Should I buy my first luxury piece of jewelry, or spend it on travel?

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#16
TrinketTattle said:
This sounds like a good idea! But OP, I get the impression you secretly really want to buy the ring instead of going to Paris, so I think you should absolutely just buy it :smile1: I think you will be so happy with the trinity, it always looks so pretty in pictures.
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Heh, ya caught me :p I do want the ring, but my friends all think I'm crazy for passing up PARIS!

tulipfield said:
I think you can swing the Paris trip for a lot less than $5000, although that depends on how you like to travel. You could save the rest for a piece of jewelry!
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I like this idea too! Do you have advice? These are the numbers I had calculated:
Airfare (economy): 2500 for round trip direct flight
For hotel for 5-10 days (of course this would vary depend on exact number of days): about 100-300/day for a mid-tier hotel
Plus eating expenses (not sure how expensive food is, but I'm not looking for five-star restaurants): $50/day
Plus miscellaneous shopping, museum admissions, etc.

For a 5 day trip then it would be about $3000, for 10 days closer to $5000.
 
#18
I would save the money until you want one or the other really badly.

There are a lot of things you can buy with $5000. You shouldn't spend it just to spend it. You should really really want the thing you are spending it on. I would put it toward remodeling my house. :shrugs:

But I'm mostly already happy with my jewelry and travel experiences.
 
#19
peppamint said:
Heh, ya caught me :p I do want the ring, but my friends all think I'm crazy for passing up PARIS!







I like this idea too! Do you have advice? These are the numbers I had calculated:

Airfare (economy): 2500 for round trip direct flight

For hotel for 5-10 days (of course this would vary depend on exact number of days): about 100-300/day for a mid-tier hotel

Plus eating expenses (not sure how expensive food is, but I'm not looking for five-star restaurants): $50/day

Plus miscellaneous shopping, museum admissions, etc.



For a 5 day trip then it would be about $3000, for 10 days closer to $5000.
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I'm not sure where you'd be flying from, but it seems likely you could get the airfare a lot cheaper, if you don't mind a layover or two. Run it through kayak and see what you turn up? If your dates are flexible then that can make a big difference in your ticket price too.

You could also save by staying in hostels rather than hotels, even just some nights. Depends a lot on who you're traveling with/your comfort level in those environments, but I've had good experiences in hostels. Just check the reviews ahead of time.
 
#21
I would cut my travel time there (a week and a half to five days?) and use the rest on a nice, classic piece of jewelry. I think you can get a very good quality 1/2 ct. diamond solitaire necklace for under $1300. Good luck with your choice - both are fabulous options.
 
#22
TrinketTattle said:
Paris is lovely of course, but jewelry! Jewelry!! :graucho: Paris won't run away :D (Cartier won't run away either, but they increase their prices constantly!)
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Ooohhh, good point! I hadn't even thought about the price increases. Lol!

Jesssh said:
I would save the money until you want one or the other really badly.

There are a lot of things you can buy with $5000. You shouldn't spend it just to spend it. You should really really want the thing you are spending it on. I would put it toward remodeling my house. :shrugs:

But I'm mostly already happy with my jewelry and travel experiences.
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I totally agree with you about not spending money just for the sake of it--I think that would be the worst of all. I do really want both (Paris has been on my bucket list for years, but so has a nice piece of jewelry.) I guess you could say I'm happy with my travel experiences but have no jewelry experiences yet so it seems to me at this point that I'm either more inclined to get jewelry, or take a cheaper trip + jewelry.

tulipfield said:
I'm not sure where you'd be flying from, but it seems likely you could get the airfare a lot cheaper, if you don't mind a layover or two. Run it through kayak and see what you turn up? If your dates are flexible then that can make a big difference in your ticket price too.

You could also save by staying in hostels rather than hotels, even just some nights. Depends a lot on who you're traveling with/your comfort level in those environments, but I've had good experiences in hostels. Just check the reviews ahead of time.
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I'm flying from SF. I know that layovers are cheaper, but I figured that if I'm going to be travelling for a week (or less) then it would not be worth it to cut into my travel time for layovers just to save a couple hundred. On the TripAdvisor Paris forum, I keep hearing people say "In Paris, time is worth more than money" and so I figured that while I'd be willing to save on other places, I think direct flights would be better. Unless I could get a layover in London or something, haha! :p

Hostels are a good idea--hadn't really considered them before. Thank you for all the advice! I'll try to see if I can cut the cost down even further.

katierose said:
I agree with most here, I'd pick jewelry.
You will always have it to wear and enjoy.
Since you have already traveled a bit, you won't miss one more trip.
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Yep, my thinking exactly. Thanks for the feedback!

emchhardy said:
I would cut my travel time there (a week and a half to five days?) and use the rest on a nice, classic piece of jewelry. I think you can get a very good quality 1/2 ct. diamond solitaire necklace for under $1300. Good luck with your choice - both are fabulous options.
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I like this choice two--it's like having my cake and eating it too! Yeah, definitely I could cut the cost of the trip by about half if I went for five days instead of 1.5 weeks. Thank you!
 
#23
"travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer..." i will definitely pick Paris. Nonetheless, from what you said I think buying Cartier, at this time, will make you happy. Just go by what you feel only...either way you will be making great choice :)
 
#24
Please indulge the ramblings of someone who's been there, done that.

While I love bling just as much as any typical gal. In my foolish youth, I spent many a time obsessing over certain pieces of jewelry, that, once acquired, only led to even more additions on my bling wish list. And the funny thing is, it always started with my belief that if ever I would get the (fill in the blanks here: Trinity ring, Rolex watch, Roberto Coin gold ring, Tiffany X gold bracelet, Mikimoto pearls, gold David Yurman thoroughbred bracelet,...ad infinitum), then I wouldn't want to buy any more bling... Yeah, right.

Now all these baubles are just taking up space, most of them unused for years and forgotten.

I guess you know where this is leading......

I would pick travel over bling. (I just wish that I'd known then what I do now). Go to Paris for 7 days (somehow, it doesn't seem worth the $2500 air fare just to stay there for 5 days). If you can get a hotel room for 7 days at $200 each = $1400 plus $75/day for food, that leaves $575 for your pass navigo, admission tickets to the Louvre, Versailles, and Le Tour Eiffel, perhaps a performance at the Chatelet, lots of macarons, fromage, and countless glasses of vin and cafe whilst sitting on one of the sidewalk cafe chairs, soaking in the ambiance, and whispering to yourself, over and over......"J'adore Paris!"
 
#25
Honestly? These are not IMO 'comparable' goods so it's not really possible to make an either/or decision regarding them.

Make Paris work at a slightly lower cost overall, then while you're over there scout the jewellery shops and second-hand/resale places - there are amazing stores in Paris and lots of luxe goods available. This way, you can enjoy both :yes:
 
#26
lovequality said:
"travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer..." i will definitely pick Paris. Nonetheless, from what you said I think buying Cartier, at this time, will make you happy. Just go by what you feel only...either way you will be making great choice :)
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Thank you for the feedback! I definitely agree that "at this time" I like the jewelry, but I want to make sure that "in five years" I also don't regret my decision :p

gelatolover said:
Please indulge the ramblings of someone who's been there, done that.

While I love bling just as much as any typical gal. In my foolish youth, I spent many a time obsessing over certain pieces of jewelry, that, once acquired, only led to even more additions on my bling wish list. And the funny thing is, it always started with my belief that if ever I would get the (fill in the blanks here: Trinity ring, Rolex watch, Roberto Coin gold ring, Tiffany X gold bracelet, Mikimoto pearls, gold David Yurman thoroughbred bracelet,...ad infinitum), then I wouldn't want to buy any more bling... Yeah, right.

Now all these baubles are just taking up space, most of them unused for years and forgotten.

I guess you know where this is leading......

I would pick travel over bling. (I just wish that I'd known then what I do now). Go to Paris for 7 days (somehow, it doesn't seem worth the $2500 air fare just to stay there for 5 days). If you can get a hotel room for 7 days at $200 each = $1400 plus $75/day for food, that leaves $575 for your pass navigo, admission tickets to the Louvre, Versailles, and Le Tour Eiffel, perhaps a performance at the Chatelet, lots of macarons, fromage, and countless glasses of vin and cafe whilst sitting on one of the sidewalk cafe chairs, soaking in the ambiance, and whispering to yourself, over and over......"J'adore Paris!"
Click to expand...

Thank you for the feedback! This is exactly what I was hoping for--someone who had had the same dilemma. But I hope you will enjoy your jewelry! Your collection sounds pretty and you should take them out to wear again so they are not taking up space :p:p

Bitten said:
Honestly? These are not IMO 'comparable' goods so it's not really possible to make an either/or decision regarding them.

Make Paris work at a slightly lower cost overall, then while you're over there scout the jewellery shops and second-hand/resale places - there are amazing stores in Paris and lots of luxe goods available. This way, you can enjoy both :yes:
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Thank you for the advice! This is what I have decided to do.
 
#27
Thank you everyone for the advice! I really appreciate it--I just wanted to say that I understand that I am extremely lucky to even be in this dilemma (this is basically a #firstworldproblems thread). I want to try to spend money wisely.

I think at this point I am going to try to do Paris for cheaper, and then also buy something preloved--maybe from Paris (which would be awesome), maybe just from eBay.

I also wanted to update on the numbers, in case anyone was reading this for reference--the $2500 for economy fare, round trip was quoted to me by the major aggregator sites (kayak, expedia, travelocity, etc). However, oddly enough the fares were MUCH cheaper directly from the airline carriers. All prices in USD.

For example, I looked up an arbitrary selection of airlines:
Air France: cheapest round trip economy around $1500
British Airways: cheapest RT economy class around $1600-1700
Delta Airlines: cheapest RT economy around $1500-1600
United Airlines: cheapest RT economy around $1500-1600

NONE of these websites gave me prices over $2300, and I used the exact same parameters (date, # of people, economy class) as I did on the aggregator sites. So just a tip--search the individual airlines as well!

Hotel prices for mid-tier centrally located chains are still around $200-300, but I'm thinking of renting an apartment instead, and a 7-day rental for a VERY nice apartment is 720 euros. So about 1000 usd. That's less than $150 a night! Airbnb also seems to be an options--I've found decent-looking apartments for $80-100 per night.

So it looks like $3000-5000 was definitely overestimated by me for a 5-10 day trip to Paris. I'm very relieved :laugh::laugh:

I did a quick eBay search for a basic, tri-tone Cartier trinity ring, and the prices looked fair (although not sure about authenticity!)

It seems that this is less of a dilemma than I thought. Although I think I'm pretty set in my decision now, if anyone still has thoughts I would love to hear them! I find it really interesting to hear from a lot of people about how they allocate their finances.
 
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#29
peppamint said:
*Mods, not sure if this completely belongs here, but since it's jewelry related...



I'm thinking about taking my first trip to Paris, about a week to a week and a half. But when I calculated the total cost, it came out to a couple thousand, (maybe like $5000? this is a ballpark figure, mind) and I starting thinking of what I could buy with that money instead.



I don't own any jewelry at all, but I'd like to buy a classic, signature, investment piece. With $5000 I was thinking to buy a nice Cartier ring, probably the Trinity, although the Juste Un Clou line looks cool as well. Or maybe a VCA Alhambra necklace.



I know that this is the classic debate of buying material goods vs buying experiences. Although I've never been to Paris, I have traveled to other countries multiple times and so it's not like this will be my very first international trip. In addition, I don't own any jewelry at all--whereas going to Paris would be adding yet another stamp to my passport. I would like to say that just because I don't own any jewelry and don't wear jewelry doesn't mean that it's "not as important"/not as useful in my life--I just haven't found the right piece yet.



So I'd love to hear from you, ladies. Jewelry or Paris? If jewelry, what jewelry would be a classic, non-flashy piece appropriate for daily wear?
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Well I love jewelry but I love traveling even more! Went to 47 countries by the time I turned 30. You die with your memory's, not material goods. (Don't get me wrong, I just bought a love bracelet). Where are you based? Are you planning on traveling on your own? The reason I ask is because you could do both. Why not go Paris and spend $2500 or less and then have $2500 left over of your budget to buy something in Paris ( like the cartier you mentioned) which is a wee but cheaper than the US. You could even save $1000 for your airfare and open up a credit card with one of the airlines that gives you a free round trip flight to Europe when you spend $3000 in three months.
 
#30
peppamint said:
Ooohhh, good point! I hadn't even thought about the price increases. Lol!







I totally agree with you about not spending money just for the sake of it--I think that would be the worst of all. I do really want both (Paris has been on my bucket list for years, but so has a nice piece of jewelry.) I guess you could say I'm happy with my travel experiences but have no jewelry experiences yet so it seems to me at this point that I'm either more inclined to get jewelry, or take a cheaper trip + jewelry.







I'm flying from SF. I know that layovers are cheaper, but I figured that if I'm going to be travelling for a week (or less) then it would not be worth it to cut into my travel time for layovers just to save a couple hundred. On the TripAdvisor Paris forum, I keep hearing people say "In Paris, time is worth more than money" and so I figured that while I'd be willing to save on other places, I think direct flights would be better. Unless I could get a layover in London or something, haha! :p



Hostels are a good idea--hadn't really considered them before. Thank you for all the advice! I'll try to see if I can cut the cost down even further.







Yep, my thinking exactly. Thanks for the feedback!







I like this choice two--it's like having my cake and eating it too! Yeah, definitely I could cut the cost of the trip by about half if I went for five days instead of 1.5 weeks. Thank you!
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You definitely don't need to spend $2500 for airfare economy from San Fran. Stops overs are fine. Especially for that long of a flight. Stoping in JFK or what not won't be bad. Personally I would use miles though. AA not in the summer is only 40,000 miles from the US plus 200 in taxes, delta is 60,000 miles but still not that bad
 
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