To Spend £1345 on a Set of Earrings ?

[Moaning5]

My dad has just gifted me £2000 - how nice !

My parents have NEVER gifted me money in this way. He’s done something with his pension and given all of us (4) the same amount.

I have no real savings to speak of other than an emergency fund. I have no mortgage to put it towards. I have grown up children who are independent. I have no debt to clear.
AIBU to pay £1345 for a pair of gold hoop earrings with pear drops as worn by Princess Catherine which I have always loved ?
Or am I being ridiculous and it needs to be be spent more sensibly ? On what though ?

Yeah I would buy them. You could be dead next week and if it makes you happy then get them.

If you are the type of person who won't lose them, then you should buy them for yourself.
I'd probably look at a cheaper option and save 1000 for an emergency fund.

me too.

someone upthread linked to a page full of Kathryn Middleton's earings and I thought some of them were lovely.
Thui link is to a pair she wears, much, much nicer than the £1,345 ones, and only one tenth of the price.

I would love to know how much Kate spends on her earrings actually. I suspect she is nearer the £150 than the £1,500 mark for most of them

Well obviously everyone will reply based on their own experience & needs and wants..

OP, I have those pearl drops and they are stunning. Buy them and save the rest. Sorted!

FYI though, her hoops are from Kiki McDonough and the drops from Annoushka. (I put my Annoushka drops on some hoops that I already had.)

I have spent money on nice jewellery in my life and never regretted it once. I feel really special when I wear it.

For PP, these are the earrings. Note that it's only the drops which are by Annoushka.

https://www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/royal-style/2019120581547/kate-middleton-annoushka-pearl-earrings/

These are Kate's hoops that she wears the drops with:
https://www.kiki.co.uk/products/kiki-hoops-diamond-in-yellow-gold

Kate's drops:
https://www.annoushka.com/uk/18ct-gold-baroque-pearl-earring-drops-020354.html

The Kiki hoops and the Annoushka drops are 1,300. But OP, Kiki offers ten percent off if you sign up to their newsletter, I think. Would save you 45 pounds, so the complete Kate-esque set would cost 1,255.

We have just cleared out my aunts house after her sudden death and found all of her lovely things wrapped in tissue paper, unused or unworn as she was “saving them for best”. I’d say buy the earrings and wear them and enjoy them. Think of your lovely dad when you do. Life is short x

If you are mortgage free, go for it.
You weren’t expecting it, so it’s ‘bonus’ money. Life is short and you can save the rest.
Congrats & enjoy

I had a friend at school, her grandad was an antiques dealer, he bought and sold a lot of decent jewellery. We used to hang around a lot and even though I never had one decent piece of jewellery in my parents' house, from probably age 12 I could do a basic 'shite' and 'not shite' categorisation, had a good idea what mourning, Balmoral, Victorian, Edwardian, modernist jewellery was and spot the difference between cuts. He was the one who taught us that Van Cleef's Alhambra was shite, made, as he used to say, from a tiny bit of gold and materials, better suited for kitchen tops in rich Asians' houses or for headstones in Scotland - like onyx. He also laughed at Van Cleef Alhambra with lapis, carnelian and malachite - he used to say that this is what they make stone vases from in poverty-stricken Bolshevik Russia.
P.S. I still don't have a single decent piece of jewellery, btw, but I 'know' good stuff and can genuinely recommend.

I wanted to put this alternative in a different post, so it doesn't get lost. OP, if you don't want to spend as much money, you could get the below from Annoushka. I bought these for a friend, a few years ago when they were 350, and they are STUNNING. The pearls are bigger than the Kate ones, too. And they're a comparative bargain at 595. They don't swing, but honestly, the look is pretty much the same. Could even say better, since they are bigger.

https://www.annoushka.com/uk/18ct-gold-baroque-pearl-earring-drops-020354.html

Yes, this jewellery is expensive, but it's really sturdy and the workmanship is amazing. Same goes for the Kiki drops.

Totally agree. And when you get them, come back to this thread and post pics!!!!

You can definitely get a pair of earrings that are the same but cheaper and then you’ll have some for savings too!

Personally I just couldn’t. Partially because that £2000 would buy me a better used car than the one I just had scrapped, or several months’ worth of food shopping or any other number of boring life-related costs. However, I totally get not wanting to spend money that’s a gift on general expenses.

If I were in yours shoes and wanted nice earrings, I’d look for dupes or antique. Cheaper, if you’re shopping on Etsy for example also supporting small jewellers which I personally always prefer to bigger companies. I lose jewellery far too often to be able to enjoy anything expensive as I’d be worrying about losing them!

You can find beautiful jewellery similar to these earrings for much less. I know part of the draw is that Princess Kate has worn this brand, but she also has masses of money where she likely didn’t even have to consider the financial impact of buying them.

I got a bit of money from an inheritance years ago and did spend most of it on an iPad. However, it has served me well for the past 7 years, and I use it daily for my work (so I have made money from using it as I’m an artist). I’d not want to spend £££ or ££££ on something just to wear sometimes, but I’m also not well off and those earrings are 2 months’ worth of my rent 😅

If you'd be that worried, you'd need to be more generous than to give them £2000 as a one off.

I personally wouldn't spend that amount on earrings. What about things in your house? A holiday? At least you would have memories.

I personally wouldn't spend that much on earrings but it is your money so do as you please! I am very excited to receive my £500 Xmas bonus at work so I can buy my dream coach bag.

Yes, they will remind you of your dad for the rest of your life.

You have to treat pearls very gently, remember. No sleeping or showering or swimming in them, and perfume on first if you wear that. With pearls, it's said that they should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. And put them on something soft when you take them off. Baby them. Treat them like little clouds! 🤗

Am excited for you, OP! There's nothing quite like a really good piece of jewellery. (Am a bit of a jewellery fanatic.)

i wouldn’t myself even though my mortgage is paid off as well.
They are beautiful earrings and you say you’ve got an emergency fund with no real money worries as such.
Go ahead and buy them. then put the rest of the money into your fund. You’ll feel a million dollars each time you wear them.
Be sure to put them on the insurance.
Who knows they may become family heirlooms to hand down.
Go on, buy them and enjoy them.

The earrings would be there all the time. I don't get this site's obsession with 'making memories'.

ALERT! ALERT! Kiki McDnough is having 15% off for Thanksgiving. The code is THANKFUL. @Moaning5 That'll give you 127.50 off Kate's hoops.

You could also consider Kiki's hoops and pearls. The pearls are smaller than the Annoushka ones, but they still give the same look. I have the Kiki drops too. The sized difference is noticeable, but they still look lovely.

https://www.kiki.co.uk/products/kiki-classics-pearl-drops-with-diamond-hoops-in-18ct-yellow-gold?_pos=1&_sid=2204c0169&_ss=r

1350-15% = 1,105. Which is a lot better than 1,345.

Life is short, treat yourself to the earrings. Enjoy!

Save up a bit more and buy a bag ?

Life is short. Buy the earring and think of your dad when you wear them.

If it were me I'd buy a dupe pair and stick the rest in savings or maybe book a nice holiday, but that's me. If you feel like you'd get a massive amount of pleasure from owning the genuine article, that's different though. I do love jewellery myself so I get why you're feeling tempted to invest in a piece to treasure. Although how gutting would it be if you splurged on the real deal, then one of them fell out and you lost it... (sorry to be a spoilsport! 😄)

Always remember the Princess wears those earrings as they are comfortably within her income. Up to you but I don't aspire to own things outside my income bracket.