How to track jewelry items in Quicken?

janpini · February 2023

I'd like to be able to list each expensive jewelry item I own with its purchase value and other details about it (like who it was inherited from, for example) and also be able to record later appraisal values for each item without losing the original information (value, etc.). I currently have each item listed in an Asset account titled "My Jewelry" with each entry described and the initial or appraised value in the amount field and using a category of Jewelry. What I'm struggling with is how to record a new appraisal value without losing the old information.

Rocket J Squirrel · February 2023

@Boatnmaniac's method of one account per item is how I handle my houses, cars, and yachts.

But if you really want to keep all the items in a single account, you can do that. Each item gets one transaction in the account. Initially, the transaction shows the original value of the item.

The first time you have an item re-appraised, make the transaction a split. The first split line retains the original value. Each subsequent split line contains the change in value. The Memo field of each split line can contain the date and amount of each appraisal. So the current value of each item contributes to the total value of the account, and the history is available in the split lines for each item's one transaction.

Just kidding about the yachts.

Boatnmaniac · February 2023

janpini said:

Rocket J Squirrel gave the best answer so he wins. Working perfectly. Good luck with the yachts!

I'm glad you find his suggestion to work for you. Just something to keep in mind about it: If you want the jewelry values to be tracked over time in Net Worth and other reports then this process is not the best suited for it.

For instance, if you bought a nice gold necklace for $1000 on 1/10/2020 that would be the date of the transaction. If then on 1/10/2021, 1/10/2022 and 1/10/2023 the value of the necklace increased by $200 each year and you entered 3 category split lines for $200 each, Quicken would show in Net Worth and in category reports a single value of $1600 for 1/10/2020 with no changes in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

In order to track value changes in Net Worth and in various other time-related reports, you would need to use multiple transactions (one for each year) to accomplish that. Or have custom "dummy" securities assigned to them with value changes made by entering new security prices as value changes occur. Single transactions with category splits will not be captured in that way.

The methods suggested by @Jim_Harman and me above along these lines will allow you to track the value changes to your jewelry investments in Net Worth and other reports over time.

If, however, you are not wanting or needing to track the values in Net Worth over time, then @Rocket J Squirrel 's suggestion should work well for you. Like many things in Quicken it's all a matter of personal choice.

Unknown · February 2023

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Boatnmaniac · February 2023

What I'd suggest: Creating new accounts for each of your expensive jewelry items: Add Account > +Other Assets & Liabilities > Non-cash assets, and high value property > follow the prompts.

Name each account with the specific piece of jewelry that you want to track.
Then periodically, when you want to update the value of the jewelry: Account Register > upper right Gear icon > Update Balance. This will enter a new transaction in the register accounting for the change in value of that specific piece of jewelry. The previous transactions and values will remain in place for historical reference.
This process will also then properly capture the values of these pieces of jewelry in your Net Worth reports.

Jim_Harman · February 2023

Quicken is not set up to conveniently track multiple items In an Asset account. If you have a lot of items, it would be messy to create a separate Asset account for each.

One way to handle this would be to use an offline Investing account and create a made-up Security for each item. In the Investing account, you could Buy 1 share of each security and on the Security Detail page, use the Price History to record changes in the appraised values.

Or you could track your jewelry items on a spreadsheet and periodically click the gear in a single Jewelry asset account then select Update Balance to enter the total from the spreadsheet.

Also from the account's gear menu, you can add separate documents as Account attachments, which you could use to describe the individual items.

Rocket J Squirrel · February 2023

@Boatnmaniac's method of one account per item is how I handle my houses, cars, and yachts.

But if you really want to keep all the items in a single account, you can do that. Each item gets one transaction in the account. Initially, the transaction shows the original value of the item.

The first time you have an item re-appraised, make the transaction a split. The first split line retains the original value. Each subsequent split line contains the change in value. The Memo field of each split line can contain the date and amount of each appraisal. So the current value of each item contributes to the total value of the account, and the history is available in the split lines for each item's one transaction.

Just kidding about the yachts.

Boatnmaniac · February 2023

Jim_Harman said:

Quicken is not set up to conveniently track multiple items In an Asset account. If you have a lot of items, it would be messy to create a separate Asset account for each.

One way to handle this would be to use an offline Investing account and create a made-up Security for each item. In the Investing account, you could Buy 1 share of each security and on the Security Detail page, use the Price History to record changes in the appraised values.

I was also thinking of posting something along this line but you beat me to the punch.

Give the made-up securities descriptive names. Assign an investment Type and Asset Class to each.
Enter Buy or Add Shares transactions for each of those securities. The quantity would be 1 (or maybe 2 if is for ear rings, etc.) with the cost being the purchase price (or the current value).
Then each time you want to update the value, just add a new value (price) via More (Edit price history) in the Security Detail View.

Then you could see everything in one account via Holdings, it could also be included in the Investments Portfolio and Net Worth. The same as what I'd posted earlier but all in a single account instead of many individual accounts.

janpini · February 2023

Rocket J Squirrel gave the best answer so he wins. Working perfectly. Good luck with the yachts!

Boatnmaniac · February 2023