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Referring back to the Smith & Belloit definitions, both value in use and value in exchange
require utility.  Value in exchange also requires transferability and scarcity.
 
I would think both types of value exist beyond subsistence or necessity... the barest of
utility. Showing off a diamond may be ostentatious or simply an appreciation of beauty, as
noted.  (In the latter case the gem or a Faberge egg or whatever might be locked away in a
box to be savored in secret only by the owner.)  But these may also be regarded as an
investment becuase as long as scaricity exists they are likley to retain a value in
exchange.
 
True ostentation value might be lighting a cigar with a hundred dollar bill (was that the
man in the top hat on the Monoploy board or was it attributed to some robber baron?).
True "collector" value might be displayed in the expensive creation of a folly or
expensive acquisition (through search, travel, return shipping, whatever) of some
personally appealing object that may be of no appeal to a market and thus have no value in
exchange.  But in both cases a particular utility was perceivd by the user.
 
Scott Cullen 
 
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