Jewelry in a portfolio Part I

Nowadays, flashing expensive jewelry is a pre-requisite for every hip-hop artist or athlete. I have seen purchases ranging from a couple of thousands to several hundred thousands of dollars. It was actually one of the most feared invoices I could receive, similar to opening your cell phone bill when you know you’ve spent way too much time during peak time. The reality is, when done wisely, purchasing jewelry can be a good and alternative way to invest. Unfortunately, most rappers and ballers I know tend to over-do it.

Purchasing jewelry is part of the bragging mentality prevalent in hip-hop nowadays. However, it would be too simplistic to limit it to a desire to impress others. Let’s admit it: it sure feels good to wear a nice, glimmering piece of jewelry showcasing what your hard work allowed you to purchase. It’s even empowering to be able to splurge on an item equivalent to a down-payment on a small house.
Unfortunately, a lot of up and coming or even established celebrities go at it all wrong. The thing is, being able to afford the expensive pieces does not make one an expert. I remember a client who would spend tens of thousands on pieces for himself and his entourage, and have them shipped overnight to our office. Lo and behold, most of those pieces came in with loose stones or misaligned ones. Do you think he cared? More often than not, he would keep the pieces instead of having to wait for a lengthy readjustment of the stones.

Which leads me to the first pitfall: quality. Not unlike my client mentioned above, most of those celebrities care more about size, custom design and number of diamonds than the actual quality of the finished product. A poorly designed piece of jewelry is only worth the value of the precious metal or stones it contains, which is exactly what they can expect to resell for in times of needs. Add to that the fact that black celebrities usually like ultra-customized pieces, and the resell value is even lower. I don’t blame people for not wanting to walk around with a pendant spelling someone else’s name or crew affiliation, because you best believe they’ll look crazy. Let’s not even get started on the quality of the diamonds themselves, as I have yet to hear a client throw a tantrum based on the lack of “clarity” of the stones they received. My point is, quality is an underlying issue that most clients take lightly since appearance trumps reality when it comes to jewelry: as long as they know it’s real diamond, it cost a lot, and people can tell it’s real, the rest doesn’t really matter.