20 Times Charming

for one *old set o' darling,
you could be 20 times charming!

While this expression is poetic, the phenomenon is slightly mathematical :).

Suppose you buy a pair of gold earrings which weighs 10 grams. How much would it cost you? Let me take two major heads of pricing: metal cost and labor. At Rs.2700/gm of gold and, assuming a conservative Rs.300/gm of labor. The price of your earrings will be nothing less than Rs.30,000/- at least. And add a few gemstones or diamonds and the labor of setting them as per the design, the price will easily fall in the range of Rs.35,000 to Rs.50,000. And depending on the size of the diamonds or gemstones, it could shoot well beyond Rs.50,000 easily. 60k, 70k, 80k or even 1 lakh.

Now, suppose the same design is rendered in silver. Yes, it can be with same fineness, finesse and sophistication. For metal and labor, it would cost just Rs.3600/-. And if you are wise enough to go for some good diamond-like or gemstone-like crystals or beads, within Rs.4000/-, you can get a fabulous pair.

So after having spent Rs.4000/- on a pair of lovely silver earrings, you might have quite some amount on hand. If investment in gold was what you were looking for, go ahead and buy 10gms of gold. It will 99.99% gold, instead of 91.6% which is typically given to you when you buy gold jewelry but which is charged for at the price of 99.99%. All this will fetch you additional metal worth Rs.2000/- at least as against what you would have got if you were to buy gold jewelry of the same weight.

The interesting part is when you sell this gold. Again, jewelers have a habit of cutting design costs and value the metal at exactly 91.6% when gold is a part of jewelry. But when gold is in its pure form, 99.99%, you actually get that value when you go to sell.

If you want great designs and great looks, silver can offer you that. And if you want investment, let it be gold. When you mix the two, that's when you lose money. Unless of course, by adding gold to your looks, you intend to showcase your wealth! 

In fact, if you are fond of earrings, the silver can give you 10-20 pairs within the price of one gold pair. Ideally I should say "10 to 20 times charming", but then 20 times charming is more alluring and tempting. No? :)