When does collecting become an obsession? Is there a cut off point?

I've been collecting costume jewelry for many, many years. I currently have over 10,000 pieces. Fortunately, it takes up little storage space. Nobody really knows how much jewelry I really have because it takes up less than 12 square feet of space.

Does having that much jewelry make it an obsession? I decided that perhaps I have gone a bit over the top, so I'm currently winnowing out my collection by selling pieces on the internet. Now, I'm going to stick to two main focus areas for the jewelry I plan to keep. Retro, especially the Coro retro, and plastics. In a sense, they are two opposites. The retro has long, cleans lines and simple designs and perhaps a single rhinestone for color. The plastics, especially the celluloid, can have very complex floral designs and lots of color.

Will this bring down the size of my collection? Probably not. In order to obtain the pieces I want, I often have to purchase whole lots of jewelry at auctions and estate sales. Is it worth it? Absolutely! The treasure hunt is part of the obsession too.