That's a Lot of Jewelry

Listening to Marketplace Tech this morning, I heard a story about a woman whose company makes smart jewelry, specifically rings. They look like regular jewelry, but they buzz to let the wearer know she got a phone call, or they let her pay with her credit card by tapping (comparable to Apple Pay).

I didn't care about any of that, really, but the thing the tech entrepreneur said that got my attention was this: women spend $1,200 a year on jewelry.

What!? The average woman spends $1,200 a year on jewelry?

I assume she's talking about a subset of women, maybe women from households making over some amount, like $100,000. I know gold jewelry can be important in some cultures, but this amount of money per year seems crazy to me.

Do any of my readers have any insight into this? I know I'm probably not the typical American woman on this topic. I think jewelry is generally pretty stupid and, unless it's made from high-quality gold that can be melted down and gems that are worth resetting, it has no economic value because taste varies so much. Plus it's made from materials that are often mined in very exploitative situations: think blood diamonds, but there are lots more stories like that.

The fact that the DeBeers company used advertising to convince people diamonds represent love irks me to this day. "You should spend X amount times your monthly salary on an engagement ring": a rule that was made up by the people who want to sell you the ring.

But even that isn't important compared to the ongoing purchase of jewelry, which is the most worthless of the many worthless purchases we make in our over-consuming society. You may have too many shoes, but at least you have to wear shoes. You don't have to wear jewelry at all.

Rant off.