Getting The Gist On Gold

So much in the news that I just can't explain...
insanity in Norway
a high speed rail crash in China
the US about to go into default
and
the price of gold making a new record high...again

At least, as far as gold is concerned we have blogger/journalist/vintage maven/jewelry designer
Wendy B explaining it all to us
go read her post Get Smart (About The Price of Gold)

Back to Business and BHB and Beladora

Well, the much dreaded Carmageddon turned out to be really nothing at all
no 20 mile traffic jams, no wild west road rage shoot outs.
People stayed home, traffic was nil and
Los Angeles turned out to be lovely place over the weekend.
Maybe Caltrans should shut down the 405 freeway every once in a while.

Have I mentioned that I'm happy to be home
and especially excited to be back in Beverly Hills at the Beladora HQ
doing my estate jewelry thing
because I just love the accessory that keeps on giving
as these things happen
when gold reaches a new high of $1600.

Yes, I know you love your Jimmy Choo shoes and your Hermes belts
but I prefer an accessory that goes up in value while I wear it!


Being tan, rested and jewelry-less in Mexico was great
but now it's back to business.
Take a basic white shirt, a Michael Kors pin stripped pencil skirt, a deep tan
and add estate jewelry....gold estate jewelry to be exact.

I'm totally loving this Carlo Weingrill choker necklace

I love super comfortable flexible jewelry that doesn't have clasps or hinges,
don't you?

And I love to wear ancient coin jewelry
because it lets me channel my inner 1960's jet set socialite babe alter ego.

This necklace makes me imagine a life of lolling on the yacht

on the shores of Sardinia, Santorini or St Tropez.

And then there's the basic bracelet

This solid gold link bracelet by the French jewelry house Fred

is the type of piece that I would love to wear everyday.

Do you have one signature piece of jewelry that you wear everyday?

Metal and Mother's Day

 Recently, I've been paying a lot of attention to this

and this

especially after last week's correction and I will have much to write on the subject of precious metal prices soon.

But, today I'd much rather ponder the flowers, lemons, limes, herbs, tomatoes and strawberries from my mother's garden where I had a wonderful lunch yesterday

Here's a recent photo of my mother with her sunhat in hand

and her formidable expression

Unlike Maxminimus, who wrote such a lovely tribute to his mother for Mother's Day,

I'm incapable of doing the same because sadly my writing skills are sorely lacking.

But what I can write about my mother is that she truly is all that and more

and I am very lucky to have her.

 

I hope that all of you were able to spend a lovely Mother's Day with your families.

The Super Rich Are Different

 

They buy gold....and lots of it.

According to this report from Reuters Super Rich Investors Buy Gold By The Ton

Fears of a double-dip downturn have boosted the appetite for physical bullion as well as for mining company shares and exchange-traded funds, UBS executive Josef Stadler told the Reuters Global Private Banking Summit.

"They don't only buy ETFs or futures; they buy physical gold," said Stadler, who runs the Swiss bank's services for clients with assets of at least $50 million to invest.

Of course this is hardly a surprise given a 30% + increase in price in 2010 as you can see in this chart 

 

And the fact that gold has been going up for ten straight years

UBS is recommending top-tier clients hold 7-10 percent of their assets in precious metals like gold, which is on course for its tenth consecutive yearly gain and traded at around $1,314.50 an ounce on Monday, near the record level reached last week.

It's hardly a surprise that those Swiss banking gnomes are recommending gold as they are sitting on piles of it buried deep in vaults under Zurich's Bahnhoffstrasse.   

"We had a clear example of a couple buying over a ton of gold ... and carrying it to another place," Stadler said. At today's prices, that shipment would be worth about $42 million.

But seriously, where does an investor store $42 million in gold? Well I guess that if you can afford that much gold you can afford to build your own private Fort Knox as well.

On the other hand

Billionaire financier George Soros, echoing comments from investment guru Warren Buffett, last month described gold as the "ultimate bubble" because it is costly to dig up and has no real value except its market price.

But a rising price for the precious metal has in itself generated more and more demand from investors looking for a way to hedge against a fresh recession. Gold bears no yield and is uncompetitive in an environment of rising interest rates.

Gold bubble?  Maybe, but probably not yet.

My recommendation...instead of buying ETFs buy gold jewelry, the asset that you can wear.

Just don't pay retail prices.  Buy at a price close to the intrinsic value.