Jewelry has both intrinsic value and extrinsic value.
Intrinsic is the worth of the metal and stones
Extrinsic is the beauty of the design, emotions or quality of workmanship.
What is expensive to one may be cheap or reasonable to others.
For 35 years I have worn a Rolex watch as my daily watch. It was $1600 at tax free when I bought it and a Seiko was about $100. $46 per year is not expensive for an accurate, waterproof, durable timepiece. I’ll probably wear it the rest of my life and then my eldest son will own it. It’s gold content at the time of purchase was about $300. I paid for the name and workmanship as well.
As for jewelry and gold being portable, my mother’s side was German. They did not believe in keeping assets that could not be transported in a hurry. Cash gold and jewels were always held in a safe at home. My OPA said you never know when you have to cross a border quickly and you can’t sew real; estate in your suit lining or bribe a border guard with it.
Yes, we do pass jewelry down in the family. Mrs. CTL wears my great grandmother’s engagement diamond. All our daughters in law received engagement stones from the family vault. I don’t expect that these would ever be sold. They know they are merely the safekeepers for the generation, not the owners