Over the years we have bought and sold a variety of quality jewellery and in that time we have seen tastes for some styles come and go.  Right now, we are seeing positive activity with buyers actively looking looking for:

• Good quality period jewellery that is in good condition
• Good quality modern/contemporary jewellery that is classic in style

If what you have fits the above criteria then do bring it in for an appraisal together with all supporting documents in your posession such as grading certificates, receipts and previous valuations.  Bringing in all the associated paperwork helps us to help you by arriving at a fair offer price quickly and efficiently.   We will ask you to leave your items with us so that we can carry out our due dilligence which includes thorough stone testing etc before we prepare an offer for you.  Before we complete the purchase of your jewellery we will need to see your ID in the form of your driving licence/passport and a utility bill addressed to your home.  Once all these checks have been completed we can settle directly in to your account by Bank Transfer.  Please note we will never make an offer to buy anything ‘on the spot’.

General Guidance

Selling To A Retail Jeweller

Disposing of unwanted jewellery can be a bewildering experience and we find that many people who get in touch with us simply want some guidance as to how best to proceed.  If you have jewellery that you wish to sell then there are a number of options open to you but before we get to those it is important to bear in mind a few things.

People sell jewellery for a whole host of different reasons and sometimes parting with precious items can be difficult.  Most retail jewellers that you approach want to be professional and helpful and many will deal with your enquiry respectfully and sensitively; others less so.  If what you have to sell is of interest, a retail jeweller will make an offer to purchase what you have.  Please understand that a jeweller is under no obligation to make you an offer and you will find that offers to purchase what you have may vary.

Why is this?  All retail jewellers are businesses and, ultimately, all will need to make a profit from any transaction that they have with you.  Much will depend on how badly they want what you have as well as other criteria such as market conditions, general demand and the cost of any restoration required to make your jewellery saleable.

Have realistic expectations.  No retailer is going to offer you ‘shop price’ for what you have so be prepared for offers considerably lower.  What we mean by this is ‘market value’ or to put it in to context: how much would a jeweller have to pay for similar items to yours if they were being purchased at auction.  This means that any offer could be a third of the insured value (or less in some circumstances).  Many people find this surprising but the bottom line is that your jewellery is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it, pure and simple.  Understand too that a jeweller is not going to spend precious time ‘valuing’ your jewellery for you if their business does not want to buy it – most are simply too busy for that.

Once you understand this then the next piece of advice makes perfect sense – shop around.  When you need to buy a new washing machine you research the market to find the model you want at the best price you can and the same is true when it comes to selling jewellery.  Show your unwanted jewellery to a handful of retailers and accept the best offer safe in the knowledge that you took the best price offered at that particular time.  Most retailers will want to be competitive with offers for items that are sought after and saleable but be warned – some retailers (even some well known ones) are just plain greedy and will want to pay as little as they can get away with.

This rationale also applies to offers you receive for the scrap/melt value of your jewellery.  Remember, all retailers are businesses and all need to make a profit from the transaction to make offering the service worth their while.  The price of precious metals fluctuates daily and retailers will pay you a percentage of this price; some will pay you 90% of the price that they will receive from their bullion dealer (taking a 10% commission in other words) but be warned, the less scrupulous may only offer you 40% of the precious metal price (taking a 60% commission for themselves).  So, it is in your own interests to shop around when selling for ‘scrap’ too.

Selling At Auction

You may have a larger collection of jewellery that you would like to sell, what then?  If you have interesting, good quality items to sell then taking everything around to different retailers may not be practical, however, consigning them to an auction house is an option that you may want to consider.  For some this method is a very effective way of bringing your jewellery to market and, in the right hands, can be a very expedient method of moving on a collection.  The auctioneer will tell you what similar items to yours have realised recently and what is reasonable to expect – you can even set a reserve if you wish.  Obviously, an auction house will charge for its professional services and you should expect to forfeit at least 20% of the hammer proceeds by way of sellers premium and VAT.  We have longstanding links with a handful of auction houses, each with different specialisms, and would be happy to discuss recommendations depending on your needs.