Best place to sell old jewelry?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Recently I was given a woman's 14k gold wedding ring set as a donation to my Marathon fundraising efforts. While I know enough to know that those web sites like cash4gold and the like are total scams and should be avoided in favor of just about anything else, I'm not sure what that anything else should be.

Does anyone have recommendations for the best places to go to deal with such things? If specifics are relevant, the band has a braid pattern and the other ring has what appear to be two small diamond chips flanking a purple gem (amethyst maybe?). I haven't the slightest idea what the value might be.

(PS: If anyone else wants to donate their ex's jewelry, you are most welcome to, though direct credit card contributions on the web site are much easier. :)

Comments

[ron_newman]

I tagged this post 'jewelry'. People have asked your question before, but gotten only minimal responses. I don't know how reliable the responses are, but have a look:

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1181467.html
http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/430117.html

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

I don't know the answer, but I would be very curious to find out (please post when you do?)

[medyani.livejournal.com]

Firestone and Parson's in the back bay (on Newbury) provides appraisals, but there is usually a fee. You might start by going to a couple of pawnbrokers and getting an on-the-spot offer that will at least give you low-end ball park figure(s), then you can decide if it is worth paying an appraiser and selling to an antique (or simply used) jewelry store.

[motive-nuance.livejournal.com]

The NY Times did a video blog piece (http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/10/30/nyregion/1247465450890/city-critic-need-cash-sell-your-gold.html) on this recently.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

A local pawnbroker or consignment shop would be my first stop - Empire Loan, on Washington, could easily be a good place to stop by if you want to compare it to the places at 333, which if I recall correctly is the diamond and jeweler's building, chock-full of buy/sell joints.

Your best price is probably going to come from finding someone to buy it directly, somewhere like Craigslist or Ebay, but that's going to require more time, effort, patience, and luck...

[perich.livejournal.com]

The "junk store" on Elm Street (I don't know what else to call them) between Sligo and Cristo's Pizza posts the price they'll pay for gold every day on a whiteboard near the door.

[trouble4hire.livejournal.com]

There's a consignment store in Harvard square that sells jewelry. You might see what you could get through them. It's called Second Time Around.

Hey!

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

My permanent jewelry is a wedding ring with two small diamonds flanking a purple gem and a braided ring on the other hand. I am somewhat troubled by your having acquired some alternate-dimension-me's jewelry!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

If Kitty Haas Jewelry is still in the Porter Exchange, you might go see her. If she can't buy it, she might give you a lead. (Though I haven't been there in a while, so call first)

[ed4444.livejournal.com]

JJ Teaparty on Bromfield St in Boston is a reputable buyer.

For items that are just gold, it's not hard to estimate what a fair price should be. 14k means 14/24th pure gold. You can find the current gold spot price online (goldprice.org). Right now it's $1096 per ounce, so 14k gold should sell for $639 per ounce. Weigh the 14k gold and you will get an estimated value. You can expect to get 90-95% of the spot price from an honest buyer.

Gems complicate the matter, because they make it hard to weigh the gold alone, and grading the value of gems is not as simple as just weighing them.

[snoopymel.livejournal.com]

Call me lady. Let's talk. I know appraisers. That's where you start...

[ron_newman]

If you haven't sold it yet, read this article in today's Globe.

Rogers Jewelry

[petra petrova (from livejournal.com)]

Rogers Jewelry pays top dollar for old unwanted or broken jewelry. Check them out at http://www.rogersjewelry.com/rentabuck.html