When I make luxury purchases, I never make them with the intent of reselling. I am not an impulsive shopper when it comes to luxury items. Prior to making the leap with any (luxury) item, I conduct research. And that research never includes the resale market.

While I don’t purchase with the thought of reselling, i.e “investing” I do however purchase with the thought that I am not wasting money.

I must admit, I have “wasted” money on more items than I would like to admit.

Below are a list of items that I sadly feel that I should have done without.

Chanel Brooches.

Oui, clutch ALLLLL of the pearls. I never thought I would utter/write these words, but I must be honest. To be clear, not every Chanel brooch I own is a waste. There are two brooches in particular that are near and dear to my heart, for more reasons than one. My advice when purchasing a Chanel (or any other designer) brooch is to forgo anything with affixed gems, or pearls. I have duex Chanel brooches that makes me nauseated whenever I see them. These gut wrenching brooches are both missing so many pearls. Learn from my mistakes, stick to solids.

Note: I didn’t begin purchasing “bejeweled” brooches until I had a the fundamentals squared away (silver and gold.)

Hermès Bracelet

When I first laid eyes on this bracelet in Paris, I was in love. Perhaps it was the fragrant salon, the multiple glasses of champagne or the fact that my surname had recently changed to an “H”. Whatever it was, I wanted the bracelet. I thought to myself, “how could this not be an “investment?” I wear black almost everyday and I (now) love gold. I can’t go wrong, so I thought. Within a couple of wears, I started to notice scratches and the “gold” on the hardware disappearing.

I began to wear the beau less and less. Eventually, I forgot about it until I saw someone on IG unboxing theirs, then I was momentarily obsessed again.

Leather Belt with Pearl Double G.

I’d be remissed if I did not state: I LIVE for LOGOS. The gaudier the better! While the husband and I were in Milano, I knew without a doubt that once I purchased this beau from Gucci’s flagship location, I’d be unstoppable. I loved everything about the belt. The size, the weight and of course the pearls. That is until one of the pearls fell off. Oui mes amies, this belt was post CHANEL brooches.

I should have known better.

Moral of the story

What these items all have in common is that they are jeweled or jewelry of some sort. What I must continue to remind myself and advise anyone who has not purchased designer jewelry before is that the items are costume. Oui mes aimes, that $600 brooch is not gold. It’s gold plated (at best.) The pearls aren’t saltwater and don’t even think about the bling being diamonds. While I am completely aware of this, tarnishing and/or missing stones does not mesh well with me when I have paid almost six college credits for a piece.

I have made the conscious decision to no longer succumb to the sparkly stones, or pearl-esq beads that seem to always summons me when I enter a boutique. From this point forward, I will only purchase items that will stand the test of time.

PS, thus far, the FENDI pearl earrings are holding up! I’ll be certain to make updates to this post if anything changes.

Have you ever made a purchase you later felt wasn’t worth it?

Ciao for now 💋