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 ?

If it was me, I would lose one, so no, don't buy.

I know it's subjective, but those are some really bland (and frumpy looking) earrings IMO.

Yes, yes, I know Princess Catherine may have worn them. (Or something similar,) but I don't care. They're still bland and frumpy IMO.

And we STILL don't know if the OP is being reckless or not, because we don't know if her 'emergency fund' is £500, or £25000. She didn't say in her first post, and she hasn't been back on since then to clarify. And even if she has no mortgage, that doesn't make any difference, if she's got high bills, and debts, and she only has a £500 emergency fund. What if the roof needs replacing? 'Having no mortgage' wouldn't mean much then. Not if she has no other money (hardly.)

I am willing to bet she is renting, (and that's why she 'has no mortgage.') I can't imagine she is in a position of having her home fully paid for at 45, if she has no savings and finds £2000 a big windfall. Squandering £2000 on a pair of earrings (when you have no savings) doesn't scream 'thrifty' and careful with money (to me.) So I would find it really surprising if the OP had a property fully paid for, especially at 45 years of age.

All of this is assumptions of course, and as I said, the OP has not been back since her first (and only) post to clarify anything. In fact, I'm wasting no more time posting on this thread, as she is clearly not returning.

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A few people have said this, but the clasps on high-quality jewellery tend to be very secure. You wouldn't lose them just by wearing them.

I've found that I don't lose earrings as long as I don't travel with them, and as long as I never take them off in public for any reason. I once took a pair of earrings off and put them in my purse. e.g. When I unzipped my purse later, one of them was nowhere to be found. Another time, I was in a hotel and left a ring on the bathroom vanity while I went down to breakfast. Between going down and coming back up, someone had gone into my room and nicked it. Should have stayed at home or on my finger the entire time I was travelling.

Who only has emergency savings though. And we don’t know how much.

So many posts and not another one by @Moaning5

Have you found anything helpful here OP other than the cost of a new boiler?

How do you know she's 45?
She said her children are now adults. No mention of her age.
She could easily be 55. I was when my kids had left uni.
Mortgage paid off soon after that.

What a dull and joyless way to live life.

Both parts are Annoushka (I worked there).

But that doesn't help the average person in the slightest. So we will rely on what looks good. What people who we would expect to know what quality looks like are wearing and to some degree price, certainly reputation. On those points those earrings should pass, with all due respect that seems a better bet than the advice of a stranger on the internet. This is not criticism, but frustration and a bit of confusion on my part. After all for most people the value of a piece of jewellery is in how it makes you feel, often a sentimental attachment, a statement of personality and style. So the monatey value is irrelevant, most will never try to re-sell just enjoy. So what does it matter..I'm just waffling aloud!

It also seems relevant to me what OP's income is (not just her savings). If she is on minimum wage, this it seems clearly crazy to me. If she is earning over 100k then it wouldn't be my choice, but it is not so obviously crazy.

Buy them! They will always remind you of your Dad.

I've just had some back pay....I could have saved that....I've booked a day trip to Lapland with my husband and kids and paid half for my mum and her partner to go too.....life is short, get the memories and jewellery you can always pass down

Yes, the ones you posted are both parts Annoushka, but Kate's hoops are the Kiki ones.

1. Perhaps buy these Aspinal ones instead. They’re a similar diamond carat weight and are nearly £1000 less
   www.aspinaloflondon.com/products/diamond-and-pearl-drop-huggie-earrings-in-14ct-gold

2. Save what you can; it provides a reassurance to have some buffer

Sorry been busy and catching up !

Yes Annoushka - gold hoops, pearl drops.
I don’t have any other jewellery other than cheap costume jewellery which I know I versions of these in. I won’t because I won’t wear them.
I would wear these ones every day 😁

Mortgage paid.
£25k emergency fund - not loads, literally in case my car packs in, boilers blows up, redundancy. I wouldnt use that for anything frivolous.
Still work full time with a Public Sector pension for retirement.
Love travelling but can’t leave elderly dog so won’t use it for holidays (already have UK cottages booked for her).
Dad just said enjoy it.

Thanks for all replies sorry I was MIA

@BonfireNight1993 All journalists who have written about Kate's jewellery agree that the hoops she wears with the Annoushka drops are the Kiki ones. And you can clearly see in these close-ups that she's wearing the Kiki ones because they have a thin line of gold each side, which the Anoushka ones don't. The Annoushka ones are also more tapered at the top.

Buy the earrings, they'll always remind you of your Dad

But OP, you want Kate's earrings - do you realise that she is not wearing the Annoushka hoops? She is wearing the Kiki McDonough hoops with Annoushka drops. Kiki is the jeweller she wears the most - it's the one with all the colourful gemstones, and she uses her Kiki hoops to hang the Annoushka drops from. See the images above. You can currently get Kate's exact earrings for 1,172 because Kiki is having 15% off the 850-pound hoops.

Here is Kate wearing the Kiki hoops with Kiki drops. You can see that they are the same hoops that she's wearing with the Annoushka drops in the images above. See the gold line down either side. These are Kiki hoops, not Annoushka.

If you want Kate's look, you're better off sticking to what she's got. The Annoushka ones might have a deeper drop, for instance, and not look quite the same as Kate's. There's also the fact that Kiki has 15% off at the moment with the code THANKFUL.

Buy the earrings it’s a windfall you weren’t expecting and will give you something to remember from your dad. Save the rest if it makes you feel better

as for people going on about losing them check your house insurance. I added earrings worth £5k, repurchase price, and it only cost me a few pounds extra. I wear them most days as I know they are insured.

Personally, no I wouldn’t never spend this much on earrings. But I have been working poor most of my life so that much money would be helpful in many other ways. If you are well off and have nothing better to spend it on then it is your choice.

I would personally buy a cheaper version of the same type of earring because absolutely nobody who looks knows any different and it’s just the style you like. It’s an insane amount of money to spend on earrings imo. Add it to the saving pot.

@Moaning5 Just so it doesn't get lost, Kate's EXACT earrings are 1,172.50.

Kate's hoops: Use current code THANKFUL to get the 15% off. (850 -15% = 722.50.)
https://www.kiki.co.uk/products/kiki-hoops-diamond-in-yellow-gold

Kate's drops: 450.
https://www.annoushka.com/uk/18ct-gold-baroque-pearl-earring-drops-020354.html

Unless, OP, you don't want Kate's exact earrings and like the look of the Annoushka hoops better than Kate's Kiki ones, and then yeah, you're on the hook for 1,345!

I'm a jewellery fanatic and I have things from both Annoushka and Kiki. Every lifestyle journalist who's ever written about Kate's earrings says her hoops are the Kiki ones, and you can see that's correct from the photos I posted. The Annoushka ones are not channel-set like the Kiki ones. Channel-set is where there's a line of gold down the side of the hoops, which Annoushka's doesn't have. Kiki has also posted in the past saying that Kate is wearing their hoops when she's worn them with the Annoushka pearls.

Those are beautiful earrings (just don't come home with one missing from your ear!).

My parents bought me two beautiful rings for my last birthday. In total it cost them £2000. One ring was £1200, the other £800. I wear it quite often and whenever I do it makes me smile and reminds me of them. They live abroad. So if you are ok financially then no harm in treating yourself. Hope it makes you very happy!

The diamonds are lab-grown, the hoops are really small at only 10mm, and the pearl drops are much smaller than the Annoushka ones. They're 7-8.5mm, whereas the Annoushka drops are 12mm without the hanging loop at the top.

@Moaning5 Do you realise that the Annoushka hoops contain BROWN diamonds, not white? See the description. They won't be white and sparkly like Kate's, they'll be duller.