The Investment Dresser: Dangly earrings Lisa Armstrong on why earrings are the best way to add sparkle. Cheap earrings, along with cigarettes and tattoos, travel badly through the decades. At the risk of sounding like the principal of a 1950s charm school, I don't think you can contemplate this unholy trinity after 30. That's not to say you should do them before 30, but acquiring a habit for any of them once you're officially grown-up looks pathetic. Ooh, get me. But I'm doing you a favour. Think how much time you'll save marching undistracted past the Freedom racks in Topshop. Instead of frittering money in Accessorize at the airport, you can fritter it in Waterstones. I speak as someone who has had some very happy moments decked out in Freedom necklaces and cuffs. But for some reason cheap earrings never look anything other than cheap, not helped by the green, scabby hinterland they seed round your lobes. Better to go earringless than go cheap. I don't think I've ever regretted spending on earrings. I still cherish pairs that date back 20 years. Perhaps because, unlike a dress or a skirt, once they're on, you only see them when you look in the mirror, so they don't have as much opportunity to bore you witless. Cost per wear we must be in 0000.1 pennies territory. What I also profoundly appreciate about jewellery is that I've never been forced to install more wardrobes for my earrings, whereas shoes... But that's another story. My priciest pair - also, I would argue, my most gorgeous - are from Pippa Small . They have a rough-hewn, ancient Greek/Roman quality that makes the dreariest black dress look individual, and are that lovely Hockney-swimming-pool blue that reflects on to your eyes and adds a dose of easy-to-live with colour. They're labradorites set in gold, so we're not talking dolligarch money. Actually, they didn't cost me a penny. I traded in a ring I'd bought from Pippa a few years earlier - and came out on top. The ring had risen in value. When do you ever make a profit on old clothes? L-R: Amethyst, £325, by Astley Clarke Colour (astleyclarke.com); Gold vermeil and lapis lazuli, £290, by Monica Vinader (monicavinader.com); Chalcedony and amethyst, £98, by Dower & Hall (dowerandhall.com).