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Jewelry pieces are prized possessions that can be bought or inherited as family heirlooms. When you have a whole collection, you may not be using some of them. With this, you may consider selling them for financial matters.
Selling jewelry doesn't happen in one snap. Posting on online marketplaces or selling on garage sales and jewelers don't guarantee instant cash. Before you do this, you must know their quality and how much they're worth to sell them appropriately.
The global jewelry market is projected to increase to over 330 billion USD by 2026, indicating that the jewelry industry is continuously booming. For this reason, your jewelry can become one of your most valuable assets. Before getting a professional appraisal, you can try assessing your collection's value at home, so keep reading to learn how to do it.
Inspect for Damage
First, you should inspect the pieces for any damage, especially when they are old. To ensure that you see everything, you should clean them thoroughly. The materials used for every piece are usually intricate, so you should know how to clean jewelry properly.
Once they are cleaned, dry them carefully. Using a jeweler's loupe or magnifying glass, go through them individually and inspect them up close. With the help of these items, you can closely see your jewelry's condition.
Identify the Stone and Metal Types
After inspecting the condition, it's time to identify the stone and metal types. This step is necessary, especially if you're unfamiliar with them. You should look for stamps or markings that show the metal content, manufacturer, and designer.
Metal stamps indicate whether the pieces are silver, stainless steel, gold, or platinum. Meanwhile, the manufacturer and designer stamps are usually brand names, which you may also recognize from the boxes.
Research the Retail Value
When you finish identifying the jewelry pieces, calculate the price of their metal weight to determine their retail value. This calculation only applies to fine jewelry such as diamonds, emeralds, silver, gold, and platinum.
If you don't like calculating, you may take photos of the pieces on a white background with pleasant lighting and do a reverse search. Google's image reverse search helps find similar photos of the pieces, allowing you to see how much they are sold for.
Document Everything
Jewelry value assessments can be time-consuming; if you don't have them documented, you will return to square one. While doing the evaluations, make sure that you document them by writing them on a piece of paper or typing them on your phone or laptop's notes. This step is in preparation for selling online or to pawn shops and local jewelers.
Documenting everything helps prevent swindling since you know you've done thorough research on the materials and retail value of the pieces. It also lets you compare possible prices buyers may offer to see where you'll get the best deal.
Be Your Own Jewelry Appraiser
Jewelry appraisals won't have to cost that much, thanks to these DIY tips. You can quickly do them without worrying about appraisal service fees. Be your own jewelry appraiser and further develop these skills with this guide because it may even become your career in the future.