Thank you again for sharing your thoughts
@meemeetoo As what
@eternallove4bag mentioned this thread has been really helpful with lots and lots of great tips/advices/information.
I could try to share some perspectives/my thought process and I hope this could benefit you or all other members here. If
@eternallove4bag admitted that she’s a number girl and super good with her organisation skill, I must say that I am more driven by my logical reasoning and come up with my own flowchart, options, steps to navigate given VCA has so many variables, i.e. variety of materials/metals, lines/designs, stones, jewelry types etc

I will always start with:
1) Identify which metals i am going to build up (even before going to decide which design or jewelry types to go). You can consider with what you already have and just add to make it work with your current ones, or whether you want to start fresh (regardless of your current ones). If you are clear since this 1st step, you can easily eliminate all those not relevant with your choice(s). I mentioned before that my main focus is WG so I would definitely add WG (or no qualms to add on more WG Diamond Paved pieces as long as they’re versatile designs) without doubts and I would also do YG because ~70% Alhambra offerings which I wanted to build were all in YG, including their rare/LE 20 motifs (i am so forward looking on this though so far no offers in sight 🤣🤣🤣) As a result, I could justify Frivole Mirror YG, or Lapis RdN to complement this option, and eliminate any RG offerings in sight.
2. Identify which VCA designs/collections , i.e. flora/fauna or which Alhambra you want to build. This is usually the steps where I also identify how many pieces to make a set and which pieces i am going for. I admitted sheepishly that majority has always been started with their earrings 🤣 I would think for Alhambra it will always be easier: whether 20m/10m/6m necklace, 5m bracelet or earrings (can be single VA/MA, 2 motifs, 3 motifs). Looking at what I have I will definitely do 20m/10m with 5m or 20m/10m with earrings. I agree with earlier ladies that 2 pieces are indeed sufficient to make a set.
This step - I would say it would be “All or Nothing” step and that means if I reject one - i will reject the entire collection, no in-between for e.g if I said I am not buying Malachite, I will not get any of the Malachite 5m, Malachite 3m pave earrings, Malachite Perlee Couleur line, or anything basically with Malachite.
3. In addition to Step 2 For Alhambra, i would think i will also need to decide the colored precious stones. As I think I would do YG Guilloche, Tiger Eye, Lapis, Turquoise for example - I will work towards those, or sometimes deliberate myself beyond Alhambra offerings to add from other lines that have these stones as justifiable.
And finally, after this step I will work on my wishlist/target and work with my finance. Ideally, I would be happy enough if I could grow 1 piece for each category (earrings, ring, pendant/necklace) every year; however, i do have a tendency to knock on item with higher price list first to beat any PI and the downside for this is that I may end up with some imbalance collection temporarily 🤣🤣
As other ladies have mentioned here, I also agree that the beautiful thing with VCA is that we can mix and match, for e.g. Perlee clover with Alhambra, Flowers designs with Flora designs, Bows, or even Animals pins etc


I really have no issue to coordinate between different designs as long as they’re in the same metal or same stones to bring cohesiveness. Some even mix and match with other luxury jewelry houses as long as they’re in the same metal 🤘
The other things that are working well for me (which maaaay be unusual for some):
1. It’s super important for me to find an SA that can click with me, who’s passionate about her job and therefore could give her honest views on which could/could not work for me, and finally could help to look out for stocks. As you’re aware, precious stones have different variations of shades or translucency - so ideally, i would rely on my SA to help me looking out the ones that meet most of my preferences. Though at the end of the day, I am still in control 100% with what I choose to purchase, I would appreciate my SA’s view/suggestion/opinions which ones I’d better go with my current collection and aspiration. My SA’s views really matter and carry some weight for me in making decision for e.g. I heeded to my SA’s opinions that WG Paved Cosmos were priced too high and aesthetically they’re not for me, and there’re so many more opportunity costs I could get from other designs. This is the luxury experience I would like to have from VCA by having a genuine individual interaction as well as boutique experience. I really disliked typical SAs who are just after their commissions and thought of their jobs as mere locating stocks for their clients. If that’s the case, there’s no difference with any online EBoutique selling/purchasing method with no value add to make your luxury jewelry purchase as memorable/significant as they should be.
2. Rather than influencers’ IG/Youtube reviews to ogle at, i find more inspirations from VCA SAs’ IG videos/pictures to find which combos that would work, or even getting to know new collections I’ve never come across in the Boutique (from standard jewelry, high jewelry, or even poetic complications etc) and thereafter, I could ask my SA more information about them, look out if my store receives any free stocks so that I could view and give it a try. Sometimes, following pics fom certain collectors through TPF, IG or even XHS - it may broaden my knowledge, my inspiration and more importantly, my own resolute on which direction I would go for.
I am so sorry again to write so long on this, to be honest I am still a VCA newbie in this journey with all the other ladies here. My logical thoughts/steps on the above may work well on stuffs that are orderable; However, as I mentioned I still found some challenge after all where I need to balance my Alhambra WL vs. non Alhambra WL, orderable stuffs vs. not orderable stuffs with no definite timeline/certainty which can suddenly throw any well-thought plans out of the windows or other stuffs on allocation basis. As you know, VCA is always full of surprises and the unfortunate thing is that we all keep coming back to it and it’s very difficult to find VCA peace 😂😂😂.