Silver compared to a Diamond Ring as a store of wealth + hedge against inflation?
A new coin/collectible/jewelry shop opened in my local mall within the past few months. Was at the mall today with my fiance for something else but we decided to stop in the new store for a few minutes after I noticed it.
Well... they have a really nice ring that my fiance likes...
So, this got me to thinking...
How would having this diamond ring (not sure if the metal was platinum, white gold or silver) compare to silver bullion as a store of wealth + hedge against potential significant future inflation?
What I have in mind is that I might sell some of my silver and use the proceeds to buy the ring as long as it generally would have similar financial characteristics as the silver it would be replacing.
For example, let's say silver doubles in price due to the dollar taking another hit. Would the ring also double in value? Or maybe increase 80% in value?
My reasoning is that instead of having a bar of silver sitting in the safe for the next few years collecting dust we might have the value of that silver in the form of a ring that my fiance can enjoy... until it comes time that we decide to sell it (if we need the money, etc). Maybe we might never sell it, because it's also possible that we might never sell the silver as well (other than this possible swap for the ring).
Anyhow, if you understand what I'm asking, what do you think?
Peridot Gemstone
Conflict diamonds are diamonds which are mined by the people and its also called blood diamonds. These diamonds are sold by governments. We can find these diamonds mostly in south africa. These diamonds are mined by illegal way. Peridot GemStone very costly gem .
[url=http://www.peridotlovers.com]Peridot Gemstone[/url]
Thanks to everyone for
Thanks to everyone for sharing your insight and suggestions, I really appreciate it.
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As a man who makes his
As a man who makes his living selling gemstones, I can tell you with 100% certainty, diamonds are a scam. Colored stones are a better investment. If you have to have a diamond, make it a colored diamond!!!!
You Judge A Tree By It's Fruit, NOT its Flower
really?
I have a nice fiery amberish diamond that is GORGEOUS! I love it... my girlfriend at the didnt like it because it was colored... thus... she never became my wife!
I did some research into the colored diamonds and found out that they are far more rare than the white ones... ya think the white scam could be over sometime soon?
Does my burka make my butt look fatwa?
Does my burka make my butt look fatwa?
imho white diamonds are only
imho white diamonds are only valuable as grit on saw blades to cut other colored stones!
You Judge A Tree By It's Fruit, NOT its Flower
Yep, what the others have said
Diamonds are a girls best Friend because DeBeers said so.
I'm pretty lucky, because my wife is aware of The slavery that goes into the production of the final product. She prefers, more common, colorful stones.
They do have remarkable physical properties, as many crystalline stones do.
Of course, if you can get past all the negatives of bringing a stone to market.
Then, you have the matter of the emotional attachment to the ring. Even if, for some reason it increases in value, how will you say "Honey I need that ring, take it off your finger so we can sell it"..That would be tough too.
Coins, metal, not so tough.
Goo luck, and I hope we saved you some money.
"I don't endorse anything they say"
~Ron Paul On the 911 Truth movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGyhlNY0y1k
I read about a year ago there
was only one diamond that would hold it's value and I forgot what it is called I think it was Argile or something you may want to google it. I think it is certified, I suggest doing some research if you are looking for a diamond to hold it value. If you also, investigate what happen in Argentina when they had their collapse they used gold and silver wedding bands to trade and barter. They also said that even today some areas still use it. This makes sense to me because it would be easy to put on a chain and transport etc.
Just some suggestions, good luck.
Prepare & Share the Message of Freedom through Positive-Peaceful-Activism.
Argile mines in Australia?
I think that is where my stone is from.
Does my burka make my butt look fatwa?
Does my burka make my butt look fatwa?
I remember reading the same
I remember reading the same in that article about surviving during Argentina's economic collapse. The guy suggested a bunch of gold rings to be used for trading during similar collapses, etc.
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Diamonds are worthless
They're not rare and they are brought to you through blatant slavery and environmental degradation. Girls like 1) being like all the other girls and 2) shiny things
They also claim to care about people and the earth. Diamonds show how those priorities can change if something is extra shiny.
For what the scam artists charge for a diamond, you could get lots of silver.
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I was actually thinking of
I was actually thinking of swapping some silver for the diamond ring, but only if the ring has a reasonable ability to store wealth as compared to silver.
The slavery issue is a good reason to not want to help prop up the diamond market. My girl is easy to please and we actually chose her engagement ring with this issue in mind. On second thought, this same issue might be the reason why this other ring is no longer considered, even if it was a sound investment.
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Diamonds are a Bad Store of Wealth
I work with some Jewelers and Diamonds are dirt cheap. There are so many sources for diamonds comming on line that DeBeers keeps losing ground to maintain the monopoly in the cutting and distribution side of the equation.
Suck it up - waste your money - and buy her the diamond. It will be the first of many things that your wife wastes your money on. Just realize the hole you are throwing your money into.
Every horror story you have heard about jewelers swapping diamonds and charging way to much are true. It makes the used car business look good in comparison.
Diamonds are a terrible store of value and a terrible investment.
She's very easy to please
She's very easy to please and knows that we would only do this if the ring's ability to store wealth would be somewhat close to the silver's ability to store wealth which it would be replacing.
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If you need a diamond ring
for your engagement, then buy a diamond ring.
Don't buy it for a "store of wealth".
The minute you take that out of the store, it's lost more than half what you could sell it for, and possibly even more than that.
You could hold it forever, and likely never recoup the loss.
Jewelry stores value at a small fraction of what you pay for it.
It's not worthless, but it is worth nowhere near what you paid for it.
One of the best uses for jewelry is as a bribe, to get out of trouble, or get across the border, or something like that.
Because you have it with you when you need it.
She already has an
She already has an engagement ring. We were both thinking that it might sort of replace silver's store of wealth, but she could enjoy it at the same time - until it came time to sell it if necessary.
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I would never buy a diamond
When you buy diamonds you buy artificially valued stones that employ slave labor to enrich the very elite cast of characters behind the central banks and our loss of freedom. The entire De Beers diamond cartel is a farce created by the Rothschild's agent Cecil John Rhodes. Why would you want to support that?
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.htm
http://www.mailstar.net/rhodes-scholars.html
So true. We selected her
So true. We selected her engagement ring with this exact issue in mind, so we would not be supportive of all that. This will likely be the reason that we no longer consider swapping some silver for this other ring.
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I just started looking into
I just started looking into diamonds as an investment and the jury is still out for me.
Gold jewelry is another story. If you want to determine how much of the cost is in the workmanship vice the metal, you can readily calculate the melt value of the gold as follows:
Get the weight of the object in grams.
Divide by 31.1 to see how many ounces this equates to.
Now look at the carat of the gold, typically 14K this is 14 parts gold in 24 parts or 7/12ths gold, so multiply the number of ounces you calculated by 7, divide that number by 12 and you have the number of ounces of gold in the piece. 18K gold is 18/24 or 9/12, etc. Multiply that number by the spot price of gold and you'll know about what the melt value for the piece is.
Example - piece of 14K gold weighs 100 grams
This is 3.2 ounces of alloy (100/31.1)
1.87 ounces of pure gold (3.2 * 7/12 = 1.87)
Melt value about 1977 FRNs (1.87 * 1054)
Now you can readily calculate the "workmanship" cost that is in the price and make your decision accordingly. At this point in time, getting gold in any form is a good idea. Everything I read indicates that moving from FRNs to something tangible is a smart move and the "price" of gold will only go to zero when the world has become such a desperate place that no form of money will have any meaning except for food/ammo/medicine.
I would look at gold chains of substantial size/weight. The Thai people have been dealing in Baht chains for most of their history. a "Baht" is 15.16 grams (a little less than 1/2 oz.) of 23K gold and these chains are sold by the Baht (currently about 660 FRNs per Baht) which is above the spot price by about 150 FRNs per Baht, so a bit pricey compared to bullion. It will take some looking around but many estate pieces can be found for good prices compared with spot and you need to consider that most bullion is being sold at 30-50 (or more) over spot to capture minting costs and there is usually a substantial quantity required to get these prices. If you want to buy close to spot, you'll need to make a large purchase. Even the best of brokers (like the Stotts of ColoradoGold.com) have a 5 oz minimum for gold and add a 25 FRN fee for orders less than 10 oz.
In summary - do the math and you can make the logical decision but, in any case, having gold over paper is a good thing IMHO...
I have been telling people for years to increase their holdings in gold/silver and ammo. Many of them are now telling me how much they wished they'd listened to my suggestion. I was at a gun show yesterday and the same ammo I bought (.45acp HST rounds) for 28 FRNs per box of 50 a few years ago are now 45-50 FRNs if you can find them. My supplier told me there may soon come a day when he will be offering me 100 FRNs per box to buy them back!
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
I wouldn't buy jewelry for investment
The mark-up on jewelry is absolutely tremendous, so, unless they are selling the ring dirt cheap, like less than the price of scrap then I think you will be paying so much over the spot price of whatever it is made of that you would never recoup your investment. I say, if you want the ring as a symbol of you and your fiance, then get it. It will hold some sort of value, but I wouldn't look at jewelry as a great place to invest money. I inherited quite a nice assortment of gold/diamond jewelry and can't get anywhere close to the purchase price on them.
So, unless someone just really wants your particular ring then I believe it would be hard for you to ever break even on it. Besides, the value of your ring won't matter if you are going to wear it forever, right? ;)
I say, get the ring for your own enjoyment and get silver and gold to protect the value of your $
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
www.tattoosbypaul.com
www.512clothing.com
My fiance already has an
My fiance already has an engagement ring, that's not what this is about.
I guess when it comes down to it, I'm wondering if a diamond ring of a certain price has the same capacity to store wealth/value as silver bullion of the same price.
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Sure,the metal value will
Sure,the metal value will hold, although the markup for the craftsmanship of the ring will greatly increase the purchase price. Usually.
And, I could be wrong, but I think diamond/gem miners are hurting right now. I'm not sure that the diamond/gemstone market reacts to economic turmoil in the same way that metals do. I'm pretty sure their value is tumbling downward these days.
I am no expert, but I would say,no, a diamond ring of a certain price does not have the same capacity to store wealth as bullion.
Look at a nice ring at the pawn shop and then go look at a comparable ring at a nice jeweler and compare prices. I think it would be reasonable to assume you would not get your money back out of a ring unless you are lucky enough to have the metal value exceed the cost of the ring altogether...then you could sell it for its scrap value.
But like I said, Im no expert. That's just my view of it.
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy
www.tattoosbypaul.com
www.512clothing.com
if that is your question...
i would say no, a diamond ring does not...hold on to the silver and gold!
O Captain, My Captain, rise up and hear the bells!
its 'cos I owe ya, my young friend...
Rockin' the FREE world in Tennessee since 1957!
Sometimes things are not about
practicality. If you need to justify this particular investment--don't buy the ring. And also, break the engagement. Especially if you happen to be my son.
I'm curious, what part of
I'm curious, what part of what I wrote made you suggest to break the engagement?
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Oh, I see in another post that you explained that this is not
her engagement ring. In that case, carry on as planned!!!! And congratulations.
Thanks for the
Thanks for the congratulations. :-)
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The whole diamond ring
The whole diamond ring tradition is a fabrication of the De Beers' marketing department and the British government. It started in the 30's. De Beers has enough inventory to keep the price where ever they want it. That's no investment.
If your fiance wants a clear shiny rock on her finger, get her a zircon and a few Krugerrands.
Diamonds can be synthesized now.
It doesn't matter anymore how DeBeers tries to manipulate the diamond market. It's now possible to grow diamonds in a vapor deposition process, and the synthesized diamonds are flawless.
-jcr
"The problem with trying to child-proof the world, is that it makes people neglect the far more important task of world-proofing the child." -- Hugh Daniel
There's also a company, I
There's also a company, I believe in Florida (if I'm remembering correctly), which creates synthetic diamonds using a machine that exerts incredible pressure + heat on to I think a piece of coal. I was on their website a while back and watched a video about them as well.
I see what you're getting at, though.
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Yeah, that's one of them.
Not sure if those guys in Florida were the first or not, but there are a handful of businesses manufacturing diamonds now. Their applications in electronics are very promising, since they'd be able to withstand very high temperatures that would destroy silicon-based devices.
-jcr
"The problem with trying to child-proof the world, is that it makes people neglect the far more important task of world-proofing the child." -- Hugh Daniel