For some, looks are everything. But in our line of work, looks can be deceiving.
In the jewelry business we know that we can’t judge a book – or in our case, a piece of jewelry — by its’ cover. Because as we’ve experienced on a few occasions, simple pieces of jewelry can in fact be hidden gems.
At a recent event we found ourselves appraising a gold and diamond bracelet for a customer who had previously sat through several evaluations with other jewelers. While at first glance the bracelet seemed simple enough, something about it intrigued us and we asked to be given some time to do some research and take a closer look.
The results from our additional analysis had our client pleasantly surprised.
A signature and serial number – virtually invisible to the human eye – was discovered with the help of a microscope. At our next meeting we were excited to share our new information with the client – that the bracelet was in fact a 1928 art deco Cartier France piece, worth 10 to 15 times more than its gold scrap value.
We often encourage our customers not to sell their pieces just for their gold value, because it eliminates opportunities to find the true value of a piece of jewelry and potentially receive much more than the jewelry’s scrap price.
In fact, at Hawaii Estate and Jewelry Buyers we specialize in signed pieces, which are worth a premium and regularly purchase brands including Tiffany & Co., Boucheron, Van Fleef & Arpels, Graff Diamonds and Cartier. Signatures on pieces like these are often missed, which is why it is so important to bring your jewelry to a certified and experienced jewelry to properly examine the piece in person.
In this case, our client was entirely unaware that they were holding onto a vintage piece worth exponentially more than what other companies had quoted them. And they were excited to take home some extra cash that they hadn’t expected!
