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Posted by Barbara on September 1, 2024 at 2:53am 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Khalid Shaikh on September 1, 2024 at 2:53am 0 Comments 0 Likes
Diamonds may not be forever, after all. This article looks at alternative gemstones that may just take your fancy. Diamonds, although popular, are not that scarce. Some 130 million carats of diamonds are produced every year and, with new mines coming on stream and others being expanded, this figures is set to rise. Given that the average engagement ring contains well under a carat, you can see that there is no shortage of supply. Or, at least, no genuine shortage of supply. So, despite growing demand from India, card printers in Kenya China and elsewhere, there is an argument that ordinary diamonds may not be the best long-term home for your money.
I say ordinary diamonds because there is an exception: coloured diamonds. I am certain these will hold their long-term value: right now, prices of rare red and green 'fancy' diamonds are soaring. The reason is that they are so rare. All the pink diamonds mined every year could be held in the palm of a relatively small hand.
And I am starting to get much keener on other gems, too. Rubies and sapphires, for instance, are both varieties of the same mineral (corundum) but develop different colours, depending on the chemicals in the rock. However, they all score highly as an investment because of their relative scarcity. The major sources for rubies are Afghanistan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. The best come from Burma, but many mines are now worked out and political instability has disrupted supply. Similarly, the best sapphires used to be found in Kashmir, but supply came to an end in 1925. All this means that good stones hold their value very well. I wouldn't dismiss emeralds, either, providing they are of sufficient quality and genuine.
This leads me to a useful tip. Buy antique jewellery and buy it at auction. First of all, you can be certain the stone is genuine, untreated and as described. Second, until around 80 years ago, a craftsman's time was not as valuable as it is now, and that means they used to spend a great deal longer working on each piece than is generally the case today. The provenance of jewels from old master jewel-houses, such as Boucheron, Chaumet, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and, of course, Faberg, greatly increases the value of the piece. And, even if it doesn't, you'll still have a beautiful piece to wear. All the major auction houses, including Bonhams, Sotheby's and Christie's, have regular auctions of gemstones and jewellery. All have experts who will talk you through the pieces in the auction, allow you to view them and be able to provide you with detailed information - with the assurance that each piece has been authenticated by experts. The viewing and the bidding take time and effort but should be worth it.
While on the subject of jewellery, is it in good taste to make love (I mean in the old-fashioned sense, of course) and to make money at the same time? I think so. How much more satisfying is it to buy your beloved a gift that not only symbolises your affection but also is likely to show a healthy profit? Especially if the gift is truly romantic.
Recently, a good friend of mine showed me two English, late-medieval gold 'posy rings' he had bought to give his fianc on Valentine's Day. Posy rings, popular between the mid-fourteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries, were decorated with flowers and hearts and bore romantic inscriptions. The examples my friend found are the especially rare type, known as 'black letter posies', because the letters and engraving would originally have been in black enamel. The inscription on one of the rings is ma vie durannt, which means 'my whole life', and has been dated 1450. The inscription on the second ring, which was probably made about 100 years earlier, is harder to read but seems to be amour vnqh?m, which Sotheby's (when it checked the ring) believed to be an abbreviated form of 'love vanquishes all' or 'love conquers all'. The rings would have been amatory tokens or possibly wedding bands.
Despite their extraordinary rarity - most jewellery of this age is to be found in museums - the rings cost considerably less than you might think. One was under 3,000 and the other was under 6,000. Buying them was not only an excellent way for my friend to endear himself to his fiance; it was almost certainly a shrewd investment. Because for the first time in many decades the value of older jewellery - I am talking up to around the time of the Renaissance - is starting to rise. So, if you are looking for an intriguing and alternative way to make your money grow, this could well be it.
With any investment, the idea is always to get in early, before the market starts to take off, but after the first signs of growth can be identified. Museum-quality jewellery has traditionally been the preserve of a small group of serious collectors. It tends to be bought and sold by dealers who cover a wide range of other antiquities; sometimes pieces come up for auction at the larger, international salesrooms; most often, they change hands privately. However, a few years ago a very enterprising American called Sandra Hindman, founder of the Paris gallery Les Enluminures, which also sells medieval manuscripts, decided to specialise in the field. Thanks to her enthusiasm and marketing skill, she has attracted considerable media attention. She has mounted exhibitions, published catalogues and launched a website at medieval-rings.com, which, at any one time, has more than 100 examples for sale.
What should you buy if you want a piece of the action? Rings, being the most popular and lasting form of all jewellery, are definitely the area to focus on. The earliest-known rings date back to 2500 BC and were discovered in the tombs of Ur, the ancient city of southern Mesopotamia. Although it is possible to find pre-Christian rings for sale, there are so few of any quality available that it would be hard to put together a collection. Better, probably, to concentrate on rings from around AD 300 to 1650, in other words early Christian, Byzantine, early Medieval, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Within this range, inferior examples will start from 500 upwards (although it is better to collect a smaller number of higher-quality items).
One of the interesting things about buying rings is that once you start to look there is a great deal of information to be found about them. They are frequently mentioned in written documents down through the ages and they are also to be seen in paintings and mentioned in manuscripts. Commenting on the growing enthusiasm amongst collectors, the Financial Times recently wrote: "The rings collectors fancy are usually enamelled, gem-set, engraved or carved and tend to have a story behind them. Some were given as pledges of affection or fidelity, others in memory of the dearly departed (not taking chances bequests were left for the purpose). Kings and princes, popes and archbishops wore rings to broadcast their power; others wore rings as emblems of their trade. The gem in one ring might be thought to have protective powers; the secret compartment in another held poison to kill."
Clearly, ancient jewellery is nowhere near as liquid an alternative investment as, say, gold. On the other hand, important pieces are still to be found for relatively low sums, and with an increasing number of collectors entering the field plus a very limited supply the chances of seeing strong capital gain must be high. That's assuming your beloved will let you sell anything, of course.
If you are interested in this area, it is worth investing in a copy of Historic Rings: Four Thousand Years of Craftsmanship by Diana Scarisbrick (Kodansha International Publishers). Sotheby's and Christie's are the two sale houses most likely to have suitable rings up for auction. Specialist dealers include TimeLine Originals, Antiquities Giftshop International, Sandra Lipton and Spiral.
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