Are you clearing your home and wondering what to do with your old jewelry? Do you have a few pieces that you suspect are worth a tidy sum? One of the world’s largest diamonds, a 163-carat stunner, recently sold for more than $30 million at an auction.
Now is a great time for selling jewelry. More stores than ever are buying used diamonds and gold. We might not top the $30 million mark, but chances are that you have several valuable pieces in your collection.
If you’re wondering how to sell fine estate jewelry, this article’s for you. We’ll give you some tips on how to price and sell your diamonds, gold, and gems. And we’ll help you get started finding a buyer.
If you’re planning on selling used jewelry, the first thing you will have to evaluate is its condition. If you’ve got jewelry that’s damaged, you should never try to repair it. Leave it to the experts: they can tell you if it’s possible to repair the piece.
You don’t want to loosen your gemstones or damage your jewelry. If you have antique or estate, high-end pieces, don’t clean them yourself at home. You could cause them damage, reducing the resale price. The safest thing to do is to get your jewelry professionally cleaned, if absolutely necessary.
To sell estate jewelry, you need to find a reputable jeweler with decades of experience to give you an accurate ESTATE appraisal. Most appraisers unfortunately only know the retail and insurance markets which usually results in inflated or inaccurate appraisals.
Make sure what you want appraised is something the appraiser sells on a regular basis; otherwise, they will be guessing. If you cannot find a jeweler that you’re comfortable with, we can help! We are experts in this field because we buy and sell in the estate jewelry market every day.
Appraisals are usually misleading and not accurate for your purpose of selling. It is best just to get several actual offers and compare. Not only will the offers be a better indication of reality they usually do not cost you anything, unlike appraisals.
One of the best places to find professional buyers of estate jewelry or diamonds and gemstones is online. If you think what you have is worth more than a few thousand dollars, finding a reputable jewelry buyer online can help you identify those with a global clientele and those with specific collectors. This allows you to present your jewelry to a wider market instead of just the local market in your area which almost always brings you more money for your jewelry.
If you suspect that you have a valuable collection, you may have considered taking it right to the auction houses – but wait! Consider selling directly to a jeweler in this case first.
Selling antique and estate jewelry can be extremely lucrative if you know where to go, and you could end up making a lot more money on your collection by selling directly to a jeweler rather than to an auction house because of the fees and commissions auctions charge.
Typically, auction houses will take a large percentage of the final sale. This number varies, so if you decide to go this route, it’s best to talk to them directly but it almost costs you about 1/3 of the selling price. Sometimes more!
Again, look for a jeweler with a good reputation. Make sure you find a dealer that understands the true value of your collection and that also has a global market of buyers to ensure you get top dollar.
Fine estate jewelry will never go out of style. As long as you find trustworthy appraisers and jewelers, you should be able to get the full value of your collection.
And, do not let the condition or design of your piece dishearten you. A professional jewelry buyer like J. S. Fearnley can sometimes find a greater value potential by recutting, repairing, or repolishing a gemstone or jewelry item. You never know until you ask!
Above all, if you don’t feel confident in the sale, don’t do it.
We exhibit the jewelry we sell at major retail expos across the globe – from the United States to Asia, and even all around Europe. If you sell your estate or antique jewelry through us, we will work closely with you to make sure you get the best price possible.
At J. S. Fearnley, we also offer free consultations and referrals. Send us a quick email, and we’ll help you get started on getting the most money possible from your fine jewelry collection.
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This blog post was originally published on November 15, 2018 and has been updated as of July 14, 2020.
