Does Cartier jewelery hold its value?

[jasminb]

Hello dear Cartier lovers, I have the following question: Have you already sold Cartier jewelry, especially bracelets like the Love bracelet or the Juste un Clou? How was the value retention when reselling? The reason for my question is that I would like to buy a Love bracelet and a Juste un Clou. So far, I have only owned designer bags, which have consistently increased in value over the past few years. Of course, this is not the main argument for purchasing, but I am also considering this aspect. I would love to hear about your experiences

 

[scheurin]

Not easy to answer. Generally speaking I would say the items you described hold their value to some extent.

Prices of designer bags like the crazy things Chanel did went up quite a bit during the last years but I am sure this will not go on like that for the near future. In some rare cases luxury items even went down pricewise lately; same with luxury watch prices in general. Love and JUC prices also went up significantly so does the resale value. However, I would expect to lose around 20 to 30 % on these. Same for most Cartier watches.

It all comes down to availability. As long as you have to wait a year for a Birkin or Kelly prices remain elevated. Most Cartier jewelry is readily available for purchase so it makes not much sense to go for the secondary market unless the price offered is attractive. On the contrary I have 2 custom made Cartier watches which are more or less impossible to obtain to regular customers which I could sell for about 5 times the amount I bought them. Again, if they would be readily available obviously the prices wouldn't be that high.

Summarizing, I bought my Cartier items for the purpose of enjoying them but also with the value retention in mind. You won't make money out of these but you wouldn't loose to much, either. One more thing you have at least the value of the gold which is roughly 1/4 of the price in contrast to some scrap leather of a Birkin or a Chanel bag.

 

[papertiger]

Yes

 

[Classy&Fab]

I don’t have personal experience reselling Cartier pieces, but I do work in luxury retail and partner with one of the main pre-loved luxury platforms in the market today.

One of the things I regularly see with regards to reselling luxury is that people often forget what a large cut resellers take. So even if your Cartier pieces have not really lost any value by the time you’re ready to resell them, and even if their market price has increased, you will pretty much always be taking a significant hit. Because the reseller wants to make a significant profit, so the price they’re going to offer you is going to be at least 30% less than what you paid, depending on the product.

Obviously this varies depending on the item, the brand, the resell platform, the rarity and scarcity of the piece, etc. but it’s something to consider.

And of course you can try selling it on your own, but for peace of mind and safety, it’s easier to use a well-known resell platform and they are famous for lowballing clients so that they can have the highest possible margins.

But if you consider that loss you take when reselling it the cost of “renting” your piece (aka wearing it for a few years before you decide to sell it), as well as the cost of having the reseller handle all the headache-inducing details of selling your piece for you, it’s probably a pretty fair trade-off!

(And to keep this strictly on topic—at the company I work with, we receive many JUC and Love bracelets regularly, so while our offers are reasonable and competitive to other resellers, the client will always take a hit because they’re not rare pieces.)

 

[Christofle]

Yes: if unworn.

No: if you’re like me and fall on the pavement while wearing your pieces.

 

[scheurin]

Thank you Classy&Fab for your insights. I can remember looking at some balance sheets of secondary market retailers and found a gross margin of about 40 % meaning that they take this amount for themselves - on average. For JUC and Love it might be a bit less. Over time the price hikes are more than inflation so over time you gain a bit back here.

Generally you won't get rich buying and holding to Cartier pieces but you don't lose a hell of money either.

 

[Classy&Fab]

Thank you Classy&Fab for your insights. I can remember looking at some balance sheets of secondary market retailers and found a gross margin of about 40 % meaning that they take this amount for themselves - on average. For JUC and Love it might be a bit less. Over time the price hikes are more than inflation so over time you gain a bit back here.

Generally you won't get rich buying and holding to Cartier pieces but you don't lose a hell of money either.

Of course; my pleasure! And thank you for sharing yours; I totally agree with you. The markup margin at secondary market retailers can be quite significant, and it only keeps going up. Back in the day before there were so many pre-loved platforms out there competing with each other (and competing with the luxury houses themselves for market share) you could not only find better deals on pre-loved pieces, but also make more money selling your own pieces. Now, that is much harder to do. But as you said — unless you own rare pieces (like your gorgeous Crash! 😍) you are not going to make a lot of money on used, widely accessible pieces (or break even, probably), but you also won’t lose a lot of money which is good and can’t be said for all luxury maisons out there. 🙂

 

[lovecartier]

I've sold a good number of Cartier pieces over the years. It really depends. Here are some notes:

1. Some collections resell better than others - Love and Clou may not be rare, but there are a lot of buyers for them. Orchide or other more unique collections don't have as many buyers.

2. The more diamonds, the larger a hit I think you'll generally take. There may be some exceptions.

3. Rings are tougher than bracelets as there are so many permutations of sizes - bracelets don't need to fit as precisely.

4. Some sizes are more desirable than others. And some are more desirable in a certain size. You're not going to find a lot of buyers for a 20/21 ten diamond yellow or rose gold love because that's more of a men's size. But plenty for a pave white one.

5. If you don't have the box and certificate you'll take a big hit. Given counterfeit certificates a receipt or polish receipt could be as valuable if not more.

6. Condition matters.

I've personally been happy to sell to friends who have liked some of my nicer pieces. Every so often something goes to an institutional buyer - or eBay. eBay fees aren't the best but they're lower in general than The Real Real.

 

[jasminb]

Hello everyone, thank you all for your responses and informations😊