This Week's Obsession: Covett in the News
We were thrilled that Covett was featured in an article in this week's FT's How to Spend It. For a start-up like ours in the fine jewellery space, this is quite a coup. This is something we've hoped would happen for some time, but to see our company written about in a premiere magazine like HTSI is a bit overwhelming.
While the article originally was a piece on how Vintage jewellers were going into the rental, two paragraphs of the article were written about the brilliance of Covett's shared ownership model. Our founder even has the lead quote in the article, "If you’re not going to wear it every day, why buy it?" We believe that if you are going to wear a piece of jewellery once then you should rent it or better yet have a subscription that lets you borrow more often. However, for fine jewellery like other high-worth assets like art, jets, yachts and high-end vacation homes, shared ownership is the savvy way to invest in these assets AND enjoy them.
What HTSI had to say about us
For Cynthia Morrow, founder of shared-ownership jewellery service Covett, renting is simply an alternative means of distributing capital. “If you’re not going to wear it every day, why would you buy it?” she retorts. “You could take that money and invest it in stocks or go on a vacation – versus spending £12,000 and letting it sit in the safe.”
Morrow, whose small but growing selection of vintage jewellery includes a £14,750 Charles Krypell diamond and sapphire bracelet, allows clients to split ownership of the pieces five ways. Covett retains the fifth share to cover insurance, and the remaining four owners can access the product for at least five days a month (plus floating days). What’s more, she says, is that should a piece of jewellery appreciate in value, clients can reap that percentage increase if and when they decide to sell their share.
Risk vs Reward of Fine Jewellery Ownership
Many people don't understand the risk they take by buying fine jewellery outright, always believing they can sell it on the secondary market at a profit if they want or need to. What many people come to find out is that when they try to sell their jewellery they are offered pennies on the dollar of GBP. If they choose an auction house or resale platform they will pay a commission to sell, sometimes greater than 30% of the sale price.
Now imagine buying your fine jewellery from Covett. With co-ownership you have the advantage of time value of money. You can take close to 80% of the retail price and invest it in other assets or take a fabulous vacation with your family. Only 20% of the capital is invested in the piece. When you decide to trade up and sell, you only need to recoup that 20% and we let the market decide what the share is worth. The best part is the piece will be cleaned and maintained regularly so the item will stay in pristine condition, which means the piece will garner a better price. And Covett charges only a 10% sell fee of the final price. And all the time you own the piece, you have access to it when you want to wear it.
Have more questions about fine jewellery ownership with Covett? Visit our FAQs
