How to sell your unwanted jewelry at an auction

If you have old and unnecessary jewelry at home, they may have a certain value, and you may have a hidden treasure that can be successfully sold at an auction. According to the calculations of the auction house Bonhams, forgotten jewelry and unused stones worth about 50 million euros are gathering dust in homes across the UK, with 9.5 million euros of them hidden in the London area.

Selling jewelry at an auction can be a profitable business, as people like to invest their money in material values, including jewelry. "Many clients tell us that they simply forgot about the jewelry item passed down to them as an inheritance after the death of an elderly relative," says Jean Ghika, head of the jewelry department at Bonhams auction house in the UK. "Many of them didn't even know how valuable their precious items were," he continues.

Among the jewelry items sold for considerable sums were a brooch, which languished in a closet before being sold for 97,250 euros, and earrings with pearls and diamonds, which fetched their owner 157,200 euros after bidding at an auction.

If these facts did not immediately prompt you to start rummaging through the contents of jewelry boxes and bedside table drawers, read on to find out how to put your goods up for auction. The first step is to have your item evaluated by one or several jewelry houses in order to find out if it is worth parting with. This can be done in person or online. After evaluating the item, an agreement is made with the auction house, according to which they set their commission and undertake to sell the item. Auction houses can advise you on the most suitable auction for your piece of jewelry and may even suggest selling your item abroad if there is greater demand there.

Preliminary valuation of jewelry items put up for bidding is only intended for potential buyers. The final price of the precious items that make headlines in newspapers is usually much higher than the initially predicted price.

However, it is worth remembering that many items are sold for a much lower price than their pre-sales estimate.

If you decide to sell your jewelry item at an auction, its declared starting price will be set at the lower valuation, equal to the minimum agreed sum between the seller and the auction house. The owner of the jewelry also pays a commission to the auction house, which is also negotiated in advance and deducted from the final price of the item.

If the item on offer is not sold, the auction house usually pays the minimum price for the item, or, if the seller wishes, they try to sell it at the next auction.