Building a Jewelry Collection

A dear friend of mine is looking to buy his first piece of fine jewelry and called me up to talk about starting his collection.  The first part of the journey, and I think many of us have been there, was to come down out of the clouds circling his daydreams of a large canary yellow diamond.  I was able to text him some pictures of loose diamonds on the hand, and we quickly realized that the size he liked, 5 carats, was out of his budget this time around.  When I asked him what other colors he liked, explaining that we could find a suitable colored stone to match, he actually had a very basic and relevant question, “How do you start a jewelry collection?”   

There are varying schools of thought and of course no right or wrong answer to this question.  Frank Everett, Senior VP of Jewelry Sales for Sotheby’s New York, gave Bejeweledmag.com what he thought were the 5 staples of a jewelry collection; a cuff bracelet, a brooch, diamond earrings, a statement necklace and a cocktail ring.

This might be the way to go if you want to focus on owning statement pieces as part of your jewelry collection.  A statement piece would be worn alone as it is supposed to immediately draw the eye and you wouldn’t want to bother with any competing jewelry.  At award shows we see celebrities wearing borrowed jewels; huge diamond earrings, necklaces and 6 cocktail rings, but nobody is dressing like that for everyday life.  Statement pieces are intended to be just that, worthy of comment, and if that isn’t your style, then you might want to build your collection with complementary pieces of jewelry that could be worn together.  My personal jewelry collection has evolved in this way, and for me it’s because I tend to be drawn to the same colored stones over and over.    

When my friend and I were discussing gemstones, I told him that many people tend to gravitate toward the same colors in their clothing choices and that can translate to jewelry.  For example, I don’t own any purple clothing.  It’s not an intentional thing, purple is a beautiful color and amethyst is my birthstone, but for some reason when I shop, purple items don’t attract my eye.  So, for me, no matter how beautiful a piece might be, if the center stone is purple, I won’t buy it because I know that it won’t leave my jewelry box as much as it should because I just don’t wear purple.  I think the same is true for most people, that if you peruse your closet, there are probably color themes that are present and whole ranges of colors that are just absent. I can’t tell you how many times

I’ve heard people say “I just can’t wear yellow.”  Although it is absolutely not a requirement, coordinating your jewelry to your clothing is common practice.  My friend told me that he preferred green, yellow and orange.  I said “That’s great!  Easy.  They’re on the same side of the color wheel.  Analogous colors.  Easy to mix and match.”  (You can read up on color theory here if you want.)  Funny enough, my favorite gemstone colors are orange and green so it was easy for me to recommend some stones to him. 

All jewelry collectors may aspire to be like Elizabeth Taylor.  That doesn’t mean we have to imitate her in the quantity of jewelry we have, but rather in our love and appreciate for each and every piece that we bring home.  I believe there is a difference between building a collection and just buying jewelry.  Being more mindful of what you are purchasing and choosing things that are meaningful will naturally steer you away from items that you may either regret later or that will never leave your jewelry box.  I say this from experience, having purchased things in the past that I knew I would just die without, only to never wear them and then sell them for scrap gold value.  Whatever way you decide to build your collection, have fun with it, buy what you love with the intention that they become heirlooms for future generations.  You work hard for your money so spend it wisely. 

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