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When most people think of "luxury jewelry", they think of brands like Cartier, Bvlgari, Tiffany, Dior, Van Cleef. Just gotta have that big rock, right? Gotta flash that 14k gold. Except, they're charging you thousands of dollars for what most other countries would consider "dirty gold" -- which is anything under 20k.
First of all, diamonds are not rare. In fact, they're one of the LEAST rare gemstones, especially with the advent of lab-created diamonds. And not only are they way more common than we're led to believe, but these companies also charge INSANE markups for them. Tiffany & Co.'s markup sits at a hefty 253% above market value. Because of these markups, diamonds are also a terrible investment, because you will *never* get back the amount of money you actually spent on it, let alone turn a profit. They quite literally depreciate as soon as you walk out of the store.
While diamonds are the hardest gemstone, their durability has also been blown out of proportion -- so much so that De Beers adopted "A Diamond Is Forever" as their official slogan. But it was all part of the marketing strategy to dupe Americans into buying diamonds as opposed to other gems. Speaking of De Beers, they also held a monopoly of control over diamond production and sales for decades. They created artificial scarcity by releasing just enough diamonds to meet the demand, and continually adjusting exactly how many rough diamonds were available. There are also of course the moral and ethical concerns of diamond mining. The mining of diamonds in Africa has fueled several wars, utilized forced labor, child labor and torture. Private security employed by Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company have used brute violence to deter local residents from mining diamonds in their own village. This history of violence and exploitation has led to natural diamonds being dubbed "blood diamonds." And sadly even knowing this, many people still insist on having natural diamonds. "If it don't come with a little blood, then it ain't for me!" Is something I've actually heard a woman say.
Now let's talk about gold. The price of gold always fluctuates, of course, but at the time of writing this (9/15/2025), the current price of 1 gram of pure 99% 24k gold sits at $118.31. Anything lower than 24k means it is gold mixed with other alloys, meaning a lower percentage of gold.
24k = 99.9% gold
22k = 91.6% gold
18k = 75% gold
14k = 58.3% gold
10k = 41.6% gold
As an example, Van Cleef's "Vintage Alhambra ring" is 7.5 grams of 18k gold and costs $ 4,250. Their "Vintage Alhambra bracelet" with 5 motifs (by far the most popular piece I see people wearing) is approximately 10.4 grams, and costs $ 6,850. There are no gemstones in either of these pieces, so you would expect to be paying for two things -- the value of the gold, and the cost of manufacturing.
But when 7.5 grams of 18k gold is only worth $665, you have to wonder where that $3,585 markup came from. Likewise, that $6,850 bracelet only has $922 worth of gold in it. Are we really expected to believe that it cost $5,928 to make? You are paying a 643% markup for only 75% gold.
Places like Thailand, India, China and Dubai are known for their 24k - 20k jewelry, and for selling it at a very fair price. So much so that people will literally travel to those countries just to buy gold, and even factoring in the cost of the trip, they still come away with an astronomically better deal. Let's compare the prices of some pieces from a small Thai craftsman I recently discovered.
If I were to buy his thinnest rope chain in 23k, the price would be $1,171 for 7.6 grams of 23k gold. The current market price for that amount of 23k gold is $861. That is only about a 36% markup. You can get a 24k gold wedding ring (1.9 grams) from him for about $315. That's actually insane considering the cost of most simple gold wedding bands other places (and in lower karats like 14k).
Silver is not exempt from price hiking, either -- Tiffany's "Tiffany T bracelet" is $1,975 for 108.6 grams of sterling silver in a very simple design with no gemstones. That amount of sterling silver is only worth a measly $137. That is a whopping 1,342% markup. As a downright laughable comparison, I own several sterling silver rings from Amazon, and they each cost me between $3 - $8. My mom was an avid collector of sterling silver rings with CZs, and most of the rings in her collection cost her between $10 - $50. From Etsy, I have a 14k gold-filled ring that is sterling silver underneath, which ran me about $24.
So, long story long.... skip these BS "luxury" brands and stores, you are quite literally paying for the name and nothing else. If you want high quality fine jewelry, get it from independent craftsmen and ALWAYS use a calculator to make sure you're getting a fair deal.
Of course, there will never be NO markup; people have to make a living and deserve to be paid for their work. Expect to pay between 20% - 50% for manufacturing. If there is no markup, or a suspiciously low one, you run the risk of either 1: getting scammed with a fake product, or 2: that seller is not paying their employees/craftsmen fairly.
You could also go the vintage/pre-owned route, but just know a lot of vintage sellers have already done the work of figuring out how much something is worth, and have put a tasty markup on it to earn themselves a profit. Never buy anything that doesn't list the gram weight. Typically items should have some sort of stamp on them indicating the karat, but that's not a 100% hard rule, as small businesses and craftsmen often don't stamp their work for one reason or another. Sometimes vintage and antique items are not stamped either.
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TubbleKirbs
It's also proven people just buy anything as long as it seems "exclusive" because they want to stay in the club. That brand Payless shoes did that marketing stunt where they named themselves Palessi and made their shop look like some exclusive rich brand. They took the same shoes they always sell and jacked up the price but people came in to buy it to be included in the "luxury" aesthetic. It was never about the craftsmanship unfortunately.
I also think that the more exclusive it is, the more division it causes. There's so many posts online where girls say they want a massive, expensive ring and nothing else is good enough. I think that kind of division just creates more marketing for luxury scams and they do it on purpose.