Jewelry

[serenity4ever]

As long as people are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money for silver and pretend diamonds, we will continue to see these vendors sell, sell, sell. A small piece of gold on a mass marketed piece of silver with a name attached to it, seems to appeal to some people. It is what it is....

[KathyPet]

On 2/2/2014 RedHeadedWench said:

As long as there are idiots that will pay those prices...they will present them.

How nice! I wonder what you spend your money on that people would call you a idiot for purchasing.

[Lipstickdiva]

On 2/2/2014 shoekitty said:

I don't watch the shows, but I know her work and know she is a high end designer. She is in some very exclusive stores. I think her prices are for her name. The items she sells at barneys, Neiman's and other stores are real gems and real gold or silver. Last Call sells many of her pieces and they are close to QVC prices on sale, but they are the real deal, not clad, or man-made stones. I think she just requires a certain profit margin for designing her work. She doesn't sell to QVC exclusively. The price of gold and silver have really gone up, as have labor and expenses. Just my guess. The prices do seem high. Many people spend quite a lot on their jewelry, not me...because I am more of a handbag collector. But she has a strong fan base and has been around so long

Shoekitty, yesterday as I was watching the show, I searched on-line for her pieces. Maybe the items are sold in stores and not on-line but Neimans website only had 2 pieces, Barneys showed nothing for her and Nordstrom dropped her line. The only place I saw that had a decent selection was Saks.

[vera11]

if i'm not mistaken, isnt silver selling under $20 an ounce? sure u got to factor labor in, but so much stuff, including jewelry is now made in china at much lower prices for labor.

[Yardlie]

On 2/3/2014 serenity4ever said: As long as people are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money for silver and pretend diamonds, we will continue to see these vendors sell, sell, sell. A small piece of gold on a mass marketed piece of silver with a name attached to it, seems to appeal to some people. It is what it is....

And most of it is just "gold clad." No way would I pay those prices. That is K-Mart jewelry to me. I don't care who the designer is.

[serenity4ever]

On 2/3/2014 Brinklii said:

On 2/3/2014 serenity4ever said: As long as people are willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money for silver and pretend diamonds, we will continue to see these vendors sell, sell, sell. A small piece of gold on a mass marketed piece of silver with a name attached to it, seems to appeal to some people. It is what it is....

And most of it is just "gold clad." No way would I pay those prices. That is K-Mart jewelry to me. I don't care who the designer is.

I hear you but as long as this stuff sells these vendors will continue to offer what the market will bear. A minuscule amount of a precious metal, minimal design elements and low cost to the designer is a designer's dream in making mucho dinero.....

[goodstuff]

How can they sell at these prices? They can because Ripka enthusiasts are still buying, although these prices are fall-down, drop-dead ridiculous, totally out of scale for the materials, weight, or quality of these pretty little baubles. Honestly, I don't criticize Ms. Ripka or QVC for this; they're good capitalists, in business to make money. They are marketing effectively and have perfected the art of "buy low, sell high", "make it cheap and sell it expensive", and "capitalize on name recognition". It's working for them, and I salute their success.

Successful capitalism in action, folks......and fun and fascinating to watch as long as it's not my money!

[ennui1]

On 2/3/2014 JLLH358 said:

As someone who has a birthday in May, I was attracted to some of Ripka's emerald offerings, but then she sprinkled diamonique all over them and ruined it for me. Why would anyone put a precious gem with fakes?

Because most of us can't afford 15.95 carats in real diamonds. It's not complicated.

[chrystaltree]

I don't think it's taking advantage because they don't hide anything. They are totally up front with the gold overlay, cubiz zirconia and inexpensive semi precious stones. They just know that there's a Ripka fan club that doesn't care about value, they just want to the fantasy that Judith weaves. So, in that respect, those laugh-out-loud ridiculous prices are worth it to them.

[ennui1]

On 2/3/2014 LipstickDiva said:

On 2/2/2014 shoekitty said:

She is in some very exclusive stores. I think her prices are for her name. The items she sells at barneys, Neiman's and other stores are real gems and real gold or silver.

Shoekitty, yesterday as I was watching the show, I searched on-line for her pieces. Maybe the items are sold in stores and not on-line but Neimans website only had 2 pieces, Barneys showed nothing for her and Nordstrom dropped her line. The only place I saw that had a decent selection was Saks.

Sam's Club carries Ripka, and I've seen Ripka at TJMaxx.

I love TJMaxx, but I don't consider them to be exclusive.