Game for a scarf - at pounds 160?

Bulgari's new little silk number might cost a bundle, but guess what? It's worth it...; is it worth it?

We are pleased to announce that "Is It Worth It" is starting the New Year in an extremely warm, fuzzy and generally loved-up mood. Whether there was more to the Waitrose Christmas pudding than met the eye will never be known, but the fact that Worthit Tower can issue a resounding commendation of every product it has looked at this week makes it rather want to link hands and skip among the daisies. And, as it now knows its silk chiffon from its silk twill, it is also feeling rather smug.

The occasion for all these textile revelations was the arrival of this pounds 160 silk scarf from Bulgari's new "Venezia" range. My foolish assumption was that silk came simply in one form, but I was quickly put right on this. Therefore, armed with four silk twill scarfs (the Bulgari, plus a Hermes at pounds 170, a Tie Rack pounds 49, and another Tie Rack, pounds 16.99) and one silk satin one (Cornelia James, pounds 68), it was off to the experts.

Andrew Gilbert, marketing director of Henry Bertrand, Britain's largest silk mercers, revealed a handy checklist for choosing a quality silk scarf. The edges should preferably be hand-rolled to give a precise, clean finish; the corners accurately stitched; the "registration" (the definition of the colours and patterns) precise and the more colours, and delicate shading thereof, the better. On all these counts, Hermes and Bulgari score extremely highly and their colouring, in particular, goes a long way towards justifying their high price.

Katy Berkovitch, Henry Bertrand's design director, counted more than 15 different colours in each of them (compared, for example, with the cheaper Tie Rack's four) and explained that each colour "screen" needs to be created separately and therefore adds to the production costs. But there were also words of praise for the others, all deemed to be "good efforts" and value for money at their respective prices.

That, as Jennifer Aniston would say, is the scientific bit. But there are a range of other factors to consider. There is the exclusivity of the design - both Hermes and Bulgari employ specially commissioned artists to produce a "unique work", whereas the two Tie Racks are very much imitation- Hermes, with their lavish use of gold colours and equine motifs. (Touchy- feely alert: Gilbert was quick to praise the pounds 49 Tie Rack scarf as "a wonder ful imitation of a great look. Someone who decides to spend pounds 50 on a silk scarf has already made an important decision.") And then there's the "story", for both the Hermes and the Bulgari have narratives to tell. "Fuga di Don Giovanni" was the theme of this particular Bulgari scarf, a tale of lovers, escapes and, says the press release, "waving curtains", and it is this which provides an all-important "talking point".

So, everything's worth it and world peace is just around the corner. But there must be one scarf which is more worth it than the others. That, by a whisker, is the Hermes, which got the nod by dint of it being the classic scarf (think Grace Kelly) and a potential collectors' item.