Is My Gold & Silver Jewellery Worth More Than Scrap?

Is My Gold & Silver Jewellery Worth More Than Scrap? 

At The Birmingham Gold Company we don't just buy scrap and we don't just pay scrap gold prices as per our calculator..We are also urgently looking to buy old, vintage antique and modern gold jewellery including rings with stones, pendants, designer chains and necklaces bracelets earrings etc Whilst we do deal in names such as Cartier, Bulgari, Chanel, Tiffany etc we will offer more than our calculator  price for certain  sellable items of jewellery, as ascertained by us. Please read on so you understand how it works. If you believe your item is worth more than scrap after reading this page  and/or it is a named piece eg Cartier, Rolex, Tiffany, Bulgari , Chanel etc.  then have a read below and then submit your details on our quotation form for a price. 

You may well value some of your jewellery items as being worth more than scrap. Deciding what gold items to sell for scrap is a difficult decision but this article has been written to guide you. After all nothing is more soul-destroying than spending huge amounts of valuable time and effort trying to sell your Gold and Silver jewellery items and meeting with negativity. On the other hand do not forget that auction fees can be 30% of the sale value or more!  many people are losing money in auctions right now and waiting weeks to get their funds . 

There are four main factors to take into account when deciding whether a Gold or Silver ring, necklace, bracelet etc is worth more than scrap. The first is what we are able to sell on  ie what items we can buy for over scrap and then . The second is  condition,  the third is the type of hallmark and the fourth  is market demand. 

Let's look at each of these factors in turn  

1/ The types of Gold Items We Will Pay Over Scrap For 

 Rather than a long list of items we will pay more for please have a look at the photos below which will give you a better idea . Then read below to check whether your item is scrap or not. 

2/ Condition. 

 Condition is everything with regard to Gold jewellery. remember that any jeweller will examine a piece of jewellery under a high-powered magnifying glass or loupe. . Gold and Silver jewellery may be scratched, chipped, mis-shpaen, with a worn  shank in the case of a ring or worn links in the case of a necklace or bracelet. The hallmarks can also wear down and be illegible in some cases. 

If the ring has stones then the condition of these stones must also be taken into account. Even diamonds can be scratched or chipped and many softer stones wear badly . Diamonds Rubies and Emeralds are the top-value stones but if they are damaged their value plummets . Diamond retailers make a colossal profit when they sell diamonds, sometimes in excess of 1000% and tiny diamond chips or very small stones have little value in today's marketplace, especially when you consider any jeweller can buy diamonds from a diamond wholesaler at a fraction of the price a similar diamond might have cost you.  NB We are particularly interested in buying large diamonds over half a carat and also old cut diamonds

Returning to the matter at hand, the problem is that it costs a lot of money to refurbish a piece of Gold or Silver jewellery and you must take this into account if trying to sell privately. private Buyers will examine every facet of the item and a small scratch can make a sale difficult (Remember also that jewellers etc use a high powered loupe or magnifying glass so some gemstone wear etc which cannot be seen by the naked eye, will be picked up). At the same time you also face the ususal hassle of finding a private buyer and online selling fees (eg ebay) can be very high.  Currently auction fees are  very high also at around 30% Refurbishing a stone or a shank  can both be costly. 

  3/ The Type of Hallmark

  Many gold and silver jewellery items that you own, such as rings, chains, bracelets, necklaces etc may not be fully hallmarked. They may also have a foreign hallmark. Be aware that any type of hallmark other than a full UK hallmark makes it difficult to sell your item on to a private buyer, because only a full hallmark is proof that the purity of the gold content has been tested by an Assay office. For more information about the importance of hallmarking please refer to our gold and silver hallmarking article  Be especially careful when trying to sell Gold that has a foreign hallmark eg 14k 18k 22k or 14ct 18ct 22ct etc because in many countries around the world the hallmarking laws are far less strict than in the Uk. We have had for example Gold rings being brought in to us with a 22k mark stamped on them and they have been xrf-analysed at less than 17carat. Please refer to this article on Gold Hallmarking. If in doubt phone us on 0121 448 0488 for advice. 

4/ Market Demand.  

  The third factor is of course market demand. fashions and tastes change and many Gold and Silver jewellery items simply fall out of fashion. At the same time many people shun pre-owned jewellery ityems as they prefer to buy new.  Consider what age group would be interested in purchasing your Gold and Silver jewellery item and remember that certain older age-groups are no longer in the market for jewellery. The key purchase group by age and disposable income is currently the 35-50 age group. Remember also that most stones in 9 carat gold are not valuable. More valuable stones are normally set in 18 carat or Platinum.

Of course there is always a market for certain antique and vintage items of jewellery, especially vintage named items eg by Asprey, Tiffany, Cartier etc and these items are ceratinly not scrap UNLESS they are in rough or damaged condition. 

Conclusions.  

It is a given fact that you must maximise your return when you want to sell your antique, vintage and modern gold and silver jewellery. However look at all those jewellery items that you value more than scrap and check the condition of the metal and the stones first after which you should be realistic as to the chances of the demand for the item in question being strong enough for you to sell it on. 

Remember as we say on our website ..."...Scrap Gold or Silver price is NOT bottom price!. Cash for Vintage companies not only do not publish their prices  they also offer considerably less than scrap. So if they can't re-sell your item as vintage or antique they still earn  by selling the item to companies like us .  We pay the highest prices for antique, vintage and modern gold and silver jewellery and scrap. How? We will pay even more than scrap for the right antique, vintage or modern gold or silver item and without the heavy fees charged by ebay and auction houses..."  

For more information call us on 0121 448 0488, send us an email with images at birminghamgoldcompany@gmail.com