Photo Credit: WingedLion
Sterling Silver & 14K Gold Honeycomb Pendant by WingedLion Jewelers
Buy It Now Price: $695
Pros:
-This beautiful honeycomb pendant with honeybee is handcrafted by WingedLion jewelers using sterling silver, 14 karat gold, cabochon-cut citrines and round-cut, white sapphire accent stones.
-It measures 47 mm (1.85 inches) tall (including the bail) by 28 mm (1.10 inches) wide.
-WingedLion Jewelers is run by the husband and wife team of Sergey Zhiboedov and Natalia Moroz. Natalia, an accomplished printmaker and illustrator, designs some of their jewelry while her husband Sergey both designs and hand casts pieces in their Charlotte, North Carolina workshop. WingedLion's Tumblr page not only details selected products, but also shows behind-the-scenes glimpses of how they are created.
-This contemporary honeycomb pendant exhibits both incredible attention to detail and superb workmanship, two factors completely lacking from most mass-produced, chain-store jewelry.
-If $695 is too rich for your wallet, there are other, similar versions of this pendant available for less money. For example, a sterling silver honeycomb pendant (without the gold honeybee) set with amber instead of citrine is only $285. At that price, a WingedLion honeycomb pendant would hardly be more expensive than some pieces of higher-end costume jewelry.
-The design work on WingedLion jewelry is absolutely superb. The forms, materials and execution are all top notch. I'll never understand why anyone would spend hundreds of dollars on generic, mass-produced jewelry when these handmade masterpieces are available for almost the same amount of money.
-The artists have also created ring versions of this honeycomb theme if you aren't interested in pendants. The adventurous can purchase an extraordinary sterling silver, 14 karat gold and citrine honeycomb ring for just $470, while the high rollers out there can splurge on a magnificent sterling silver and 14 karat gold honeybee ring set with a stunning 1 carat yellow sapphire for $1,560.
-This WingedLion honeycomb pendant is a classic example of a future antique - a contemporary item of excellent quality that will undoubtedly season into an elegant and desirable antique over time. Because of this, I believe that the $695 price for this honeycomb pendant is easily justified.
Cons:
-Although it is difficult to estimate with precision, the intrinsic value of this honeycomb pendant is undoubtedly well below its asking price. I estimate that the silver is worth less than $20, the gold no more than $100, the citrines perhaps $15 and the white sapphires just a few dollars. The total value of materials in this pendant max out at around $140. But this is a completely normal state of affairs when purchasing contemporary jewelry. After all, the artist has to buy all the materials, assemble them and still be able to make a profit!
-This piece of jewelry is not a one-of-a-kind, unique item. Instead, WingedLion creates this jewelry on demand for their customers. I don't see this as very large drawback, though. Most jewelry is churned out in overseas factories by the tens (or hundreds) of thousands. In contrast, WingedLion has probably only handcrafted a few dozen (or at worst, a couple hundred) of these pendants.
-If you are approaching this purchase strictly from an investment standpoint, you will have to wait for this honeycomb pendant to age into a vintage piece (approximately 15 to 20 years) before its value will begin to rise on the secondary market. Of course, in the meantime you (or your significant other) will get to wear an absolutely gorgeous handmade pendant!
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