The occasion piece is having a difficult decade. Jewelry bought to be worn twice a year is losing ground to jewelry bought to be worn every day, slept in, showered in, and eventually repaired rather than replaced.
That shift has changed what gets made. Clasps are stronger and less decorative. Stones are set lower. Chains are heavier than they look, because the failure point in a piece worn daily is almost never the part you are looking at.
It has also changed how people buy. The single considered purchase, made slowly, has largely replaced the seasonal refresh — and the pieces that hold their value are, unsurprisingly, the ones designed to be worn out.
