Buying Fine & Costume Jewelry from Estates

We Buy Fine And Costume Jewelry from Estates

With over 30 years of experience dealing in precious metals and fine jewelry, Chad Busby has a deep expertise needed to competently evaluate your fine and costume jewelry collection.

Jewelry is often an area where clients make assumptions about what may or may not be of significant value.

Buying Estate Jewelry

PLEASE DON’T DISPOSE OF OR DONATE ANY JEWELRY until we’ve had a chance to evaluate it. There are LOTS of hidden treasures (in the industry, we call them “sleepers”) hidden in vintage jewelry boxes! Here are some of the reasons why:

Antique fine jewelry often looks somewhat like costume jewelry

  • Gold is soft, and hallmarks that show the gold’s purity can wear off over years of wear
  • Custom-made pieces are often not marked at all
  • Gold tarnishes over the years and can begin to look a lot like tarnished silver
  • White gold and platinum look a lot like sterling silver to the untrained eye, and again, may not be marked
  • The workmanship on older pieces is sometimes crude and adds to the costume like appearance

People assume costume jewelry is of low value

  • There are many vintage designers such as Har, Schiaparelli, Hobe, and dozens of others that have substantial value. These pieces often look dated, low quality, and sometimes just plain ugly!
  • Even lower-tier makers have certain lines of jewelry that are very collectible. For example, Trifari is not really considered a high-end maker, but their Jelly Belly pieces are made by famous designers such as Alfred Philippe and sell for thousands of dollars!
  • Even low-price pieces can add up when the collection is large

Sterling Jewelry can be worth much more than its silver value:

  • Mid Century Modern silver jewelry from Scandinavian countries continues to be in very high demand. Especially enameled pieces
  • The Mexican city of Taxco has many famous silver shops and designers that bring a high premium
  • Vintage, hand-made Native American pieces range in value, but the right artist can bring huge sums of money. Over the years, we’ve had 3 Charles Loloma Hopi silver pieces that have each sold for multiple thousands of dollars (two rings and a damaged bolo necklace)

Evaluating large jewelry collections is one of Chad’s favorite parts of the estate liquidation business. Since he genuinely enjoys it, he will take his time to carefully examine each piece individually to give you a fair and honest assessment of your collection’s value. You can only pay a fair price if you know exactly what you are buying, and we have the experience to know!

Estate Bracelets


Call, Text, or Email us for more information regarding our Estate Fine & Custom Jewelry buyout service and how we can help.