For Newbies and Seasoned Collectors: Share Your Tips and Experiences in Curating Your VCA Collection

[eternallove4bag]

This is one of my fav threads, have watched it! I am going to read and re-read the valuable insights posted here and remind myself!

I generally consider these factors - whether I would wear it often, does it cause my heart to skip a beat with a "wow" and the cost.

I know I am the type who would grow tired of pieces if I wear them daily for a long time, I need to switch around rotate the pieces, and my taste changes as time goes by! When i was younger, I bought whatever pieces I like. As I grow older, I learn to go slower in my purchases (and the price tag increases too. 😄)

My VCA collection so far:-
- gmop pave alhambra bracelet (my first and I still loooooove it so much),
- sweet perlee bracelet (love this too, so versatile),
- small sapphire frivole necklace (love to wear this to work),
- turquoise 2 butterfly necklace (beautiful!),
- agate 5 motif bracelet (elegant basic)
- Small alhambra watch (I'm a watch sucker)
- sweet mop bracelet (amazing little one great for stacking)
- frivole 5 motif bracelet (love this piece for weekends)
- XL frivole necklace (love this but not much opportunity to use, so afraid to bang it against table

My favorite thread by far too! @oranGetRee So much wisdom here not to mention the eye candy! Your collection is beautiful BTW! I feel like even in my forties I am still learning new things about my likes and dislikes! My tastes change but one thing that remains steadfast is my love for pave and solid gold pieces so sticking to those for the foreseeable future! And darn those price increases, right? 😂

 

[eternallove4bag]

My priority for every piece of jewelry I add to my collection is peace of mind. So for an extremely practical person, my baseline requirements are pieces that are light weight, low maintenance, easy to clean, damage resistant (thus diamonds 😉), reflect my personality and it's got in some way, to some degree, pop on me. To this end, WG, platinum and diamond pieces (and sturdy stones a la VCA) meet these criteria and it's very hard for me to stray elsewhere. Since I live a very casual lifestyle and have not a little bit of rebellion in me, most of my pieces are not dressy, and often go against the grain (in my own way). I have learned that getting to know myself has been crucial in helping me choose pieces that will stay in my collection and be worn. I know I've said before that it is important for me to put time between purchases, because my mind, my circumstances, my finances will change. A piece is on my mind for at least a few years, and I will have tried it on 3-5 times at a boutique before I will pull the trigger. I must try a piece on multiple times to be certain of my feelings. Like dating. When you meet a new person you're totally excited. But that wears off, and you want to find the one that doesn't. And how will you know unless you try the same thing on multiple times? One purchase can affect the next. After I bought the pave perlee pendant, I changed my mind on the ring I wanted. I also learned not to compromise. I always go back to what I wanted in the first place. Yeah, I guess I don't have much advice on how to curate a collection. I buy what gives me peace and joy, and that is different for everyone, and ignore the rest. There are no rules, just what makes you happy.

You gave the PERFECT advice to curate a collection @EpiFanatic Knowing oneself and their lifestyle, time between purchases, not compromising! It can’t get better than that! And, hallelujah to peace of mind! We are all after that elusive rarity! You know how much I love your WG collection
Now, where are the pictures of your gorgeous pieces 😝

 

[Notorious Pink]

Would you consider blessing us with a photo or 10 or your VCA pieces? 🤩

Thank you for sharing your invaluable experiences and thoughts with us @Notorious Pink I chuckled at the ‘it’s a matter of my eye adjusting’ bit because I have gone through the same with some pieces! Things that I had doubts about seamlessly pairing with my existing pieces, over time my eyes adjusted and to me they look perfectly fine together!
Now waiting for glimpses of your beautiful pieces as am sure many others here are too!

I will, I promise!

 

[Sophie0121]

Those were my thoughts too @lynne_ross

The earrings would pair seamlessly with the only 5-motif piece in my collection! Good thing SOs are closed indefinitely and I don’t have to make any decisions soon! Will mull over these more till then!

I would also vote on 2 motif earrings. Question is : VA RG guilloché and magic VA Pave OR VA RG paved and magic VA RG guilloché ? Decisions decisions

 

[Glossyreactions]

My absolute pleasure @Glossyreactions would you wear the bracelet solo or stack it with other 5-motifs like the WMOP or onyx? I personally love the combo of white and blue!

@eternallove4bag I will be wearing it solo, but hope to add the WMOP 5 motif bracelet in yellow gold eventually ☺️ I love the look too!! That would be my ideal YG stack. Heeee ☺️

This thread is honestly so fun and informative! I love hearing all of your experiences and enjoying your beautiful pieces ❤️

 

[eternallove4bag]

I would also vote on 2 motif earrings. Question is : VA RG guilloché and magic VA Pave OR VA RG paved and magic VA RG guilloché ? Decisions decisions

Haha RG VA pave and Magic Guilloche in a heartbeat 😆 @spaul

 

[eternallove4bag]

That would look gorgeous @Glossyreactions and not to enable but can you imagine how beautiful the WMOP and BA 5-motif would look with this ring?

 

[keodi]

My eyes are glued here! Such great advice given so there isn't much I can add but will say:
1) Unfortunately in some cases, building a collection will have cases of trial and error. The goal is to avoid those trial and errors with pricey pieces and instead have the realization before buying anything big. Following the above will help build a curated collection but don't beat yourself up over a few mistakes. Learn from them.
2) As mentioned: research, research, research. You can never be too informed.
3) Simplest advice is follow your heart. Taking short cuts or substitutes for what you really want may help quell the desire in the short term, but it rarely lasts and often costs more in the long run.
4) DO NOT RUSH! Often we have a tendency to want to rush to get it all, but we need to be practical and realistic. If you impulse buy you're likely to regret it. Remember: for many, building a curated jewelry collection is not a race.
5) Quality over quantity any day, all day!

Great tips, thank you for sharing! as someone who has had VCA items on their wishlist for qute some time, I'm finally able to start building my jewelry wardrobe. I'm doing all of the research that i can, including researching the items on my wishlist trying items on in store. Right now I feel like i want everything, but realistically i know I will wear and love pendants, bangles, and studs. I want to have a curated collection of items i know that i'll wear and love, and wan to go slow and steady as i build my collection. @eternallove4bag, thank you for starting this thread, everyones replies are so insightful!

 

[rosebean]

@eternallove4bag thank you so much for starting this thread, I enjoyed reading everyone's advice. It's fascinating to learn others' tips and experience of curating their collection. lots of you @EpiFanatic @glamourbag mentioned TIME between adding next purchases, I found it very important for me as well. I need time to get to know my new piece, enjoy it and decide if I need another one to complete the set. I agree, 2 pieces of a set is enough, to me, a set mostly meaning earring and necklace or ring because I am an earring person, I change earrings almost everyday.

I learned through the years that I am not a chain braclet person, the only chain bracelet I have is the GMOP/pave alternate bracelet, I rarely wear it, now I only use it to connect with my GMOP 10 motif for a longer necklace. This was an impulse buy because I love GMOP, and VCA only offer very limited pieces with GMOP. When I was traveling abroad during covid, I grabbed it when I had the chance. I may have to rehome it as you did, I need some courage @eternallove4bag.

I also learned that YG suits me the best. So I told myself stay focus on YG pieces, not distracted by many beautiful RG/WG pieces, like @eternallove4bag @missie1 @EpiFanatic @BigAkoya. You @lisawhit have such a beautiful YG collection. I am eyeing your SO sweet 10 motif necklace. I asked my SA a couple days ago, she told me all SO is paused/stopped until further notice .

I do have some basic WG diamond pieces, not from VCA that I own for many years until recently right before the price increasing I added the butterfly BTF ring. I love love this ring, so easy to wear, sparkly enough to be noticed, but small enough not get in your face.
I started liking rings since last couple of years. @lynne_ross you have a stunning ring collection, @spaul, thank you both showcasing this beautiful dreamy ring, now I have added it to my wishlist.
@880 thank you for your suggesting on taking photo of the whole body, outfit to learn if a piece looks great overall, specially deciding on necklace length (10, 6, 16, 20 motif, which looks better).

Looking forward to continuing learning from this forum, enjoying all the beautiful photos!

 

[rosebean]

Done! Will absolutely take and share pics @lynne_ross

I sound like a parrot but honestly what I love about VCA pieces is the ability to mix and match! Nothing needs to absolutely match yet the designs coordinate seamlessly! The PG 2-motif earrings in Carnelian and Guilloche would be stunning! I have space for one more PG earrings to add and I am torn between simple Vintage PG Guilloche earrings or do a 2-motif with pave and guilloche. I am just afraid the latter might be too limiting and I might not wear it all the time. God knows I have enough of ‘special’ pieces that only get taken out for certain occasions thanks to my Indian heritage😅. I need a pair I can use the ‘hubbies-jibbies’ out of 😂 .. but again like you I am of the same mindset that there are so many beautiful designs, do I need another Alhambra piece? I wish VCA brought back the medium perlee hoops that @lisawhit has in RG and I would snap that up in a jiffy!

I vote for 2 motifs. You already have VA, MA single motif, why not venture out for 2 motif. my 2 motif MOP are my most worn earrings (not to work, my work doesn't allow me to wear dangling earrings).

 

[Marishshka]

Hi @Marishshka you have beautiful pieces yourself! As much as I love matching earrings and pendant, and since you have VA pave earrings my first instinct would have been ‘go for the VA pave pendant’ but since you already have the large pave Frivole pendant, I would say you don’t need the VA pendant at all.
I am not a huge fan of layering necklaces but that’s just me. I wouldn’t layer the Large pave Frivole pendant with anything! Let it sparkle on its own! It’s such a statement piece on its own!
If you really want to coordinate the VA pave earrings with anything maybe ring or an alternating pave 5-motif?

You touched the strings of my soul. I needed a reason to convince my bank account that I need 5 motif pave. I would love to have one. Thank you for the wonderful advice ❤️ I agree that frivole pendant is enough on its own.

 

[eternallove4bag]

@eternallove4bag thank you so much for starting this thread, I enjoyed reading everyone's advice. It's fascinating to learn others' tips and experience of curating their collection. lots of you @EpiFanatic @glamourbag mentioned TIME between adding next purchases, I found it very important for me as well. I need time to get to know my new piece, enjoy it and decide if I need another one to complete the set. I agree, 2 pieces of a set is enough, to me, a set mostly meaning earring and necklace or ring because I am an earring person, I change earrings almost everyday.

I learned through the years that I am not a chain braclet person, the only chain bracelet I have is the GMOP/pave alternate bracelet, I rarely wear it, now I only use it to connect with my GMOP 10 motif for a longer necklace. This was an impulse buy because I love GMOP, and VCA only offer very limited pieces with GMOP. When I was traveling abroad during covid, I grabbed it when I had the chance. I may have to rehome it as you did, I need some courage @eternallove4bag.

I also learned that YG suits me the best. So I told myself stay focus on YG pieces, not distracted by many beautiful RG/WG pieces, like @eternallove4bag @missie1 @EpiFanatic @BigAkoya. You @lisawhit have such a beautiful YG collection. I am eyeing your SO sweet 10 motif necklace. I asked my SA a couple days ago, she told me all SO is paused/stopped until further notice .

I do have some basic WG diamond pieces, not from VCA that I own for many years until recently right before the price increasing I added the butterfly BTF ring. I love love this ring, so easy to wear, sparkly enough to be noticed, but small enough not get in your face.
I started liking rings since last couple of years. @lynne_ross you have a stunning ring collection, @spaul, thank you both showcasing this beautiful dreamy ring, now I have added it to my wishlist.
@880 thank you for your suggesting on taking photo of the whole body, outfit to learn if a piece looks great overall, specially deciding on necklace length (10, 6, 16, 20 motif, which looks better).

Looking forward to continuing learning from this forum, enjoying all the beautiful photos!

I seriously go back to re-read each person’s experiences and advice here whenever I am on this forum. Invaluable advice to last a liftetime

I vote for 2 motifs. You already have VA, MA single motif, why not venture out for 2 motif. my 2 motif MOP are my most worn earrings (not to work, my work doesn't allow me to wear dangling earrings).

@rosebean Leaning towards some version of the 2-motif myself! You know how much I love your WMOP 2-motif earrings. That’s definitely one pair of earrings that I would have loved to add despite not wanting to add any stone pieces! Let’s see if those ever come at my store! If they do I am sure they go to the VVVVIP clients 😬 They have never made their way to me! And if not, then the guilloche 2-motif would be the perfect addition for me.

You have such beautiful pieces BTW! Would love to see a family pic or parts of it if you are game 🤗

 

[eternallove4bag]

You touched the strings of my soul. I needed a reason to convince my bank account that I need 5 motif pave. I would love to have one. Thank you for the wonderful advice ❤️ I agree that frivole pendant is enough on its own.

@Marishshka whenever you bring the stunning pave 5-motif home, please share pics here so we can celebrate with you

 

[glamourbag]

You touched the strings of my soul. I needed a reason to convince my bank account that I need 5 motif pave. I would love to have one. Thank you for the wonderful advice ❤️ I agree that frivole pendant is enough on its own.

I am here to encourage you to get the 5 motif pave. You won't regret it. It's absolutely so easy to wear!

 

[Marishshka]

I am here to encourage you to get the 5 motif pave. You won't regret it. It's absolutely so easy to wear!

I can imagine!! I wear my pace earrings 24/7. I could do the same with the bracelet. Diamonds bring comfort to me lol