Investment in antique jewellery.
I've always loved old things and I've often thought if I were to open a shop, I'd sell either antique books, antique jewels or antique furniture. Perhaps all three together! But the lure of sparkly antique gems holds an awful lot of appeal.
To that end, I want to put together a series of posts, showcasing something of an unusual investment that pay off over and over again. You see, I buy these for my wife now - she gets to wear them, and have them as her treasures, and I tell her - when we're 90 and can't afford food, we'll sell 'em! (I know, how romantic, right?)
First up in the showcase is this beauty of a ring - at the ring's centre is a pearl. It's an off-white and has a beautiful luster. Luster is essentially what you're looking for in a pearl's grading - and this one reflects light well. The ring itself is in a halo design, and there are 10 diamond dancing around the centre pearl. I purchased this around 6 or 7 years ago - and in truth, I never get sick of diamonds, and I always feel there is such romance connected to pearls.
The head of the ring (that's from one side to the other) measures 13mm, with each diamond having a diameter of about 2.8mm. The diamonds themselves are what are known as 'mine cut' or 'miner cut' - basically, they're early diamonds and they have a larger table on top of the diamond, and less cut lines. Back in the 'good old days' they didn't have fancy laser cutting techniques to create the brilliant cut diamond we know today. What is left, however are sparkly diamonds with a high level of scintillation - this means sparkle, sometimes called fire. At one point in this ring's life (and given it's over 100 years old, it's had a life!) one of the ten diamonds has been replaced with a diamond that's not as white as the others, and it has a more champagne appearance. When it is worn, and not in a micro photo, it isn't particularly obvious.
Each of the diamonds then is about 0.075 of a carat each, totalling about 0.75 of a carat. The band is quite thick and is crafted in 18 carat gold, while the head of the ring is set in platinum.
And the best part? In Australia, antique jewellery is expensive - to that end, I only buy from international sellers (mostly the UK or USA) and this means, as soon as the ring has been imported, it's value from a local point of view has already gone up. (Well, here's a cheer to a paper profit!)