A Frozen Fire

There are lots of ways to describe diamonds, such as ice, being iced, bling, rocks, or sparklers. Call them what you like, they are more popular than ever here in paradise - big rings, pendants, earrings, and bracelets. And the ladies and gents are going BIG! One reason could be the current gold price, plus the popularity and affordability of lab diamonds have actually caused the natural diamond market to plummet. The largest diamond conglomerate, De Beers, is actually for sale and that speaks volumes about the struggling natural diamond market.

I have at this point and time discontinued doing diamond appraisals because most folks are not happy to hear that the diamond they purchased ten, twenty, or thirty years ago did not exactly increase in value and may in fact decreased! Even when I would show them proof with my own reality-priced inventory showing exactly what they would pay at today’s market for their diamond, they still refuse to believe me and contest my “new” appraisal. This is a real problem, especially if the jeweler they purchased it from back then (1980s, for example) purposely “fluffed” the appraisal (over appraising the diamond and claiming it’s a great investment for your future, all to give the customer a sense of scoring a great deal by appraising it way more than they actually paid for it). I got tired of trying to convince people “that’s the way it is” even while producing iron-clad facts and proof, which by the way don’t mean squat in this world anymore even if they are holding it in their hand. I still have folks coming in and can’t for the life of them believe that the near $5,000 ounce gold would affect the price of a piece of gold jewelry in my shop??? Twice as much as last year…go figure?

Such is the current situation. Will it change? Beats me. Remember, I’m the one twenty or so years ago who said “gold will never go over $1,000”! We can all see how that theory went. Will natural diamond prices eventually rise again? I’m not seeing that happening any time soon. Lab diamonds are in huge demand worldwide and that’s a big factor. As far as gold and silver go, if you look at their history, the price of both has a habit of falling just as fast as it spiked, so only time will tell.

All I know is right now the shop is buzzing with made-to-order diamond and gold jewelry encompassing large diamonds, both natural or not - different strokes for different folks! The finished results are identical; as we have mentioned many times, the only way you can tell the difference between the two is how much or how little you paid for the enjoyment of wearing and flaunting it.

So what will the future be in fine or not-so-fine jewelry? First, one has to consider the cost of gold if you desire real solid gold. I’m grateful there is still a demand for “REAL GOLD” here on the island, and those folks don’t seem to mind paying the price for it. Then there is the other 85% of the nation’s people who will be buying so much plated stuff (meaning gold-plated or a very thin overlay of gold). This stuff is already being offered to the public and from what I have seen coming in the shop for adjustments or repair, many duped buyers were convinced they paid for real gold! Gold plating over stainless steel or even sterling silver, whether it is a chain, ring, or bracelet, is not solid gold. You can have a dump truck full of gold plated stainless steel and be lucky to afford a pack of gum after the plating is refined. On the other hand, gold-plated silver has intrinsic scrap value, silver being nearly $90 an ounce today.

I carry some of the plated stainless - there is a market for here. It’s affordable to high school kids and younger men, tourists like it, heck, even my second childhood geriatric kids are wearing expensive looking stainless steel bling today! I prefer to sell gold-plated silver chains and jewelry - at least there is intrinsic value there.

I have been a practicing goldsmith (heavy on the word…GOLD), apprenticing in the trade at the tender age of twelve, and now sixty years later, it is against every fiber of my body working on non-precious metals or what used to be non-jewelry materials, such as plastic, wood, steel, even titanium. I’m just not going to get into too much non-precious metal jewelry, and then what’s next? Filling my showcases with exotic mineral or wood-carved pendants and matching genuine imitation plastic wampum beads? PLEASE! I’d rather sell hot dogs!

Since I no longer have set steady hours in the shop, (I’m nearly 72 remember, I come and go as I please. I’m not accepting any mail, phone calls, emails, or smoke signals), my daughter Lindsay, who is now running the show, has been hinting to carry 10 karat gold chains. I have, for five decades, refused to carry 10 karat gold jewelry. (Now that my daughter has been making strong suggestions that I should be spending my days in the back pasture, not realizing I still have a say about things while tethered to the front railing). We finally made an amiable decision. It’s a fact that the present gold situation may produce a demand. I will only order a 10 karat gold chain at the customer’s request. (FYI - most of the known world considers 10 karat gold to be costume jewelry because the actual gold content is only 41.7 %. That means the remaining 58.3 % is non-precious metal except for a tiny bit of silver). Ten karat gold can tarnish quickly from salt or chlorinated water, even perspiration. The only plus factors it’s harder wearing and less expensive than 14 karat and especially 18 karat gold, which now costs a king’s fortune.

It will be an interesting season to see what will be in popular demand and what will do a face plant. “Hey, you wanna buy a genuine Hawaiian Kukui nut necklace?”