agree with most of them and agree this is a bad idea
> 
> Jewelry should only be seen as a prep when Everything else is done, so that eliminates 99% of us. If you don't have 2 years of food, your property paid for, reliable water, reliable waste treatment, etc.... Then what are you thinking?
> 
> That being said I also agree with most here that perceived values and actual value of a trinket of jewelry will not be as sound an investment as a good 1889 Morgan tarnished silver dollar.


If you_ do _have two years of food, your property paid for, reliable water, waste treatment, etc, and the gov't takes your property by eminent domain, some crazy group riots and destroys or poisons the local water sources, and no one decides to guard the sewer plant during the collapse, ........Then what are _you_ thinking?

I'm thinking that if I could not stay put, then some gold tucked under my shirt in the form of a chain or some silver and gold rings and bracelets might get me passage through s sticky point here and there on my way to whatever safe haven I might think of.

Read memoirs by people who fled other collapsed or totalitarian regimes: Chinese, European, Cuban, they all will tell you the same thing: you can be overwhelmed and then only faith and luck will save you. Luck can be greatly increased by whatever is easily portable and widely desired. Many people who don't know a lot about gold bars and coins would assume that whatever you have is fake, but they would place more credibility in a gold ring or bracelet that resembles what they do know. Those are the people you may encounter in that dark night.

Personal armies do not last very long in any such collapse or totalitarian coup. Unless maybe you are a Saudi prince. :wink:


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

jimb1972 said:


> A lot of the value in jewelry is in the design and the value does not always hold up well. Gold plated silver has less value than equal amounts of either metal. I would not recommend jewelry as an investment, if you like it and want to collect go for it, but unless you are getting really good deals on used stuff it will most likely be worth less than what you pay for it.


absolutely true in my experience.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

What I like about investing in jewelry is that it allows an advantage to anyone who studies the designers and the gems whereas pure metal investing is totally reliant on market values. So I think a poor person can gain a little bit of an edge in the jewelry market with just a little effort.

What I have learned lately: certain gems are limited to certain regions or even particular mines, therefore you can track their supply relative to demand. 

Gold jewelry is becoming tricky with the introduction of resin-core jewelry that allows both weight and volume to fool someone into thinking a big chunky ring is solid 18K. So you have to find ways of ascertaining what you are buying and be able to prove its worth when you sell. Sterling has been subject to a lot of Chinese counterfeiting so you have to be able to provide provenance there.

The gems are good for investment separate from the metal. If you own a gold ring with a precious gem in it, for example, you could sell the gem and replace it with a cheaper stone and keep the gold for future needs. 

You should develop some knowledge of networks of jewelers and other brokers who can recognize value so that you can go to them when you need to sell, since the average pawn shop trains its staff only in a few things like gold, silver, and diamonds.

I have actually begun studying jewelry design myself in order to be able to invest this way. There are lots of interesting materials available. I have placed a small budget aside for monthly payments on jewelry while watching the sales. With the current decline happening in the price of gold, lots of companies might suddenly sell off their gold designs for the holidays and so a small buyer can benefit. That's what I am thinking. (Of course, I also invest in lottery tickets....)

The point of gold, of course, is not so much in how high it can go in the future but in the fact that in a real crisis of either hyperinflation or political coup, it will not drop out of sight the way currency does.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

I am convinced that Pet Rocks are coming back so I have been putting a few away every pay day


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

beanie babies. Don't forget the beanie babies.


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

In the middle east a lot of the families wealth is put into simple gold bracelets or necklaces. When money is needed they go to the gold broker and sell what they need. Not a bad idea.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

Right now is time to really look at jewelry sales. Gold is dropping according to that little ticker across the stock channel on tv and stores are pushing clearance ahead of the coming holiday shopping season. 

Solid simple gold is best, of course, without gemstones. 

Jewelry craft suppliers are also a good source for gold wire, etc in different karat values.


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

The money in jewelry, now, is in the gold content.
Diamonds are not as valuable as the gold.


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