Estate Jewelry Advice Badly Needed

[Tropicmaster]

If there is a better forum for this would someone please move it

Long story but my Grandmother has outlived her retirement funds. Her current residence is a perfect blend of assisted living and skilled nursing. She actually has her own little apartment, and skilled staff stop in several times a day to check on/assist her. Anyway with the end of her funds our options are getting limited. Neither of her daughters are willing to " take her in ". My wife and I would have a hard time taking care of her the way she is currently being cared for, but would figure something out rather than the last option- putting her in a medicaid nursing home. My question is this- she has a LOT of pretty high end diamond jewelry. If we could somehow sell some or all of this for close to real value we could keep her where she is (and loves) while we work on getting her into a VA program (Grandfather from WWII ) that would pay for her to stay where she is until death. So here are my questions-

Would we be better off to pull the stones and sell the gold/diamonds seperately?

Would an estate jeweler give us anything close to real value? Would they even buy it, or would they only consign?

Are there other options that I dont even know about?

The jewelry is with my Mother in KC MO. if anyone has any specific suggestions for a jeweler to take them to in that area.


I am beginning to know a good bit about colored gems and jewelry, but not so much with diamonds, so I am asking for your help. PS has been really good to me over the past 3 years and I know you will come through for me again!

TIA !

 

[AGSHF]

Hello, I''m sorry to hear about the situation.

Selling family heirloom jewelry should be a last resort. But, if you have to, perhaps you could start by taking good photos of them and sending the photos to the experts on this forum (Dave Atlas comes immediately to mind) and asking them if they can give you some advice for a consultation fee. You need to determine if the pieces are as high-end as you hope they are.

I wouldn''t pull the pieces apart until I get guidance. Also, you should detemine if they are "signed" pieces, with recognizable hallmarks of well-known makers (Tiffany''s, Cartier, Van Cleef, etc.)

You''ll most likely have better luck getting good prices in larger cities, with a more ready market for high-end pieces. Do you have a good estate jewelry consignment place in town?

I hope other experts here will chime in. In any case, I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Liane]

Dave Atlas is a great recommendation.

Unfortunately because of the economic downturn, this is not a tremendously uncommon situation and prices are not as good as they might be under other circumstances. Friends in Florida (which, for obvious reasons, has a robust estate market) tell me that they're seeing a lot of jewelry up on consignment and selling for much less than it did a few years ago. Brokers who buy outright (as opposed to taking pieces on consignment) are bargaining hard, too.

IMO the best strategy would be to sell just as much as you need right away, then put the rest up on consignment so that you can (hopefully) get a better price and keep a bigger percentage of the value. If you're not near a big city, perhaps try listing the pieces online? I don't know too much about the sale end of things, but you could consider Ruby Lane, Single Stone, maybe Jewels by Erica Grace for reselling of antique and vintage pieces.

I suspect that pieces in good condition are worth more intact than they are taken apart, but again, I don't know much about the selling end of things.

Best of luck, and I'm sorry about your situation.

 

[Kaleigh]

I''d contact Bill Pearlman, and see if he''d take some pieces on consignment. Bill is a PS vendor, and a wonderful person.

Trying to sell the pieces outright isn''t the way to go... Unless it''s a signed piece, etc...

Best of luck!!! So many people are in the same boat, these are hard times.

 

[Tropicmaster]

Date: 12/12/2009 5:41:11 PM
Author: AGSHF
Hello, I''m sorry to hear about the situation.

Selling family heirloom jewelry should be a last resort. But, if you have to, perhaps you could start by taking good photos of them and sending the photos to the experts on this forum (Dave Atlas comes immediately to mind) and asking them if they can give you some advice for a consultation fee. You need to determine if the pieces are as high-end as you hope they are.

I wouldn''t pull the pieces apart until I get guidance. Also, you should detemine if they are ''signed'' pieces, with recognizable hallmarks of well-known makers (Tiffany''s, Cartier, Van Cleef, etc.)

You''ll most likely have better luck getting good prices in larger cities, with a more ready market for high-end pieces. Do you have a good estate jewelry consignment place in town?

I hope other experts here will chime in. In any case, I wish you the best of luck.

We do not in any way want to do this, but it is the only way I can see to make up the shortfall between her SS and rent until we can get the VA program running.
Hopefully 1 or 2 pieces would provide enough cushion, and not sell everything.

I kinda doubt they are signed, but I am pretty sure they are fairly high quality diamonds. I know her 50th anniversery ring is a 4.5 ct asher, and looks to be an F in clarity. Of course I dont know any stats on cut, and I highly doubt she ever knew, not that I would even think about asking.

We do have a nice estate place here in Charlotte, called Perrys. I dont know much about them. I have wandered through their store several times on PS GTG''s with the Clt girls. They have the caliber of pieces that my Grandmother has, but I dont want to even talk to them until some of the experts on here have educated me at least a little bit about what to look for, and ask.

 

[HVVS]

I''d be wary of consigning. If you do, before you do, talk to one of the appraisers here. Get a detailed appraisal and inclusion plot and possibly a GIA or EGL cert if the diamond doesn''t have one. And make sure that you have insurance on them before leaving them anywhere. (Get the appraiser to tell you how to protect yourself.) A jeweler in FL stole my aunt''s diamonds and replaced the ones in earrings w/ CZs and the larger diamonds in her rings with larger but lower quality diamonds. It really does happen. Be able to prove what you put on consignment, in case it disappears ir is swapped while it''s there.

 

[Tropicmaster]

Date: 12/12/2009 9:49:26 PM
Author: HVVS
I''d be wary of consigning. If you do, before you do, talk to one of the appraisers here. Get a detailed appraisal and inclusion plot and possibly a GIA or EGL cert if the diamond doesn''t have one. And make sure that you have insurance on them before leaving them anywhere. (Get the appraiser to tell you how to protect yourself.) A jeweler in FL stole my aunt''s diamonds and replaced the ones in earrings w/ CZs and the larger diamonds in her rings with larger but lower quality diamonds. It really does happen. Be able to prove what you put on consignment, in case it disappears ir is swapped while it''s there.

That is EXACTLY why I wanted to hear from the people on here- I knew this kind of thing was something to be aware of!

 

[purrfectpear]

Date: 12/12/2009 9:49:26 PM
Author: HVVS
I''d be wary of consigning. If you do, before you do, talk to one of the appraisers here. Get a detailed appraisal and inclusion plot and possibly a GIA or EGL cert if the diamond doesn''t have one. And make sure that you have insurance on them before leaving them anywhere. (Get the appraiser to tell you how to protect yourself.) A jeweler in FL stole my aunt''s diamonds and replaced the ones in earrings w/ CZs and the larger diamonds in her rings with larger but lower quality diamonds. It really does happen. Be able to prove what you put on consignment, in case it disappears ir is swapped while it''s there.

Not at Pearlman''s. Let''s not be alarmist here.

 

[lyra]

You also need to be prepared to wait a long time for consignment pieces to actually sell. Things do sit at Pearlman''s for a very long time sometimes, especially the more expensive items. No offence to Pearlman''s of course, as that is where I found my diamond, in a consigned piece.

Some places charge a flat fee or percentage on items, say 10-15% of the sale price. You''d need to take that into consideration too.

I wish you had more time to work out the vet situation. Good luck.

 

[neatfreak]

I also recommend Dave Atlas. He's great. Or Richard Sherwood.

Also, make sure to understand what you mean by "real value". You will get nowhere close to what it would sell for in a retail store if bought now-it's just not the way it works. Normally, you'd be lucky to get half of the real retail value (and more likely less). But if these pieces are signed or of exceptional quality and are antiques that obviously could change things.

 

[Gypsy]

I wonder what it takes to get stuff to auction? Do you have an auction house near you? You can put a reserve on the whole lot and see what happens, maybe?