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My gut reaction is: Let's hope so, and if it has, good riddance. Obviously, though, tech has not killed the jewelry industry. Jewelry suffers from being the fa

My gut reaction is: Let's hope so, and if it has, good riddance. Obviously, though, tech has not killed the jewelry industry. Jewelry suffers from being the fashion industry at it's most reductive: all form, no function. That is, we all gotta wear clothes, nobody's gotta wear jewelry. There's probably quite a few cultural changes all hitting the jewelry industry at once: people are marrying later in life than they used to, it's taking younger people longer to become financially stable than it used to, and what counts as a good gift isn't what it used to be -- the article itself says as much: "But it’s not all Kindles and iPhones; according to the De Beers report, millennials are choosing to spend their dollars on experiential activities over luxury goods as well."

toomuchtodo 12y ago
> Obviously, though, tech has not killed the jewelry industry. I don't know if thats accurate. Supposedly, tech hasn't killed vehicles ownership either for Millenials, but it sure looks like it's helping dig the grave: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027876/millennials-dont-care-about-owning-cars-and-car-makers-cant-figure-out-why http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027876/millennials-dont-care-abo... "Because millennials use technology in every facet of their lives—from mobile phones to tablets and laptops—to connect with friends and family and to get work done, the tech gadget is their most prized possession, and has a much higher value to a CMC than transportation or owning a car. Think about it: while CMCs are likely to share a car and a ride, there’s no way they would ever share their phone. CMCs game together and hang out virtually, they don't have that same need to physically get together as prior generations. The CMC’s popularity and relationships are defined by their online status, not their "cool ride" and they make all of their connections online. millennials search for jobs online. They prefer to coordinate dating online, and meet people through websites and apps."
- jordan0day 12y ago
  Eh, I meant the "obviously... has not killed" as more of a "If it's dead, why are there so many freaking Kay Jewelers commercials on TV?" In all honesty, tech probably is "digging the grace", so to speak. The blurb I mention from the article goes on to illustrate how an expensive vacation, shared via photo streams and status updates on social media, is probably displacing the "Check out this jewelry I got! U jelly?"-type of conspicuous consumption people used to partake in.
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    > In all honesty, tech probably is "digging the grace", so to speak. The blurb I mention from the article goes on to illustrate how an expensive vacation, shared via photo streams and status updates on social media, is probably displacing the "Check out this jewelry I got! U jelly?"-type of conspicuous consumption people used to partake in. I noticed that you called that out in another comment. Fully agree. Status is never going to disappear, just change forms. Kudos!
wyager 12y ago
> That is, we all gotta wear clothes, nobody's gotta wear jewelry. Well, strictly speaking, we don't usually have to wear clothes. In the modern urbanized lifestyle, clothing serves almost no important function during warm weather. The main reasons I wear clothing during warm weather are social and legal pressure, not pragmatism.
- jordan0day 12y ago
  > The main reasons I wear clothing during warm weather are social and legal pressure, So what you're saying is... you gotta wear clothes?
  - coldtea 12y ago
    No, what he's saying is "we don't have to" ("strictly speaking"). Not that I agree, but it's not like he said the same thing in another way. He tried to make a distinction between having as ("we must") vs ("society makes us").
    - jordan0day 12y ago
      Apologies -- I was being glib. I had originally considered adding a parenthetical "well of course you don't actually have to wear clothes, but you know, we live in a society, etc." to my comment, just to head off such a "well, actually" response. But I figured that surely no one would bother picking that particular nit. So imagine my delight when, of course, someone did.
- mc32 12y ago
  Well there are also aspects of sanitation and safety (a layer of protection between you and environment) and also protection from overexposure to UV. So it's not only social mores.
  - wyager 12y ago
    I don't buy that at all. The parts of our bodies we traditionally cover with clothing aren't actually any more bacteria-ridden than the rest of us, and we already pick up and spread a ton of infectious agents through our hands. I doubt, for example, that sitting down naked on an NY subway chair is any worse than grabbing an NY subway pole without a glove on.
mc32 12y ago
I thought that in times before banks were trustworthy stores of wealth, people used jewelry (there were other items as well) as one way to hold and carry their wealth and converted it as necessary. That use I think died out pretty much by the 20th century. Now people use banks to store their money assets, so jewelry was more a vestige of those times, in some respects.
- je42 12y ago
  On the other this might become a thing again, since Banks start to handle negative interest rates. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-24/get-ready-negative-interest-rates-us http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-24/get-ready-negative-...
- lurcio 12y ago
  High-end jewellery still serves that function for many who don't trust the banks, want to diversify from currency for some longer term store of wealth, or want to discreetly move some wealth across borders.

toomuchtodo 12y ago

> Obviously, though, tech has not killed the jewelry industry. I don't know if thats accurate. Supposedly, tech hasn't killed vehicles ownership either for Millenials, but it sure looks like it's helping dig the grave: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027876/millennials-dont-care-about-owning-cars-and-car-makers-cant-figure-out-why http://www.fastcoexist.com/3027876/millennials-dont-care-abo... "Because millennials use technology in every facet of their lives—from mobile phones to tablets and laptops—to connect with friends and family and to get work done, the tech gadget is their most prized possession, and has a much higher value to a CMC than transportation or owning a car. Think about it: while CMCs are likely to share a car and a ride, there’s no way they would ever share their phone. CMCs game together and hang out virtually, they don't have that same need to physically get together as prior generations. The CMC’s popularity and relationships are defined by their online status, not their "cool ride" and they make all of their connections online. millennials search for jobs online. They prefer to coordinate dating online, and meet people through websites and apps."

jordan0day 12y ago
Eh, I meant the "obviously... has not killed" as more of a "If it's dead, why are there so many freaking Kay Jewelers commercials on TV?" In all honesty, tech probably is "digging the grace", so to speak. The blurb I mention from the article goes on to illustrate how an expensive vacation, shared via photo streams and status updates on social media, is probably displacing the "Check out this jewelry I got! U jelly?"-type of conspicuous consumption people used to partake in.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  > In all honesty, tech probably is "digging the grace", so to speak. The blurb I mention from the article goes on to illustrate how an expensive vacation, shared via photo streams and status updates on social media, is probably displacing the "Check out this jewelry I got! U jelly?"-type of conspicuous consumption people used to partake in. I noticed that you called that out in another comment. Fully agree. Status is never going to disappear, just change forms. Kudos!

wyager 12y ago

> That is, we all gotta wear clothes, nobody's gotta wear jewelry. Well, strictly speaking, we don't usually have to wear clothes. In the modern urbanized lifestyle, clothing serves almost no important function during warm weather. The main reasons I wear clothing during warm weather are social and legal pressure, not pragmatism.

jordan0day 12y ago
> The main reasons I wear clothing during warm weather are social and legal pressure, So what you're saying is... you gotta wear clothes?
- coldtea 12y ago
  No, what he's saying is "we don't have to" ("strictly speaking"). Not that I agree, but it's not like he said the same thing in another way. He tried to make a distinction between having as ("we must") vs ("society makes us").
  - jordan0day 12y ago
    Apologies -- I was being glib. I had originally considered adding a parenthetical "well of course you don't actually have to wear clothes, but you know, we live in a society, etc." to my comment, just to head off such a "well, actually" response. But I figured that surely no one would bother picking that particular nit. So imagine my delight when, of course, someone did.
mc32 12y ago
Well there are also aspects of sanitation and safety (a layer of protection between you and environment) and also protection from overexposure to UV. So it's not only social mores.
- wyager 12y ago
  I don't buy that at all. The parts of our bodies we traditionally cover with clothing aren't actually any more bacteria-ridden than the rest of us, and we already pick up and spread a ton of infectious agents through our hands. I doubt, for example, that sitting down naked on an NY subway chair is any worse than grabbing an NY subway pole without a glove on.

mc32 12y ago

I thought that in times before banks were trustworthy stores of wealth, people used jewelry (there were other items as well) as one way to hold and carry their wealth and converted it as necessary. That use I think died out pretty much by the 20th century. Now people use banks to store their money assets, so jewelry was more a vestige of those times, in some respects.

je42 12y ago
On the other this might become a thing again, since Banks start to handle negative interest rates. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-24/get-ready-negative-interest-rates-us http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-24/get-ready-negative-...
lurcio 12y ago
High-end jewellery still serves that function for many who don't trust the banks, want to diversify from currency for some longer term store of wealth, or want to discreetly move some wealth across borders.