Know Before You Throw

Jon Englund

Downsizing? Determined to get rid of stuff you no longer need? Cleaning out a home or an estate? Stop. Know Before You Throw.

Case in point:

During a consultation with members of a family regarding their grandmother’s estate, the subject of jewelry came up. The grandson was handling the personal property, and he thought grandma had collected mostly junk jewelry. He had the items in a shoebox ready to go to the local thrift store. He shared with me what are fairly common beliefs about old jewelry.

He said the items didn’t look like the jewelry he had seen at the mall stores. The rhinestone was oddly shaped, so he determined it wasn’t real. Some of the pieces were broken, so they must be worthless. Other items seemed to be made of plastic, like children’s jewelry.

It was my suggestion to personally look through the box just in case. What was discovered was a modest, yet desirable assortment of vintage costume jewelry and gold items, as well as one diamond ring.

In testing the oddly shaped rhinestone, it proved to be a diamond—an old European cut diamond, which looks very different than today’s modern round brilliant cut diamond. The gold items were marked with numbers other than the karat markings most commonly used today. Yet, they all tested positive for gold content. The plastic items were, in fact, highly collectible Bakelite jewelry pieces from the 1930s.

There was about $9,000 of value in the shoebox. The broken gold pieces had considerable scrap value, and the vintage diamond and Bakelite items brought top dollar due to condition and collector appeal.

Don’t let pre-conceived notions about what valuable jewelry should look like impact your financial well-being. Have a trained eye determine whether there is value before you toss or donate. Call me today to help you.

Jon Englund has more than 25 years of experience in appraising and liquidating personal property, jewelry, art, collectibles, antiques, furniture, printed items and more.  For more information, call (480) 699-1567. Jon, a Midwest transplant, trained at New York University in appraisal studies. Send an email to Jon@KnowBeforeYouThrow.INFO.