ESTATE JEWELRY & DIAMONDS

To offer the best value for your money we sell only used (estate) jewelry, which we obtain through non-redeemed loans and direct purchases. All of our jewelry is in excellent condition unless noted otherwise. If you are looking for something special, please feel free to contact us. Our prices on fine diamonds are even more appealing.   We can rarely be beaten on price.

Frequently Asked Questions about estate jewelry.  Please Note – We offer the following information as a free source of help

1.  Q: What does the term “estate jewelry” mean?  Does the jewelry come from an estate? A: To us “estate jewelry” means previously owned or “used” jewelry.  Sometimes it comes to us from an estate, sometimes from a forfeited pawn loan, a divorce, an unwanted gift, etc.

2.  Q: If estate jewelry means used jewelry, will you buy the used jewelry that I no longer want? A: It depends on one thing:   Do you have something we can sell to someone else?  We are interested in gold and platinum jewelry primarily.  We also like to buy certain older silver items.   Most costume jewelry – even those pieces which many people collect – do not fit into our inventory.  We are always happy to look at what you have for sale, though, and give you our opinion.

3. Q: I have a ring that my old boy friend bought at a jewelry store for $500.  What will you give me for it? A:  Hard to say without looking, but often we can only pay about 10% of what the item sold for originally.  Of course this can vary quite a bit, but you must keep in mind the world of the jewelry store is a little different than the world we deal in at this store.

4.  Q:  You mean to say you sell only used jewelry.  I think that’s repulsive.  Don’t expect to find me buying any of it!  A: Hey, that’s not really a question!  The truth is, many people only want to buy brand new jewelry, and we can respect that.  For them there are stores all around that can meet their needs.  We used to sell new jewelry, too, but made a decision a few years ago to only sell used.  Even if we buy inventory from one of those jewelry stores that decides to go out of business, we still price it like it is used.  By selling everything as used we feel we have a niche market where we can be competitive price-wise.

The one notable exception to selling only used items is with coin bezels.  Bezels are those little metal rings that go around coins to make them into necklaces.   We stock a nice line of new solid gold coin bezels, and if we don’t have what you want in the store we can usually get it for you in a couple of days. We sell Hallock brand bezels that are US made and of very good quality.

5.  Q:  Can I save a lot of money by buying my jewelry from you?  A: Absolutely! What we offer for sale is in excellent condition, has been cleaned in our ultrasonic cleaner, and is often of  much higher quality than what you’ll find at a typical jewelry or department store for more than double the price.

6. Q: What about your selection?  Do you have a good inventory? A: Sometimes our inventory is better than others.  Generally speaking we tend to build up our inventory during the late winter through fall.  Because of increased sales starting around Thanksgiving we most often will have fewer pieces in stock the closer we get to the end of the year.   Our jewelry inventory is pretty much limited by what people bring in here to sell to us and by what they borrow money on but do not redeem.  That is the tradeoff about shopping here for jewelry.

7.  Q: I want to buy a nice diamond engagement ring but my fiancee-to-be doesn’t want anything used. Am I going to have to pay through the nose at a jewelry store? A: One potentially good solution would be to buy a diamond from us and a new mounting from the jewelry store.  You can assure your girl friend that quite often even the new rings in a jewelry store are set with diamonds that have previously been in other rings.  If she still won’t go along with the plan, maybe you’d better start looking for a new girl friend.  However, if you are set on this person as your soul mate and lifelong partner, then you may as well start learning the art of matrimonial compromise.  In other words, do what she tells you to do.   Hey – I’ve been married to the same wonderful lady since 1967 and it works for me!

8. Q: Does your jewelry come with an appraisal included?  A: If we have reason to believe the item will have an appraised value of $1000 or more we will hire an independent GIA Graduate Gemologist to write an appraisal for it.  We only use appraisers who are conservative in placing values on jewelry.  These people have no affiliation with our store and therefore have no vested interest in “jacking up” the appraised value.  Our normal retail price for the item is usually about 40% to 60% of this appraised value.  The selling price also includes the original copy of the appraisal which can be used as part of your records and for insurance purposes.

9.  Q: Why is your selling price only about 50% of the appraised value?  Are your appraisals phony, or what?  A: A retail appraisal represents what you might expect to pay to replace the item with a similar piece of merchandise if you purchased it at a jewelry store.  The appraised value includes the workmanship that has gone into the manufacturing process.  This workmanship is something that the original purchaser probably paid quite a lot of money for, but in a resale market it does not generally have nearly as much value.  Also, jewelry for several reasons has a traditionally high markup.  One of the easiest of these reasons for a high markup for me to understand is the fact that a piece of jewelry may sit on the shelf for a long time before a serious buyer comes along and wants it.  Another reason for the high markup is that most jewelry stores spend a lot of money on rent, advertising, store fixtures, special lighting, and elaborate show cases.  In our situation we are quite the opposite.  We rent the building from ourselves, advertise frugally, buy the light bulbs from Home Depot, and the showcases are all used ones purchased from a variety of sources.   (We think it all looks pretty nice, though).  The bottom line is that if you buy something here you are mostly paying for what you take home with you and not for what stays behind at the store.  All of that stuff was paid for years ago.