This is such an interesting discussion to me. I have never been one to stash things away for a special occasion. I want to enjoy what makes me happy, even if that means wear and tear. If I had a giant emerald ring, I would wear that all the time!
I am the same way with scarves -- I have some old ones, and I don't particularly obsess over them. If they get damaged, well, they get damaged. Ultimately, the scarves are not getting any younger, and who knows what will happen to those 60-year old scarves in another decade or two, even if they are stored perfectly and never touched.
A slightly morbid, but entertaining story -- when I was a little girl visiting my grandmother in the Ukraine, she would show me a beautiful handmade lace shawl and say, 'oh, I am saving that for my funeral' (the idea being that one wants to buried in one's best clothes, which I think is a cultural thing). I always thought that so morbid that I have become very aggressive about using all my belongings. The grandmother is thankfully still around, but the shawl has fallen victim to a moth attack, so there really is a lesson there