Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Has anyone had a decent piece valued in the TRNC (working on the theory that you know a bit about the subject). Did you think the valuation realistic or did you consider it a joke?

If you need diamonds valuing then Huyesin at Senak is very good but I do not know if he is experienced in other items especially if you have antiques.
There is also a huge inflation in price both here & in UK if you are valuing for insurance purposes whereas if you are selling you will probably only achieve 1/4 or 1/3 of this price.

I am let to believe they only value the scrap price for the metal, gold ect, this will not be anywere near the purchase price as when you buy you pay the wieght and then workmanship, It take about 15 yrs for the metal to out value the workmanship price. If the price of the metal keeps rising.

I have, in the past, several times traded in Turkish Gold jewellery for new items. They weigh it and gave a far better price than I would have got scrap value in UK. I always found it a fair way of doing business, but maybe I have just been lucky. Get fed up of something and trade it in for something new, and I have always managed to get more than I paid, although of course the price of Gold has been rising through the past through years, although lower now. I find they are not interested in 9 ct stuff from UK, but 14 ct Turkish is fine.

Also though, as I understand it, gold is more expensive here than Turkey as it is imported, don't know how that works with valuations though.

I suspect no-one here understands Art Deco pieces, which is where the valuation would fall down badly regardless if trying to sell or have valued. Think I'll leave it in UK.

There is a guide to buying and selling gold here together with current prices

Sophie

When selling jewellery people always seem to think it is worth more because it is old or in your case Art Deco or because they paid a certain price for it in the retail premises where they purchased it or the sentimental value which is personal that can never be factored into a sale/valuation.
In your case you would be better off getting a valuation from an antique jewellery store that specialises in Art Deco pieces or an auction house that has advertised an Art Deco specialist sale as they have an established customer base and know what the current maket trends are with the collectors.
In the UK gold/silver purchased in retail premises is very overpriced, they charge for the weight of the metal/stones and the make up costs and then apply a hefty margin on top to cover staff wages, shop rent, running costs and of course profit margin therefore the price paid bears no resemblence to the actual value of the jewellery purchased.
Items which are purchased in the middle east/asian countries with a higher gold metal content are considerably cheaper than the UK as they sell it by the weight and adding a smaller percentage as a profit margin than they do in the UK.
Antique jewellery and art deco jewellery is normally just purchased for scrap and melted down as there is generally no interest in the second hand market for such items however there are collectors but they are not normally interested unless they are made by a sought after maker, have a rare/valuable good quality stone, have a rare hallmark or have some sort of provenance that proves that they belonged to someone important/celebrity or historical significance also note than when a buyer purchases your jewellery for scrap they do not pay the full spot gold price of the day as they too need to sell it on. A lot of people do get a little dissapointed when they see their items on a gold scale and feel insulted when they hear the actual scrap value versus what they paid for it.
Unfortunately a lot of large and significant and beautiful items of jewellery have gone into the melting pot never to be seen again over the last few years due to the prices of gold that were high until fairly recently.
Having said all that I buy Gold jewellery but only for scrap and I only pay scrap prices for the metal weight, also if anyone is unsure about a purchase that they have made which contains stones I do have both diamond testers and diamond and moissanite testers and can test your stones for you to put your mind at ease or to settle your curiosity.

Thanks The Saints and Keith, having said all that and read them twice I think I'll leave the pieces in question in the UK and pass on to the next generation. The pieces do have a quite interesting provenance (and then again there is me)!!