Figure of the month: 1941

The question of whether art and commerce are mutually exclusive has certainly preoccupied mankind for as long as art has existed. Salvador Dalí, one of the most important Spanish artists of all time, answered this question with a clear ‘no’ in 1941, when he launched his gold jewellery collection, which he continued to expand over the following 30 years with new pieces of jewellery, highly coveted to this day.

When an investment becomes art – and art becomes an investment

“My goal is to show the art of jewellery in its true meaning. Design and craftsmanship should cost more than precious stones and metals”, is how Dalí explained his decision to create exclusive jewellery in addition to paintings and sculptures. By 1970, Dalí had designed a total of 39 pieces of jewellery, all crafted by the New York jeweller Carlos Alemany. Among the most famous are the ‘Telephone Earrings’, the ‘Tristan & Isolde’ brooch and the ‘Royal Heart’, which Dalí designed in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Today, many of his jewellery creations are on display in the Dalí Theatre Museum in Figueres, Spain. 

Can gold jewellery be a good investment?

Jewellery by a famous artist like Dalí – like other works of art – is certainly a good investment. However, off-the-shelf industrial gold jewellery is usually worth no more than its gold content – which in most cases is significantly less than the purchase price of the jewellery. Exceptions are, of course, high-carat pieces made of 22- or 24-carat gold. Anyone who sees gold primarily as an investment is usually better off with physical gold in the form of bars or coins, provided these coins are not overpriced collector pieces. Another cost-effective way to invest in gold is to buy physically backed, exchange-traded commodities such as Xetra-Gold.