Charity projects 2009

[Arkteia]

I have been reading about projects completed in 2009. I have bought several stones that I really like; most of them are set. Then I looked at my collection and realized that I have some jewelry that I don''t wear at all. It is all nice; it just so happens that I like some pieces more that others. So I collected everything that I was not wearing and donated it. Most of it I am not listing because these were small inexpensive items. But here are three rings that I think are worth mentioning:

a 7-ct star ruby (the star is poorly formed but it is a star) with two side diamonds, mounted in white gold, appraised at 5000.00 - donated to Children''s Hospital Thrift Store.
an Australian opal, mounted in yellow gold, with small diamonds (new) - it was sold as black and appraised by GIA as "grey" with red - appraised at $ 6000.00, donated to a church charity auction. The money we collected went towards building a new church school.
An aquamarine ring set in diamonds (this was very beautiful, had an antique look to it) appraised at 4000.00 - donated to the auction.

Someone here was asking of a way to get rid of unneeded jewelry. Ebay won''t work for me because it is a hassle and you have to pay to Ebay and to Paypal. I do not know if you should also claim the money you got as profit. Jewelry stores won''t give you much. If you donate it to charity - someone may enjoy it. The ruby ring and the aqua I bought at an auction several years ago. It just so happened that I never wore it. Now, having read about the plight of this girl who lost her job and could not afford an ering at the moment, I think, maybe someone in a similar position will wander into a thrift store, see my ruby ring and buy it for her engagement.

 

[jstarfireb]

What a kind gesture! I''m sure your pieces will make some people very happy.

 

[oddoneout]

You are amazing for parting with such beautiful pieces.

 

[Lovinggems]

Lovely gesture, and a nice tax deduction for youself.

 

[SB621]

I totally agree with you. I haven''t given any of my jewelry away because I do a fairly good job of rotating it but when it is time to get rid of it I think donation is the way to go. Way to set a great example!!

 

[Arkteia]

Re. tax deductions: I would recommend a book "Gems and Jewelry Appraising" by Anna Miller. It contains some helpful information about tax deductions. Bottom line: you don''t want to get unrealistic appraisals and then deducting the sum. There have been a couple cases when such practice created a huge trouble with the IRS, although I think the sums involved were way higher than $ 5,000.00. But before I deduct, I shall carefully discuss this issue with my CPA.

With increased price of gold, however, everything costs more than several years ago when it was bought. In my case, it was both a charity and a way to get rid of the stuff that was collecting dust in my jewelry box. In fact, it was poor use of my money. I do not have a daughter to leave my stuff to. Hopefully (eventually) I''ll have a granddaughter but my son has shown no interest in tying up the knot. I was desperately looking for a school or university auction (I would like to contribute to education) but there were none at the time. But hopefully the church school project will come through.

Which brings up another point: I see a lot of posts asking if a certain stone should be recut because the person doesn''t like it. And you would recommend not to do it because the cost would be to high...I think that donating it to a charity could be a good idea. I bet there would be a lot of people looking for an ering who would like to buy this stone. People at PS are no novices, and are picky, but someone else might really like what PS-ers deem not worthy. I have noticed that my star ruby ring had earned a lot of compliments from my coworkers; to me it looked poshy. At the same time, almost no one notices my alexandrite ring and it is a high-quality, well-made and very expensive.

I think that in this day and age, "recycling" something you got tired or "grew out" of could be a good idea. My profession is unique among the PS-ers so giving advises about "recycling" other important things would be self-disclosure but I have started some projects at my work and people like them.

 

[chrono]

Crasu,
You are very kind hearted and generous. Just a note, please consider that even though your son may not show interest in jewellery or tie the knot, he may want a few pieces of your jewellery for rememberance. A heirloom is a heirloom and it''s a shame that male members of the family are usually left out when it comes to passing down jewellery.

 

[Arkteia]

Dear Chrono,
Thank you for your very kind advice. I hope the day comes when my son will be able to appreciate family heirlooms. I gave his girlfriend beautiful channel-set diamond earrings, very simple and elegant; she thanked me but never wore them. However, she got ecstatic about my next present, a photoshop. Go guess...