Investing In Vintage Jewellery
ON Sunday 22nd January the Mail on Sunday ran a two-page feature on why investing in vintage jewellery can be a winner for the investor and the wearer. In essence, the feature suggests that over the last decade some vintage jewellery has risen in price by up to 80%. When compared to many other investments this is outstanding, even against the price of gold, which is volatile.
Art Deco continues to rise the fastest at the moment and features bold forms coming from France in the early part of the 20th century. These geometric designs are so popular that there has been a steep rise in price over the past for or five years.
The Belle Epoque era, being the late 1800s is also popular, the ‘Beautiful Era’ as it translates covers the period up to WW1 from 1871. A time of affluence in Western Europe when platinum and gold with diamonds were mounted in lace like settings, giving the appearance of weightlessness. We have seen a rise of almost 90% in this type of jewellery, a £2000 item in 2006 being worth nearer £4000 today.
Other jewellery periods include the ‘Hollywood Glamour’ retro period from the 1030s to the 50s, including large cocktail rings or sculptural jewellery.
Designer names are always popular, Cartier, Chanel, Van Cleef and Arpels are the leading houses, and jewellery from these houses from any period is a worthwhile investment, although check authenticity as fakes are common. There is also a growing list of British designers, from the 1960s and 70s, including Andrew Grima, John Donald, and Stuart Devlin, designers that use jewellery to enhance sculpture rather than show off the precious stones. They would say they are creating ‘works of art’ rather than pieces of jewellery.
Part of their article also mentioned that those selling gold should beware of sending to online ‘gold dealers’ as rarely offering the best prices, and this is true of some pawnbrokers too. They suggest using a reputable independent jeweller that can be found on the National Association of Jewellers website, as they will invariably offer the best price. Our sister company, Charles Hart (www.charleshart.co.uk) based in Frome, Somerset have good advice on this subject and will often give the best price to purchase directly are on commission, and almost always outweigh other methods of selling one’s jewellery, as they will often purchase it resell- not scrap!
They also suggest that you should make sure these items are adequately and properly insured, that means All Risks insurance. Do not rely on just your house insurance, rarely does this give you very much cover. Also, many insurers say you do not need a written valuation, but if you need to claim, they almost certainly will require some evidence of value and if you do not have this, then you may well lose out on your claim. If your items have not been valued for say ten years, the above article should suggest that any vintage article could well be underinsured by up to 50%.
If you have unwanted jewellery and wish to sell it, then please do get in touch with us over sending it to an auction.
You can read more about our commission sales service by clicking the link, we sell your jewellery for you.