Swarovski collection or retirement fund?

Some years ago I went through a phase of collecting Swarovski Crystals. Back in those days the crystal pieces were mainly clear crystal objects, such as animals, flowers, and some random objects which are lovely to display at home. Nowadays, Swarovski seems to have changed their approach and they focus on jewelry and franchise pieces such as Disney, Harry Potter, Batman etc. Personally, I prefer the previous approach.

Recently I dug out my Swarovski collection and was hoping to sell some off. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much of a second hand market for them. Their resale value are very low compared to the original price and there seems to be abundance supply even for the so called 'limited edition' pieces. In the end, I couldn't be bothered to list them at all, and put a few pieces out on display at home instead. I'm going to show some of the pieces and their prices I found on the internet to give you an idea of how much they're worth.

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The Piano is probably my favourite piece even though I don't play the piano. It's a very elegant piece that comes with its own stool. It's displayed with the lid open showing the grandeur of the king of instrument. The white keys on the keyboard are highlighted in frosted crystal and the black ones in clear crystal. This image doesn't really do it justice as it's very difficult to take a good photograph of crystal but hopefully you can get a gist of how beautiful the crystal piano is. This item cost USD360 today new, but I saw a few of these on ebay and they range from USD50 to USD180 ☹️ They wide price range depends on the quality of the item, whether there are any scratches,chips or broken bits and whether it comes with the original boxes.
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Accompanying the piano is the Harp, another instrument which I find very elegant. The middle section is solid and it has groves to accentuate the strings. I think it's perfect for Snowpea, maybe I will get her some harp lessons soon. The Harp is retired now meaning you can't buy a new one. The are going for about USD110 on the internet, cheaper than the piano.

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This beautiful piece is called Rose Pink and is part of the Happy Flower series which includes different types of flowers and sizes. I think it may have been one of the last pieces I bought because by now Swarorski had started to produce more color crstyal items.
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You can see the colour of the flower and leave is more vibrant when I place it against a black background. The swirl in the centre of the flower is the end of the stalk wire. From the stalk, it goes around the edge of the flower which is 2cm thick and then curled in the centre to make the wire part of the flower design. I think that a very clever way to deal with the end of the wire. This one is selling for about USD140 on the internet.

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Swarovski does a membership scheme. Back in the days when I joined, members could buy annual limited edition pieces that were not sold to the general public. I think I have about 9 of those limited edition pieces, which I shall show you in another post as they are all boxed up still. In addition to the limited edition, members get a free gift if they renew their membership each year. In 2002 to 2004 the free gift was these Tulips, a different colour each year. The first year comes with a free stand which is a a bit of an incentive renew the next two years otherwise the single tulip looks rather sad on its on. These single tulip sell for around USD50 each.
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One thing that Swarovski used to do a lot was animals. I mean who doesn't love animals? The ones I've put out on display includes an Elephant, a little mouse, and a Squirrel. Funny enough, I can't find Elephant on the internet anywhere. If I recall correctly, it was one of the small fun items, I reckon they're worth around USD20 to USD30 now.
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The little Mouse has a leather tail, you can just about see it sticking out at the back. It's been in the box for too long and the packaging has started to disintgrate and stuck onto the metal whiskers. It needs a bit of TLC. This little one is listed around USD48 now.
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The Squirrel is an 10th anniversary edition to for the Swarorski membership thing I mentioned early on. I reckon, it's really another excuse to release a limited edition piece. That said, the second hand market price is going quite well, USD110!!!
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The Three Tiny Chicks in the front forms a set and each of them are different, and very cute. They came out in 1988 and are now retired. I saw them listed for around USD62 on the internet. The Yellow Duck at the back is part of the Happy Duck collection. It was first released in 2011 and was one of my last purchases. I bought is as soon as I saw it because at that time I was collecting yellow rubber ducks - they were a lot cheaper than the Swarovski one. This one cost about USD50 now!!

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The last piece I want to show you today is the Love Budgies. Earlier this month I went to a wedding. In traditional Chinese style I gave the couple money as a gift - actually I hear this is becoming more popular in the western world as well nowadays as it's much more practical for the newlyweds. Anyway, as I was going through my Swarovski collection, I saw this Love Budgies and thought it would be perfect as a wedding gift. It wasn't as if I was flogging unwanted items off to people as this was a close relative, and the Love Budgies is worth between USD110 to USD180 on the internet! I did make a point to mention on the wedding card that it's from my personal collection 😊 I hope the newlyweds like it.
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Based on what I've seen on the second hand market on internet, I don't think my Swarovski collection is going to help with my retirement all. But who knows, maybe people will become interested in them in ten years time?

By the way, if anyone is interested to purchase any of these pieces, drop me a message 😀



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These are beautiful pieces. One really important thing to be aware of is that there is a huge fake swarovski market. They even sell fake boxes and certificates of authenticity. I have a friend who used to sell vintage swarovski crystal beads on the internet, but she got frustrated by the fakovskis, as she called them.

I don't know whether the ones you saw on ebay were fake or not, but my friend said the fakes were pretty convincing. She tried ordering some from China to see. She mixed her real one in with four fakes and asked a few people to spot the fake. No one could except her. She said she could tell because the weight and precision cut of Swarovski are quite marvelous. However, she noted that the fakes, while not quite as good, were nearly as lovely. Modern life!

So, my point is that I would not give up if I were you. Maybe try posting them for a fair price, even on ebay, and make the point that they are in pristine condition and that your certificates of authenticity actually came from Swarovski, and were not mass-produced from a factory.

Of course, either way, it's a lot of work. They are very beautiful. Maybe HODL them. You never know.

This comment is officially too long.

!LUV
!PIZZA

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I think you can get anything and everything you want from China at rock bottom prices. 😉

Swarovski crystals are actually very beautiful if you give them enough TLC. I used to do a big clean up once a year as I had a whole cabinet full of them. It took ages to clean them carefully but once that was done it was very rewarding to see them sparkle.

I might post a few pieces later on, it's just getting a good image to do it justice, these one took me forever, but then I was playing about with the phone as well!!

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Back when I was collecting Star Wars stuff I came across the star Wars themed Swarovski Crystal. I was going to buy it but it mounts up in price pretty quickly.

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That's the idea!! To get you keep on buying! You still collecting Star Wars stuff? I hear some of them are worth a lot!!

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I don't collect them anymore but I still have them. I got limited edition statues from Sideshow and Gentle Giant with a few numbered prints.

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These bring back many memories! ♥️

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Did you used to collect them as well? I have to admit, some of the pieces are really nice especially when the light shines on them, the sparkles are amazing

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I had a couple but there was a store back when I was teen that sold them & loved looking at them♥️

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Hi @livinguktaiwan, you certainly have a vast collection and we've not even seen them all! The love budgies really is the perfect wedding gift, they're gorgeous!
I'm amazed at the detail in the piano, and it even has a stool!
You never know, fads come and go, and one of these days your collection may indeed help you with a retirement nest egg.

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I'm just waiting for that day to come when they will be worth a little. Even if I flog them for dirt cheap $30 a piece I will still net a good few hundred bucks, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that low. In the meanwhile, I'll spend more time admirng them myself

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Yes why keep something so beautiful stashed away! I've stopped doing that, and am displaying beautiful little items even though it's more work keeping up with the dusting, but why hide it away?

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Hello @livinguktaiwan 🤦

It must be very hard to part with a collector's item. I'm sure your relative will know how to appreciate it.

All the pieces are gorgeous. Here in Venezuela crystal pieces were given a lot at parties as souvenirs; baptism, marriages and communion. The crystals are beautiful. My mother had several on her living room table.

The ones you show are special, from what I read in your post. I would love to see the rest of the collection. greetings!

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The make lovely gifts and even with one single piece it still looks beautiful if you keep it dust free. The fact they can come in all shapes and sizes and as different objects is great, there is bound to be something that is suitable for everyone.

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You guess which one is my favourite from your collection, right? :D

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Never!!! It would be so difficult to guess your favorite one 😃😄

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Lol 😂😂

Though the harp was cool too 😇🎶

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I started a retirement fund at 17 and started collecting old coins and silver. I'm 21 now and still growing it.

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It's really great that you started to think about retirement at such a young age. Most people would probably be one thinking about going out or the latest tech gadget, fashion at your age I think. Hopefully you will build up a healthy kitty and can retire earlier and more comfortably than your peers.

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The pieces you have are quite nice. Its too bad that they didn't end up being worth thousands. That seems to be the way though for a lot of these special edition items. I think the issue is that too many are produced so there is no scarcity. If a person can go to a store to buy one then there is little reason to buy one second hand for more money. Investing in objects, even artwork, is very difficult for that reason and a bit of a gamble. In the end I think what matters is that you enjoy the items and get some sort of pleasure from having them and displaying them.

One powerful emotion to tap into for investing in objects though is nostalgia. People will pay a lot for items that they had as a child which they had a strong connection to. They are usually hard to find as well. I wish I was one of those kids that kept all of my toys in the original packaging and never played with them... but alas, I was not one of those children. 😂😂 knowing what nostalgic items will become investment pieces is also difficult though.

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I'm sure you had many happy times playing with your toys, and doubt you knew of the word investment back then!! So at least you have those nice memories to hold on to,

The limited edition pieces were limited to members which was open to anyone to joined, so it wasn't limited really. I even saw some second hand dealers say on their website that they're currently not buying limited edition pieces from people because they have so much in stock!! Looks like I'm not the only person trying to flog my collection.

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I had teenage mutan ninja turtles as a kid and as I remember, I found them very challenging to play with - like I didn't have the imagination to smash them together and pretend they were fighting. Lol. But also, keeping them in the packaging never even crossed my mind.

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OMG, I did not think people are collecting Swarovski crystals or that there is a subscription group. You have so many beautiful pieces in your collection, especially the flower (my favourite). You never know what their value could be in the next 30-40 years, so 🤞

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If I'm around for that long!!! Maybe I will end up gifting them out to people during my lifetime. They make really nice gifts to be very honest

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Yeah, I can see that as a nice gift 👍

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