What do you guys know about jewelry?

Re: What do you guys know about jewelry?

• novella1186 member

  

  July 2015

  There's 1 family-owned jewelry store in my town that will do stuff like that. They inspect/appraise it and then write out the paperwork or whatever. I think you get a better deal if you trade as opposed to just taking cash. 

  
  

  The other jewelry stores in town don't do it, though, so I'm not sure how common it is. 

  

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• OliveOilsMom member

  

  July 2015

  I think if you stay away from the chain stores, you can find a store that could help you do what you want with the jewelry.  Aren't you near Chicago?  Do they have a prominent jewelry district anywhere?  I'm near Philly and they have Jewelers Row, where both sides of the street are filled with independent jewelers.  Perhaps you can look at reviews to find a store with good reviews.

  

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• AprilH81 member

  

  July 2015

  Taking stones from old pieces and putting them in a new setting is very common, people do it all the time when they take an engagement ring from grandma and put it in a new setting or they upgrade their e-ring and use the original stone as a necklace.

  
  

  I'm not sure about the metal itself, but just about anything is possible.

  

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• ShesSoCold mod

  

  July 2015

  OliveOilsMom said:

  I think if you stay away from the chain stores, you can find a store that could help you do what you want with the jewelry.  Aren't you near Chicago?  Do they have a prominent jewelry district anywhere?  I'm near Philly and they have Jewelers Row, where both sides of the street are filled with independent jewelers.  Perhaps you can look at reviews to find a store with good reviews.

  I am - and there is a jewelry area downtown. All of her jewelry (minus one small ring) was bought at a local independent store so we might start there. 

  
  

  Thank you!

  
  

  
  

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• madamerwin member

  

  July 2015

  You're more likely to get better trade-in deals at small jewelers - I know some of the large chains have limited trade-in programs, but they usually try to shaft you (I work for a large jewelry chain, we don't give customers great deals on things like that). Have you had the jewelry appraised? I would recommend doing that before taking it anywhere to see about trading it in, just so you know the value beforehand. (Real, natural) emeralds are worth a pretty penny, so you may be able to get a good price for them if you know their value going in to it.

  
  

  As for melting it down and turning it in to white gold - there's more to it than just dipping it in rhodium. White gold is an alloy of yellow gold and other metals (generally nickel and/or palladium), so it would need to be melted and mixed to form an alloy (if you JUST rhodium dipped it, the yellow would show through within a matter of months).

  
  

  So - get it all appraised, and then contact some local jewelers to see what kind of trade in/custom redesign they do.

  

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• princessleia22 member

  

  July 2015

  Yes, you can find jewelry stores that can melt down and reconfigure jewelry.  Look around your area for one that does custom design.  We looked into doing a custom ring as an option for my wedding band.  And my dad has talked about melting his old high school class ring and having the gold and garnet made into a necklace for my mom or me. So, it's definitely a viable option and worth looking into if you want to have that sentimental value that is more suited to your style.
  

   

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• ShesSoCold mod

  

  July 2015

  @tfmrserwin, yes, we did get it all appraised at the store my stepdad bought all of it in. The one big fat emerald is worth WAY more than I expected - more than double her diamonds of similar size! 

  
  

  We will definitely go back to that shop and talk to them. They know my stepdad well and appraised all the jewelry for free for him (he said it usually would have been like $200). 

  
  

  Thanks ladies!

  
  

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• teddygirl9 member

  

  July 2015

  You can, but you usually wont get much. Jewellery stores will give you a very low offer, because they need to mark it up quite a bit to get anything back for themselves to make a profit.

   

  Are any of the diamonds or emeralds certified? If you want to sell to a private party (which you'll get more money) you would need them certified. At the very least, get everything appraised by an independant appraiser (not a jewellery store) so you know they're real, the weights/dimensions.

   

  If you want to sell privately, loupetroupe & diamondbistro are preferable for jewellery. If you think they're worth a lot and don't want to handle the transaction yourself, you can also use consignment - something like jewels by grace.

   

  Otherwise, if you want to keep it and turn it into something you like, there are a ton of great bench jewellers that will work with you to create a custom piece. Not all of it is expensive either!

  

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• kvruns member

  

  July 2015

  Id start with the local store it was purchased from.  I know my mom took some of her parents jewelry (passed down even though they were still alive) and had it made into a necklace that she wears a lot. 

  
  

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• RosieC18 member

  

  July 2015

  My mother had earrings out of my dad's wedding ring after it had to be cut off because he jammed his finger. The metal is the same (yellow gold) but they're really pretty, modern studs. Basically they melted the gold and then dropped it in a cooler liquid, so it froze in these neat spikey shapes.

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• CMGragain member

  

  July 2015 edited July 2015

  I inherited some good jewelry from my late mother - mostly her engagement rings.  I know about jewelry so I went through Mom's enormous collection and weeded out the good stuff from the junk (lots of that!).  I distributed it to family members.
  I took two of her engagement rings and had them reset into a pendant and a non-engagement style ring.  I traded the gold settings for credit towards the new settings and the work.  This was done at a local, independent jeweler who's family has run and owned the business for generations.
  Custom work can be much more expensive than ordering a new mounting from a reliable manufacturer and having the stones reset into it.  Your local jeweler has huge catalogs with these mountings for you to see.
  

  

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• artbyallie mod

  

  July 2015

  In general, a jewelry store is not going to just trade you goods worth a similar amount. If you want to have the pieces re-made into something you will wear, you pretty much have to use the stones that are there (i.e. they're not likely to swap your emeralds for another stone) and they will most likely credit you for the gold weight and you should expect to spend money, not make an even exchange. While I cannot speak for every jeweler, I will give an overview of how mine works: You would bring in your jewelry and some ideas for what you want made. Providing the design will not require more gold than you already have, you only have to pay a refining fee rather than the cost of supplying the gold. You pay only the price to set the stones plus any additional ones you want to purchase to add to the jewelry. There is a design fee, but generally when someone is using gold/stones they have, the total is just design+refining+labor. You get an image of what the finished piece(s) will look like before you give the go-ahead. Until you okay the picture, your jewelry will not be dismantled in case you change your mind.
  
  In general, jewelry just does not have great resale value and any place that will buy it from you still has to sell it for a profit themselves, so you should not expect to get more than about 1/3 to 1/2 retail value at best. More likely you will get scrap gold value for it and nothing for the stones unless they are significantly sized (1/2ct+) diamonds.
  
  And yellow gold can be rhodium-plated to give it a white tone. This can be more or less effective depending on the piece. A ring that will get daily wear is going to show wear in probably 6 months or less. Something facing less friction will last longer.

  

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• CMGragain member

  

  July 2015

  You might think twice about getting rid of those emeralds.  Just because you don't like them doesn't mean your daughter won't want them someday.
  Two of my favorite pieces are currently unfashionable.  I have a very, very special sterling and old turquoise squash blossom necklace, a la 1970.  Then there is a chunky Baltic amber bead necklace.  My daughter doesn't care for either of them, but styles change, and they are both very valuable.  I do hope she keeps them.
  

  

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• ShesSoCold mod

  

  July 2015

  Thanks again everyone! 

  
  

  @artbyallie, I don't know if this sounds weird but I really feel uncomfortable just outright selling the jewelry and making money. Even if I use every cent to buy a new piece, it just feels weird to me. I think my sister and I both would rather just trade it in for something of lesser value that we like. I know it's the same thing and sounds really dumb. I think we'll see what the jewelry store says after we talk about it again. 

  
  

  @CMGragain, neither my sister nor I want children. Even if I did, I think it seems silly to save something "just in case someone might want it", especially from a family member my hypothetical child will never have known. My mom was never really the sentimental type and I know she'd rather that we get pieces we like, rather than holding on to her stuff "just in case". Thanks for the suggestion though. I am keeping this hideous ring she had that looks like a fence. It reminds me of her because she wore it my entire life. It's so ugly but I love that thing and want to wear it. 

  
  

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