Having a generous income and some spare disposable cash isn’t just a pleasant position to be in, though it obviously is. It’s also an opportunity to invest in luxury items that will increase their value and can be sold at some future date, if required, at a healthy profit. 

Here are the top 6 luxury items to invest in:

1. Designer Handbags
2. Jewellery
3. Whisky/Whiskey
4. A Luxury Watch
5. Classic Cars
6. Fine Wine

Investing in well-chosen luxury items is a canny and enjoyable way to acquire beautiful items. Best of all, you can indulge yourself in this highly enjoyable pursuit with a clear conscience! You are, after all, investing your money both wisely and well towards that comfortable and secure retirement one day. 

And if you don’t have to dispose of them, your heirs will love you for it!   Many of these items can become valuable family heirlooms that are passed down from generation to generation. 

Here are some of these rewarding luxury items, and yes, we’ll go with ladies first! 

Designer handbags

Buying a beautiful designer handbag can be a real investment, and an intensely rewarding one that will gladden every woman’s heart. Best of all, selecting a bag from one of the great fashion houses could bring you a tidy little fortune in the future. Chanel, Telfar, Bottega Veneta, Prada, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Fendi’s and Hèrmes are all names to conjure within the fashion world. Famous celebrities seen sporting these stylish bags drive the value up to dizzying heights! A Hèrmes Birkin bag was shown to have outperformed gold as an investment over the last 35 years!

Jewellery

Investing in jewellery has long been one of the ‘staples’ of savvy investors, and why not? It’s beautiful, deeply pleasing to own, completely portable, and has low upkeep costs. And the returns are as pleasing as owning it. Elizabeth Taylor’s stunning jewellery collection famously sold for a record-breaking £74.9 ($116 million) in 2011. 

Jewellery has also consistently outperformed other investments like property, with gold expected to average $2,000 per ounce or more across 2021. Gold has often been included in investors’ portfolios as a sensible hedge against inflation.

When buying jewellery, contrary to other investments, you should ‘buy with your heart’, i.e. buy what you like. Buying items from famous collections is also a good idea. Buying ‘old’ diamonds is better than buying ‘new’ diamonds, and ensuring authenticity is key. Remember that the provenance is crucial, and having a professional appraisal done is a good idea, not least for insuring it realistically. 

However, if you stick to the great names like Bulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Graff, Mikimoto, Piaget, Buccellati, Harry Winston, etc., you won’t go wrong in your investment. 

Whisky/Whiskey

The idea of investing in whisky or whiskey is still a fairly new one though rare and old bottles have been sold for large sums of money for years. So whether you’re a ‘flipper’ looking for a quick return on your money, a long-term investor, or simply a lover of the ‘good stuff’, whisky can be a sound investment. It is always a good idea to only buy from reputable sellers. 

Here are some names that will give you excellent investment value. There’s a Macallan, a 36-year-old single malt called ‘Director’s Special’, the Black Bowmore, an Islay single malt, and Midleton, a very rare vintage Irish blend from County Cork. 

Whisky is big business in Japan these days with names like Hakushu, an 18-year-old single malt and Suntory’s Yamazaki Limited Edition Japanese single malt (currently only available in Japan, though). 

Here are a few more you might want to consider:

• Mortlach, 21-year-old Diageo single malt Special Release
• Brora Triptych Vintage Collection (only 300 sets available)
• Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Ghost’, an Islay blend
• Laphroaig, a 30-year-old single malt
• Rosebank, 1990 vintage single malt  
• Redbreast, blended, 28-year-old Dream Cask Ruby Port Edition, also by Midleton. 

A luxury watch

Luxury designer watches have long been sought-after status symbols amongst the über-wealthy and investors alike. Brands like Rolex and Tag Heuer have come to be virtually synonymous with success, style and sophistication. 

Buying a luxury high-profile watch won’t just do wonders for your image, however – it could also be one of the soundest financial investments you make.  An Air Force vet who paid $345 for this Rolex in the 1970s was recently told that his watch could now be worth  $700,000. The most expensive watch in the world is purported to be the Graff Diamonds ‘Hallucination’ which is said to be worth a heart-stopping $55 million! Investing in rare, limited editions, classic or vintage watches will assure you of the best return on your investment. 

So looking for these great names should assure you of excellent investment value: Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe, Tag Heuer, Cartier, Chanel and Audemars Piguet. Longines, Breitling, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC Portugaise and Chanel. 

And here a few more:

• Vacheron Constantin SA
• Panerai Luminor
• Breguet 
• Chopard Mille Miglia
• Richard Mille
• Zenith 

Classic cars

Cars are supposed to start depreciating the moment they are ‘driven out of the showroom’ – and this is, sadly, true as a general rule of thumb. However, fortunately, this isn’t the case with classic cars! Classic cars can provide higher long-term returns than property, art and even that end-all investment, gold.

So vintage Lamborghinis and Ferraris, for example, have steadily grown in value over time. Imported and limited editions are often even more valuable, and will bring you handsome returns. 

So if you see a 2005–17, Aston Martin Vantage or a 2005–17 Honda S600, snap them up if you can. Do likewise if you come across a 1984–91 Ferrari Testarossa (be still my heart!), a 2006–10 Jeep Grand Cherokee, or a 1980–91 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia. You also might want to go for a 1980–91 Ford GT, that rare thing, a true American ‘supercar’. 

The little pop icon, the 2000–06 Audi TT Quattro Coupe, should prove to be another good investment. The 1948–54 Jaguar is also an excellent buy, as is the 1993–97 Toyota Land Cruiser and that front-engined oddball, the 2011–12 Lexus LFA.

Remember to always look for original cars that have pristine paintwork and that are mechanically in superb shape. 

Fine wine

Whether you’re a wine enthusiast or a serious investor, or both,  wine brings a smile to the dial! But there is a serious snag in there as well – this is assuredly not a ‘cake’ you can have and ingest as well.  Wine can be a very good long-term investment, but only if you don’t drink it! The trick is to know which ones to drink, and which ones you really should leave to rest quietly down in the coolness of the cellar.

These are just some of the great names in fine and sparkling wine vintages that have brought their investors excellent returns over the years: Dom Perignon, Lafite, Leroy, Armand Rousseau and Mouton. Also included are Margaux, Leflaive, Haut Brion, Krug, Sassicaia (Tenuta San Guido) and  DRC (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti).

In conclusion 

So buying well-chosen luxury goods should most assuredly not be seen as merely a frivolous indulgence! It can be an excellent business decision and a great way to contribute to a financially secure future. That is, of course, whilst contributing significant elements of enjoyment and beauty to your life.