If you have some unloved, old pieces rattling around in your jewellery box it might be worth giving them a second glance, as they could be the key to landing you a small fortune – even if they’re broken or missing stones.
Cata Rosca, founder and owner of LILA’S Jewels, in East Dulwich, London has revealed to Femail the tricks for finding jewellery treasures in your home, to coincide with the launch of its new Fairtade collection.
‘We all heard about the “tenner” ring bought for £10 at a car boot sale and sold for more than £600k at auction,’ she said. ‘This is an exceptional situation, but we can still cash in quite a bit on inherited jewellery or old pieces forgotten in a drawer.’
Even if an item is broken, there’s no need to write it off.
‘We had a customer who sent her husband to Lila’s with an old brooch with a missing stone. The piece was a family heirloom and it had been living in a drawer for more than ten years,’ she Cata explained.
‘The brooch turned out to be a 50s platinum piece set with a multitude of diamonds of various cuts and sizes indicating it was the result of different family jewels being pulled apart to create this magnificent brooch.
‘The customer was amazed to find out the brooch was a very valuable piece.’
An untreated 3ct Burma ruby can fetch around £4,000 at auction, but any gemstone that hasn’t been
GEMSTONES: Up to £4,000
If you happen to come across a piece of jewellery set with gemstones, especially diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds, then think of the NUB – Natural, Untreated, Big.
The older the piece, the less likely it is to be synthetic or treated, and the purer the gem, the higher the price.
In this case, size definitely matters, so if you believe you came across a big natural Kashmir sapphire or a Burmese ruby with a vibrant colour then you’ve hit the jackpot!
An untreated 3ct Burman ruby can get around £4,000 at auction, while an unheated Ceylon sapphire ring can fetch £2,000-£4,000 at auction for a gem above 3ct.
An unheated Ceylon sapphire ring can fetch £2,000-£4,000 at auction for a gem above 3ct
Period pieces: Up to £9,000
Pieces from a certain period or with certain significance can command greater prices than others.
Art Deco rings are especially popular. An Art Deco diamond bombe ring could fetch £4,000 – £6,000 at auction, while Art Deco jade earrings could be worth £1500 – £2,000.
Edwardian ethereal diamond necklaces an Edwardian yellow diamond ring could fetch £4,000.
Art Deco pieces such as jade earrings could be worth up to £2,000 (left). An Edwardian yellow diamond ring could fetch £4,000.
Art Deco rings are especially popular and if you have a diamond bombe ring it could be worth a massive £6,000
A Victorian bangle, if it’s in gold with gemstones start from around £700 and can reach £4,500 if they are really unusual, with large stones and in very good condition.
Victorian diamond star brooches start from around £500 for a small piece and can reach £2,500 – £3,000 for large, bold pieces with larger central diamonds.
Georgian cluster rings with central diamonds of about 1.5ct go for £7,000 – £9,000, but you still get £300-£400 for Georgian rings with smaller stones if they are in good condition, because they are very rare
PEARLS: £3,000
Pearls found in antique jewellery have a great chance of being natural and they are highly valuable. A natural South Sea pearl with good shape and lustre can be worth several hundreds to a few thousand.
A natural South Sea Pearl Brooch or pendant can command between £500 and £1,700 at auction depending on the size and characteristics and several thousands if the pearl is exceptional.
FAMOUS BRAND NAMES: £10,000 plus
You can get a couple of hundred for a Tiffany or a Bulgari piece from one of their popular collections and tens of thousands for important pieces by Cartier or Van Cleef and Arpels.
JADE: £20,000
It’s the gemstone king in China and highly priced in auctions, but it requires a specialist valuation.
Authentic, untreated Imperial jade miniature sculptures dating back from the 18th century, Qing Dynasty, Qialong period, for example, have been sold for two to three million at auction.
Similar period Bi disc pendants or bangles went for approx £20k, while dyed jadeite bangles sell for £20 to 50.
A natural South Sea Pearl Brooch or pendant can command between £500 and £1,700 at auction
GOLD: Up to £1,000
Big, chunky gold pieces can be quite expensive even considered at scrap value.
Given that the price of gold has increased by 335 per cent over the last 30 years and for a good period of these 30 years it has outperformed bonds and stocks, any glittering stash is worth looking at.
Big, chunky gold pieces can be quite expensive even considered at scrap value
DIAMONDS: £3,000
Big diamonds, especially naturally coloured ones command great prices at auction, for example a natural yellow diamond above 43ct set in a ring made by Graff was sold at auction at the end of last year for £1.3m.
But even if you have yellow diamonds of around a carat or a bit less, you can still get a few good thousand if they are set in a nicely finished piece.