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Antique Jewellery
You might have some antique jewellery that you inherited from an estate and you want to know how to sell it. If the jewellery isn’t something that you want to keep and pass on to your children, it might be best to do just that. You should remember, though, that just because the jewellery is old, it doesn’t make it valuable.
If you do choose to sell it, you should contact a professional to help you get started. You could research antique jewellery to see whom you can find. You could also talk to friends and family to see where they sold theirs and if they were happy about it.
This article will give you some hints on how to sell those family heirlooms that you have no use for. There are many people that will want what you have to sell, so don’t be too discouraged if you don’t sell it immediately. It might take you weeks instead of days to sell it, but you will get it sold.
Here are some tips you can do next once you have decided to sell that vintage jewellery:
1. Setting the Price
You have to know how much you want for your valuable pieces, so you need to know how to set your price. You should look at the aesthetics first – would you wear the piece if you didn’t have any connections to it? Look through fashion magazines to see which kind of antique jewellery is in fashion at the moment. If you are seeing pieces like yours in magazines, you might have an easy job in selling it. They don’t have to be your exact piece, just others that share many of the same qualities.
2. Consider the Condition
If your jewellery is missing stones or is beat up badly, you might have a tough time selling it. You could repair it, but people who are buying antiques are looking for things that haven’t been restored. You might also consider that the cost of the repairs might be more than the piece is worth. If you are just replacing stones, then go ahead and do it because if it is done correctly no one will be able to tell that you have replaced them.
3. Have it Appraised
If you know that your jewellery is valuable because of family history and other research, it might make sense to have it appraised. Appraisals can be costly, especially if you choose on that has been certified by the Gemological Institute of America, or the GIA, which is what you want. Even if you just pick the local jewellery store, it will cost you money to have it appraised, so you want to make sure that the piece has value.
4. Clean the Jewellery
Unless you have been instructed otherwise by a professional, give your jewellery a good cleaning. You could do it yourself if you know what you are doing, but if you don’t take it to a professional. You don’t want to hurt it because you got too vigorous with your cleaning. Although, You also need to use the right cleaner for it, you don’t want to use water that has chlorine in it. It could damage your beautiful pieces and you don’t want that to happen.
The safest way to clean your jewellery is to scrub it gently with warm water and soap. You could use a soft toothbrush to help. You could use toothpaste on hard stones, but it could damage softer stones, so don’t use it unless you are absolutely sure about your stones. It could also damage the gold that is holding the stones, as could the toothbrush, so be very careful. You would be best of not using any kinds of chemicals because many, even something mild like ammonia, could damage some stones. Soap and warm water are always the best bet to be sure that you won’t cause damage.
5. Look at the Karat Stamp
To gauge the value of your jewellery, look at the karat stamp to see how many karats are in it. Be careful, though, many people can buy stamps and stamp whatever they want into the piece. If your jewellery is marked 24 karats, that is pure gold and can be sold at the current price of gold per ounce. Most antique jewellery is only 9-karat gold, meaning that it is only 37.5% pure gold and is only worth about 37.5% of what 24-karat jewellery is worth. See here to learn more about karats and the values attached: https://pawnbrokernetwork.com/from-455cash-ca-a-guide-to-understanding-gold-stamps-purity-and-value. You can find a lot of information here.
6. Brush Up on Gem Values
You need to know how much the gems in your pieces are worth to help you to sell your jewellery. If you aren’t sure if they are real, you can take it to a jeweller and have them look at it. Even if they don’t appraise it, they could probably tell you if the gems are real or not. They could also tell you what gems you have and how much they are worth approximately. Sometimes the types of gems that are used can help to tell you how old they are. This is another piece of information that potential buyers like to know.
Choosing Where to Sell
7. Jewellery Shop
Unless your jewellery is marked with a stamp from Tiffany’s or a similar top jeweller, you will get paid scrap prices for your pieces. The jeweller will either sell the gold and gems for scrap or use it to make new jewellery. You will probably get about 40% of what the piece is worth because of this. You want to talk to many jewellers before you sell because you want the best price for it.
8. Sell it Online
Sell your pieces on an antique jewellery site online, or any free marketplace site. You need to make sure that you have priced them fairly by comparing them to other pieces that you might have seen that are similar to yours. You want to be able to sell them, and pricing them fairly will help you to do that.
Conclusion
Selling jewellery can be a difficult process because you want to make sure that you are pricing it fairly. You also want to make sure that you have the pieces that you think you do before you sell. By following some of these tips, you may be able to sell your jewellery at a higher value.
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