I spend quite a lot of my time in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. I've written about the area before, but sometimes it is good to take a moment to just savour ones surroundings and appreciate the beauty of an urban environment steeped in commercial history. The core of the area is based around old Georgian properties focused on St Pauls Square, a very pleasant 18th Century church in its' own square of three and four storey town houses many of which retain their original facades and structures despite now being used for offices rather than as domestic dwellings. Theses old houses were home to some of the most prominent figures in Industrial Revolution Birmingham and the streets are littered with blue plaques to James Watt, Matthew Boulton, Joseph Priestly and the leading figures of the Lunar Society. The area has a long tradition of manufacturing and as the name suggests was the core focus of the jewellery trade in Birmingham.
I think it is this tradition of artistry mixing with commerce that makes the area so vibrant for me. Working in a creative industry myself I like the juxtaposition of the delicacy and fragility of the beautiful works that are being created and the rampant consumerism and "Bling" factor that drives it. Coming up to Christmas this is seen more than ever and we already have hordes of shoppers descending on the area to find that something special. I see them armed with their jewellery buying guides talking about the cut and clarity of diamonds and discussing proof marks assessing jewellery for the quality of its raw materials and I can't help but chuckle. It is, in my opinion, extraordinarily difficult to buy jewellery as an investment, and in essence that is what you are doing if you are buying based on raw material quality - you would be far better off just investing in the raw materials. I can recommend gold and diamonds as an investment tool quite happily and there are plenty of places to buy investment gold like this one, and thats great, but thats not really the way most people buy jewellery.
Most people buy jewellery for its beauty and that is much harder to define. I have found a useful guide here that puts it in a nutshell for me. Buy with the eye and the heart, not with the rational mind. You aren't going to make your fortune dealing in jewellery, ask any jeweller, but you may just find a piece that makes your heart sing with joy and lifts your spirit every time you see it, whether you are buying it for you, or buying it to give to a loved one.....
I think it is this tradition of artistry mixing with commerce that makes the area so vibrant for me. Working in a creative industry myself I like the juxtaposition of the delicacy and fragility of the beautiful works that are being created and the rampant consumerism and "Bling" factor that drives it. Coming up to Christmas this is seen more than ever and we already have hordes of shoppers descending on the area to find that something special. I see them armed with their jewellery buying guides talking about the cut and clarity of diamonds and discussing proof marks assessing jewellery for the quality of its raw materials and I can't help but chuckle. It is, in my opinion, extraordinarily difficult to buy jewellery as an investment, and in essence that is what you are doing if you are buying based on raw material quality - you would be far better off just investing in the raw materials. I can recommend gold and diamonds as an investment tool quite happily and there are plenty of places to buy investment gold like this one, and thats great, but thats not really the way most people buy jewellery.
Most people buy jewellery for its beauty and that is much harder to define. I have found a useful guide here that puts it in a nutshell for me. Buy with the eye and the heart, not with the rational mind. You aren't going to make your fortune dealing in jewellery, ask any jeweller, but you may just find a piece that makes your heart sing with joy and lifts your spirit every time you see it, whether you are buying it for you, or buying it to give to a loved one.....
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