Out of curiosity: do you prefer branded/high end jewellery or unbranded - and why?

[MagpieInTraining]

I look for design and quality of the metal/stones. A diamond is a diamond no matter what store it came from, as long as you're a savvy buyer. While I love my branded jewelry, I'm able to get more bang for my buck with my unbranded items. I have a trusted local jeweler who is fantastic and has made a few custom items for me and I can return to for care/maintenance. I've also had these items appraised for insurance and was pleasantly surprised at the value.
My one exception is watches. I stick to the big names for both the history and the reliability.

I completely agree with everything you're saying! Especially about diamonds. For example, I know that I only need a diamond to be eye-clean, so why would I want VVS1 stones for earrings when SI1 would do just as well? With high-end stores you can hardly find stones of "lower" clarity, and even if you do they're priced way higher than they should be. So I definitely agree with you about getting more bang for your buck with the unbranded stuff.

But with watches, I too stick to big names. I have never even thought otherwise tbh.

 

[pjhm]

I invest in original pieces that I buy from an independent jeweler. My diamond ring and necklace are original designs so no one else has exact same thing. Not a fan of Cartier or the others although I do have 2 Tiffany every day bracelets which were gifts. It’s fun to take your spare gems, diamonds, pearls etc to a jeweler and design your own pieces, Mark up is much less too.

 

[MagpieInTraining]

I invest in original pieces that I buy from an independent jeweler. My diamond ring and necklace are original designs so no one else has exact same thing. Not a fan of Cartier or the others although I do have 2 Tiffany every day bracelets which were gifts. It’s fun to take your spare gems, diamonds, pearls etc to a jeweler and design your own pieces, Mark up is much less too.

Yes I definitely love having unique pieces that I know no one else has! Also some classics that most people have but I know that I didn't pay a crazy markup on (e.g. a simple string of pearls). My branded jewellery pieces just complement my other, non branded pieces.

 

[Hatsoff1]

I invest in original pieces that I buy from an independent jeweler. My diamond ring and necklace are original designs so no one else has exact same thing. Not a fan of Cartier or the others although I do have 2 Tiffany every day bracelets which were gifts. It’s fun to take your spare gems, diamonds, pearls etc to a jeweler and design your own pieces, Mark up is much less too.

This sounds fantastic! I must try this with items I no longer wear.

 

[BigAkoya]

High end for sure. I am a jewelry lover and have done both. I once thought jewelry was jewelry and don’t overpay for a name. Wrong!

I buy jewelry for me to enjoy and it is not an investment and I know you will get a fraction of the amount on a selling item. That said... when you tire of a piece, have you really ever tried to sell a no name piece? It is worth almost nothing compared to what you have paid, if you can even sell it! I ended up having to consign my no name pieces at a huge discounted value. So you can look at that as a big percent of money down the drain. I have also sold branded pieces like Tiffany and Cartier and wow... amazing big resell value. Sold easily too!

So... are you overpaying for high end... not to me if you consider resell value and the enjoyment of wearing a quality branded piece. There is almost no value in no name pieces on the resell market. And to me, the resell market is a true gauge of what your piece is really worth, regardless of the “deal” you think you got. I got very good prices on my old Tiffany pieces and amazing resell on VCA. On my no name platinum, certified Burmese ruby ring for example, I got a very small fraction of what I paid. So which is the better deal? I say the high end piece for sure.

I go branded now as much as I can... well worth it for the money as well as for the brand name appeal.

Just my two cents.

 

[loves]

I grew up in the 70s and my parents who are very active in various charities always dragged me to charity events and galas where all the "aunties" were dripping in diamonds. In Asia, in those days, almost all don't buy designer brand jewellery. We have local gold & jewellery stores that most go to. I didn't want to go to these boring dinners where I had to be on my best behaviour and I was bored out of my mind.

Therefore I associate jewellery with those dreaded galas and overly decked out women trying to out-bling each other. I was an observant kid, there was a lot of catfighting involved in who did most for which event *insert eye roll*. I found it quite distasteful. Oh boy! Was I judgemental kid or what?

Therefore thanks to this negative association I don't collect jewellery, to this day any jewellery no matter how expensive doesn't impress me. Whatever I have are gifted and the ones I bought are a few VCA pieces.

 

[xincinsin]

I grew up in the 70s and my parents who are very active in various charities always dragged me to charity events and galas where all the "aunties" were dripping in diamonds. In Asia, in those days, almost all don't buy designer brand jewellery. We have local gold & jewellery stores that most go to. I didn't want to go to these boring dinners where I had to be on my best behaviour and I was bored out of my mind.

Therefore I associate jewellery with those dreaded galas and overly decked out women trying to out-bling each other. I was an observant kid, there was a lot of catfighting involved in who did most for which event *insert eye roll*. I found it quite distasteful. Oh boy! Was I judgemental kid or what?

Therefore thanks to this negative association I don't collect jewellery, to this day any jewellery no matter how expensive doesn't impress me. Whatever I have are gifted and the ones I bought are a few VCA pieces.

Reminds me of my school's annual Founder's Day dinner. About 30 years ago, my mum had to attend every year as she was on the organizing committee. The Chinese language teachers were all married to wealthy businessmen. They dressed plainly most of the time but tried to outbling each other on that one night of the year.

Back to topic, half of my jewellery is non-branded customised pieces which I've co-designed. I've not really considered resale values. My main jeweller has often reminded me that I can sell the pieces back to her. Haven't done that yet so I don't know how much she would offer me. I guess I'm hoping that I'll have daughters-in-law to whom to gift the pieces. I like luxury jewellery but rarely buy any. Apart from the high price, my taste for statement pieces also means that I can't afford to purchase the kind of jewellery I really love without some major belt-tightening. You know, stuff like Bulgari's serpenti necklace

And I do roll eyes when I compliment a coworker on her necklace and the IP-law-clueless girl proudly brags that it's a knock-off and recommends her replica jeweller to me

 

[Serva1]

I love high end brands, because they are classic pieces but I prefer custom made jewellery by aknowledged designers, especially the number one designer in my country that used to make jewellery for the Romanov family. The feeling of a ring that isn’t massproduced or a pendant that is custom made just for you, a signature piece you have been involved with and is unique is something very special and exclusive.

 

[MagpieInTraining]

High end for sure. I am a jewelry lover and have done both. I once thought jewelry was jewelry and don’t overpay for a name. Wrong!

I buy jewelry for me to enjoy and it is not an investment and I know you will get a fraction of the amount on a selling item. That said... when you tire of a piece, have you really ever tried to sell a no name piece? It is worth almost nothing compared to what you have paid, if you can even sell it! I ended up having to consign my no name pieces at a huge discounted value. So you can look at that as a big percent of money down the drain. I have also sold branded pieces like Tiffany and Cartier and wow... amazing big resell value. Sold easily too!

So... are you overpaying for high end... not to me if you consider resell value and the enjoyment of wearing a quality branded piece. There is almost no value in no name pieces on the resell market. And to me, the resell market is a true gauge of what your piece is really worth, regardless of the “deal” you think you got. I got very good prices on my old Tiffany pieces and amazing resell on VCA. On my no name platinum, certified Burmese ruby ring for example, I got a very small fraction of what I paid. So which is the better deal? I say the high end piece for sure.

I go branded now as much as I can... well worth it for the money as well as for the brand name appeal.

Just my two cents.

You make a great point about resale value! For sure you can recoup a lot more of your money on branded pieces. For me though, I prefer to remake my pieces when I get tired of them than to sell them, so I haven't run into this problem yet. Plus my jeweller has a policy of buying back jewellery that I purchased from him at a pretty fair rate, so if I ever had to sell pieces I bought from him it should be fine. But in general I definitely agree a significant advantage to brand name pieces is resale value.

 

[MagpieInTraining]

I grew up in the 70s and my parents who are very active in various charities always dragged me to charity events and galas where all the "aunties" were dripping in diamonds. In Asia, in those days, almost all don't buy designer brand jewellery. We have local gold & jewellery stores that most go to. I didn't want to go to these boring dinners where I had to be on my best behaviour and I was bored out of my mind.

Therefore I associate jewellery with those dreaded galas and overly decked out women trying to out-bling each other. I was an observant kid, there was a lot of catfighting involved in who did most for which event *insert eye roll*. I found it quite distasteful. Oh boy! Was I judgemental kid or what?

Therefore thanks to this negative association I don't collect jewellery, to this day any jewellery no matter how expensive doesn't impress me. Whatever I have are gifted and the ones I bought are a few VCA pieces.

Haha you're so right on Asians and jewellery. I'm Asian too designer jewellery is kind of a new phenomenon here I think.

Reminds me of my school's annual Founder's Day dinner. About 30 years ago, my mum had to attend every year as she was on the organizing committee. The Chinese language teachers were all married to wealthy businessmen. They dressed plainly most of the time but tried to outbling each other on that one night of the year.

Back to topic, half of my jewellery is non-branded customised pieces which I've co-designed. I've not really considered resale values. My main jeweller has often reminded me that I can sell the pieces back to her. Haven't done that yet so I don't know how much she would offer me. I guess I'm hoping that I'll have daughters-in-law to whom to gift the pieces. I like luxury jewellery but rarely buy any. Apart from the high price, my taste for statement pieces also means that I can't afford to purchase the kind of jewellery I really love without some major belt-tightening. You know, stuff like Bulgari's serpenti necklace

And I do roll eyes when I compliment a coworker on her necklace and the IP-law-clueless girl proudly brags that it's a knock-off and recommends her replica jeweller to me

I know what you mean about the love for statement pieces! My wishlist has some very expensive pieces on it. Maybe someday haha. Bvlgari Serpenti is on my wishlist too

I think gifting or remaking is the best thing to do with pieces when you get tired of them, but you do need to find someone close enough to to gift something that expensive

 

[MagpieInTraining]

I love high end brands, because they are classic pieces but I prefer custom made jewellery by aknowledged designers, especially the number one designer in my country that used to make jewellery for the Romanov family. The feeling of a ring that isn’t massproduced or a pendant that is custom made just for you, a signature piece you have been involved with and is unique is something very special and exclusive.

I do love custom pieces! I feel so special. But I have never gone to a local acknowledged designer as you put it, because I always assume their prices would be higher! Would you say that's the case?

 

[jadie1]

I like the Cartier Love bracelet (have one) and the JUC bracelet (want one). And i love the VCA Alhambra. I made a post the other day about wearing it.

I like the branded and unbranded jewelry .The advantage of the branded jewelry is resale value. If you grow tired of it, sell it. The price of VCA on the secondhand market is nearly retail. I'm not Asian, if that makes any difference? I've seen all kinds of people wearing Love bracelets.

 

[MagpieInTraining]

I like the Cartier Love bracelet (have one) and the JUC bracelet (want one). And i love the VCA Alhambra. I made a post the other day about wearing it.

I like the branded and unbranded jewelry .The advantage of the branded jewelry is resale value. If you grow tired of it, sell it. The price of VCA on the secondhand market is nearly retail. I'm not Asian, if that makes any difference? I've seen all kinds of people wearing Love bracelets.

I love both too! I was just curious to know how many people stick to branded only, how many to unbranded only, and how many prefer a mix (maybe leaning one way or the other).

 

[Sophie-Rose]

I prefer high quality, non branded jewellery... I purchase most on Etsy

 

[MagpieInTraining]

I prefer high quality, non branded jewellery... I purchase most on Etsy

I've heard Etsy is a great place to buy jewellery, though I haven't personally!