Beauty in jewelry is in the eye of the beholder

Jewelry designer Coco Channel once said that jewelry should enhance the wearer, not the other way around. Actually what she said was the jewels should not be used to make the wearer look rich; their purpose is to give them a air of elegance or adornment.

You don’t to be rich to wear beautiful jewelry. You can go to Tiffany and for a fraction of the price of a gold or platinum piece get a silver replica that’s recognizably Tiffany. Avoid the overused pieces like the heart or the “Return to Tiffany” and look for an unusual item of which there are many.

Silver is the brightest and most affordable of the precious metals. Silver, white gold (which is a misnomer for rhodium plated yellow gold) and platinum all share the same characteristics: bright, silver colored, semi-reflective finish. Except that silver looks the best, reflects the most light and costs the least.

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder when purchasing jewelry. My advice to clients is, if you love it and can afford to, buy it. Jewelry is sometimes unique, available to the shopper only once – at an airport store (there’s a great one in Newark, NJ), at a market or at a department store.

I have handled and valued jewelry ranging from $1 to $70 million. My favorites are well-cut diamonds which are to be found in Graff who only sell flawless diamonds. Their specialty is fancy yellow diamonds and they are indeed magnificent if you have the ability to purchase one of their beautiful products. Bvlgari also make exquisite jewels at a much lower cost that Graff serving a different market. A 2 carat engagement ring from Bvlgari for $50,000 is truly a beautiful and prized possession, exquisitely cut and mounted. Cartier on the other hand has a style all their own; a prerequisite of which is that you must like their style and have the funds to value their goods. I have also seen top quality diamond engagement rings at Macys for a fraction of the cost of the specialty stores if you are willing to shop around a little.

At the end of the day jewelry is a body adornment made to enhance you. It makes good sense not to wear too much. Good advice when dressing up is to put on the jewelry you want to wear and then remove one piece. And that term “one piece” is something I advise clients on. Better to wear one good piece of jewelry than many mediocre pieces. The observer’s eye should be drawn to that piece whether it is a ring, bracelet or pendant. It should make them look twice. The overall effect of a plethora of jewelry is clutter and a transparent nouveau-riche attempt that screams “look at me I've got money!” So unless you’re a jewelry broker flaunting your goods at a show or work in a pawn shop don’t wear it all at one time. Tacky and tastelessness behavior does not impress those who matter.

If you have a very beautiful ring, set of earrings, a pendant even a silver bracelet, try wearing just that and little else. Nothing else you have on should distract from the piece, it should only serve to enhance it. Less says more; volumes more, about the person, their taste and sophistication.