t’s always thrilling to receive a beautiful piece of jewelry as a gift. However, it can be exhausting when you have to buy jewelry for yourself. It’s easy to be overwhelmed, considering the extensive range of design and style options littered across the jewelry shop or the internet. Should you go for a pendant, gold, ring, necklace, or chain?
A mistake is sure to be painful, especially as jewelry is more costly than your everyday bag of chips. To save you this nightmare, we have put together these five crucial tips for buying jewelry for yourself.
1. Research and set your budget beforehand.
You’re not going to a drive a bullion van stacked with dollars to the jewelry store, are you? With a somewhat limited spending capacity, it is essential to do your research and set a realistic budget beforehand. Budgeting is thus crucial in controlling that infamous spontaneity, strengthening your willpower to buy what you originally set out for. Your budget majorly depends on what piece of jewelry you are buying.
2. Consider your style.
Here you will have to choose between something conservative or loud. If you want to acquire a piece of jewelry that harmoniously goes with your outfit for the seven days of the week, it is best to buy jewelry with minimalist design. You can look into buying custom handmade jewelry from a retailer such as the Portland-based company, Chinchar Maloney. By going with a custom look, you know the finished style will be close to something you’d design on your own! Wear what’s comfortable and true to you.
Then, there are several basic pieces of jewelry to buy with clean design. Diamond studs are great examples. They a perfect mash-up of elegance and minimalism, with a sparkle always there to excite you. The good news is that there is a lovely and timeless diamond stud for every budget.
3. Don’t get too crazy over prestigious names.
It is natural to opt for bigger names when shopping for jewelry. Big players like Cartier and Tiffany have built a hugely commercial reputation, making us exponentially venerate their offerings. However, if you are shopping for genuine quality and best value for your hard-earned dollars, you may want to forget the label. There are far cheaper stores that you can try out with fantastic and genuine deals than what you get from prestigious names.
4. Pearls are great for girls.
If your priority as a lady is on versatility, you may want to choose pearls over diamonds. Pearls can still appreciably measure up to the beauty and style traditionally derivable from diamond jewelry.
Typically, you have three options when buying pearls. These are imitation, cultured, and natural pearls. Expectedly, you can tell a lot already from the names. Cultured pearls are cultivated to achieve the broadest spectrum of pearl offerings you would get on the market today. They aren’t scarce. Similarly, imitation pearls are commonly plastic. Desirable natural pearls are terribly scarce. True to their name, they are organically formed when an irritant (rather miraculously) finds itself in the soft tissue of an oyster. To put it in perspective, just one of more than 9,800 unfarmed oysters ever result in a pearl.
5. Buy from a jeweler you trust.
It is crucial to buy from a jeweler with substantial trustworthiness. This doesn’t necessarily mean he should be the biggest seller in the country. One way to establish the credibility of a jeweler is to investigate if he has certifications from reputable regulatory organizations like the American Gem Society or the Gemological Institute of America. Also, what professional organizations does the jeweler belong to? It is recommended to go for jewelers registered with the Jewelers of America. This is one of the most respectable and longstanding American jewelry associations.
