Is David Yurman Jewelry Overpriced, or Just the Current 'Status' Designer?

I love David Yurman's fine jewelry collection, I honestly do. I own several pieces myself, and have one daughter who always asks for Yurman jewelry for special occasions such as Christmas, graduation, birthdays, etc. Between us, we have built up a very nice selection of the designer's rings, necklaces, earrings and enhancers.

To be blunt, I fear that our collection is at its end, as Yurman's pieces continue to rise in retail price, are becoming less affordable to middle-tier and even upper-tier buyers, and compete with other, often 'fresher' designers for our jewelry dollars. Bluntly stated, you will end up paying a minimum of 20% more for a David Yurman piece of jewelry - because of his name brand cachet - than you will for comparable jewelry designers.

David Yurman jewelry is sold in authorized jewelry stores; not every jewelry is 'allowed' to sell his work. Authorization is generally based on the size of the jewelry operation and its history of sales in upper end jewelry, as well as what other 'competing' jewelry lines are sold. Quite often, you'll find a store that sells Yurman and Judith Ripka lines, as well as 'lesser' designer lines. Yurman is also available at literally only the higher-end large department stores as well, including Nordstroms, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, etc. Interestingly, Nordstroms, for one, carries his line both in their stores and online; however, they do not DISPLAY their Yurman pieces online. You have to contact the store either via email or telephone to see what pieces are carried locally. Of course, they generally always have the pieces in stock at another store (usually a flagship store), and are more than happy to sell you from their in-stock collection as long as you know the exact model name, number and size.

To best familiarize yourself with Yurman's collections - and there are many of them - I would suggest that you go directly to his web site: www.davidyurman.com. Personally, I have found this site to be both informative and frustrating. As an example, the site will give you the differing lengths of a certain necklace or bracelet, but will not give you the widths. The same holds true with his rings: you can find a ring that looks intriguing, but exact dimensions - how wide is it when worn on your finger, how long is it - aren't given. His most expensive pieces are in the "Ice" lines, which are all trimmed, for lack of a better word, in diamonds. He recently came out with an all sterling silver, lower price point line, which is quite nice and probably the most affordable of all his lines. There is a specific line just for men, but most of the jewelry is geared towards women. His demographic? Women who are financially and career successful, those who favor 'status' brands, such as Yurman, which are known by sight and by the Yurman hallmarks. The largest segment of his market is women over the age of 40, those for whom designer clothing may no longer be either age or size appropriate, but have chosen instead to spend their money on high-end accessories as a result, instead.

While Yurman's pieces are indeed beautiful, I honestly believe that they are both overpriced and over-valued. On the flip side, they do hold their value in the secondary market, if you're looking to purchase a piece that will command at least 50% of its original purchase price further down the road, if necessary. For a lower price point, I would suggest jewelry by Stephen Lagos, Scott Kay, John Hardy and Konstantino. Because these designers are not as instantly recognizable to many as David Yurman, their price - particularly on the secondary market - can be significantly lower than Yurman. Buying any of the above four designers at retail price can be nearly as expensive - or more so - than Yurman. However, you'd do well to consider any of them as a re-sale purchase item, found on Ebay in particular. Yurman rarely makes use of 18K gold, while the other designers noted above all do. And each of those designers' pieces are becoming more widely recognizable because of their unique designs: Lagos for his Caviar collection and all of its offshoots, using a mixture of both 18K yellow gold and sterling, Hardy for his Dot and Kali designs and their mystical, almost Zen-like patterns, Kay for his weighty pieces in sterling silver and quite often, diamonds as well, and Konstantino for their heavy Greek emphasis on intricate designs in both 18K and sterling in substantial settings.

Another high-end jewelry line, Tiffany, seems to have fallen out of favor lately. I honestly don't recall my daughters or their friends asking for Tiffany pieces for Christmas, birthdays, graduation, etc. They want David Yurman. Tiffany is instantly recognized as a brand; they make use of 14K gold in quite a few of their pieces as well. Their fall from a status jeweler can be seen in some of their more recent lines, offering 'younger' styled pieces, which are also more modestly priced. On the other hand, they're competing with Yurman with their lines of gem stones and diamonds, pieces that are much more elaborate - and expensive - than other Tiffany pieces, in going head-to-head with Yurman for that well-heeled younger market.

You'll pay more for a piece of Yurman jewelry, but you're also pretty much guaranteed that it will hold its value over time - and that the time period is actually rather short. But nipping at the heels of David Yurman's collections are those of the other designers mentioned above, who have, unlike Yurman, created collections at both high and mid-level price points, making them not only more affordable, more 'bang for the buck', but also holding their own in the resale world as well.