[teej]

I don't think that's right. Sure, there is jewelry that retains value, but that jewelry is composed of three things - gold, silver, and diamonds. It's the material that's retaining value, not the item.

We are already seeing a huge wave in the crossover between electronics and fashion accessories. The Motorola RAZR heralded the beginning of this wave - a phone that was "cool" to have. Apple is riding this wave with it's line of designer laptops, phones, and music devices.

Accessories, which includes cheap jewelry, follow the same value path as electronics: expensive and quickly depreciating. I don't know if I would have predicted it 10 years ago, but it's certainly happening now.