Investing In Gold Jewelry Advantages And Disadvantages

In these times of economic uncertainty, many people turn to precious metals as an investment. Gold jewelry is a good option, since it serves both as an investment and as an attractive fashion accessory. But, there are also pitfalls to investing in gold jewelry.

First, let’s look at the advantages to investing in gold jewelry.

Stability
The best reason to treat gold jewelry as an investment is that its value tends to stay stable over time, and will increase during times of economic stress. In general, when the stock market is going down, commodities like gold and silver are increasing in value. This provides a “hedge” to balance your overall investment portfolio.

Convenience
If you are looking to invest a small amount, say $5,000 or less, a few pieces of gold jewelry will do about right. Since the price of gold per ounce is many times higher than silver, you can fit this amount in a safe-deposit box (or a shoe box in your basement, if you’re so inclined) rather than a full-sized safe.

Workmanship Value
Since every piece of jewelry is a work of art, the value of a piece of gold jewelry not only included the value of the metal inside, but also the artistic value of the piece. Like a painting or sculpture, a rare piece of gold jewelry can increase in value many times faster than the components it is made from.

Now, let’s look at the disadvantages:

Risk of Theft
A gold-based mutual fund or a stack of bullion in a safe-deposit box are as secure as the institutions entrusted with their care. A heavy gold necklace worn around your neck must be guarded carefully at all times.

Considering the events in the financial world in 2008 and 2009, however, it just might be safer to wear your investment around your neck then to trust it with a large investment firm!

Bulk
This would be the flip side to the convenience listed above. If you need to invest a large amount of money, say $50,000 or more, keeping gold in your jewelry box might not be the best option. This much gold jewelry would require a fair bit of maintenance and care.

Slightly Less Liquidity
Since the value of a piece of jewelry comes in part from the artistic workmanship, you may have a little more trouble getting your money out of a piece of gold jewelry than a bar of pure gold. The value of the metal content is never negotiable, but the artistic value often is. However, as noted above, the artistic value is usually a positive asset.

How To Find The Best Wholesale Silver Jewelry Suppliers Both Local And Overseas

Silver is the second most precious metal, next to gold. Though not as high as gold, silvers investment value make it an important piece of precious metal. The natural characteristics of silver, specifically its strength, long shelf life, ductility and malleability make it ideal for decorative work, jewelry, silver flatware, coinage, among others. Silver is also used in medicine, production of toiletries and photography. In 2010 alone, industrial applications took 487.4 million ounces of silver. About 167 million ounces of silver were accounted used in jewelry and 101.3 million ounces of silver were used in coinage and medals.

Silver jewelry had always manifested meticulous artistry and exquisite style which make it an expensive piece. And while many women are enchanted by the beauty of silver jewelry, not many women can afford the real deal. This fact has made way for wholesale silver jewelry as the most affordable silver jewelry form in the growing market of fashion jewelry. A strong domestic and international market is steadily growing because of the exquisite craftsmanship and unique designs and patterns. Wholesale silver jewelry is fast becoming popular even among the youth because of its current trendy styles and designs. While it is easy to find cheap silver jewelry, finding the best wholesale silver jewelry suppliers of quality and fine-crafted silver jewelry may prove to be a daunting task.

Finding reliable and trustworthy sources for the best wholesale silver jewelry at reasonable prices need a lot of due diligence and research. Most people would check the overseas suppliers as imported silver jewelry are often the ones reasonably priced. This may be attributed to low cost of manual labor in other countries and the abundance of silver mined in those countries. The internet offers a rich source of global suppliers and manufacturers of silver jewelry but one has to be extremely cautious when dealing with them. Rather than end up with inferior quality and cheap silver jewelry, one should check the suppliers background carefully to make sure that they are legitimate and genuine silver jewelry manufacturers or suppliers. Only after getting all the hard evidence of their legitimate business operation should any transaction commence.

Alternatively, one may turn to the best wholesale silver jewelry supplier operating locally but sourcing and obtaining their relatively cheap silver jewelry from countries across the globe. This option is more workable because of the fact that the supplier is local its easier to check its legitimacy in terms of permits, licenses, accreditations, and other stuff. Additionally, problematic business dealings are resolved easily because of familiarity with local laws and regulations on such businesses. Unlike when dealing with overseas manufacturers, the distance will definitely play a role in the slowed and delayed resolution in case of any conflict in business transactions. And more importantly, if the local supplier has multiple jewelry sources from overseas, it is likely to have a vast variety of silver jewelry pieces which could match your taste and specifications.

Regardless of the location of the wholesale silver jewelry supplier, one can make an assessment and professional judgment of the integrity of the supplier is their commitment to customer satisfaction. The supplier (local or overseas) should have no problem providing testimonials attesting to the suppliers excellent customer service and quality products.