More Than a Feeling

Anyone who owns a piece of gold or platinum jewelry with significant weight will understand what I mean here. Many years ago (1978?) the Gold Industry heavily advertised in ladies fashion magazines and on television; it was the “nothing else feels like real gold” campaign. If you are fortunate enough to own an eighteen-karat solid gold “Presidential” Rolex wrist watch or a heavy Cuban link neck chain you know how heavy that feeling truly is.

As I write this the price of gold ($1,945.93) once again is heading off the charts so that heavy gold feeling is going to be a costly one. I’m perplexed as to why the rise when only last September - November it was at a low of $1,620. I swear the powers that be who control the world’s gold prices simply throw a dart with closed eyes and that result sets the daily price structure. 

In the good old days the gold market could be swayed by wars, recessions, political atmosphere, stock market, consumer spending, and in the advent of the holiday shopping season. Nowadays it may as well be the weather situation on Mars or the Antarctic Ice flow for all I know. I can recall a couple of decades ago the price of gold would begin rising in November and after Valentine’s day the gold price would recede like the tide and be somewhat stable the rest of the year with just minor hiccups and downs - you could set your watch to it.

In spite of it all the gold business is booming and this past year my sale of heavy gold chains and bracelets outshined all previous years when the gold price was much lower. Go figure?

Everyone is going for the gold!

Even today it still boggles my mind that many folks can’t associate the fact that if precious metals such as gold rises in price, so does the cost of fine gold jewelry. I mentioned in my last article about the importance of heavy secure earring backs. What used to be as little as $20 for a pair today is $50 for that same pair. In my mind it's worth spending fifty bucks to have the peace of mind knowing your expensive diamond studs are safe and secure.

The feel of real gold has become a bit of a challenge since 1978, seeing in that particular year gold was only $208 for an ounce of 24Kt. (While writing this paragraph gold just dropped $20) Because of the current price of gold the jewelry industry’s cost and profit had to shift gears, rethink and re-tool big time.

The perfect example of this “new way” of thinking was to make cheap jewelry. The result is a rash of 10 karat gold jewelry or extremely hollow lightweight 14kt. gold chain, rings, you name it. Some gold charms are now as thin as a razor blade. I have come across hollow wedding bands and earring posts! 

The really big push for alternative metals came during the last recession near the end 2008. This is where sterling silver became the “new gold.” Even stainless steel jewelry became popular at this time and is still the rave for many generations. I sell more men’s wedding bands in stainless steel and titanium than I do gold - a nice heavy designed band in stainless steel is at most $150. In solid 14kt gold…$1,800. As you can see, a big difference (In the long run the gold band will always have value where the steel is near worthless. Now don’t get me going with couples who want matching silicone rubber wedding rings that are totally worthless - not exactly an alternative metal now is it?

So if you truly wish to cop a feel for real gold, save your shekels and buy solid noticeable weight gold jewelry. Look at it carefully before you purchase it - thin lightweight jewelry simply does not last and is difficult to repair. And repairing this stuff takes special skills and this can be expensive. I have been getting several hollow chain repairs per week and finding out they were recent Christmas gifts. Wow! They barely lasted a month before they broke! I hate working on this stuff especially when the whole chain weighs as much as a butter fly’s wing.

Have a fun and safe season and remember friends don’t buy friends cheap jewelry!