What To Do With Inherited Jewellery

Sometimes when loved ones pass away or move into assisted living facilities, we find ourselves with inherited family jewellery. In many instances, what we ought to do with the pieces isn’t entirely clear. If it’s something we wanted the obvious choice is to keep it, but if we don’t live the piece, the decision to sell it may be complicated by the fact that we don’t want to sell off a family heirloom to just any old person.

If you’ve found yourself with a piece of inherited antique jewellery that you aren’t quite sure what you ought to do with, here are some ideas of how you can ensure that you make the right decision about what to do with the piece or pieces in question.

Keep The Piece

The obvious choice is to keep a piece if you like it or had been looking forward to inheriting it in the first place. However, this can also be an option even if you don’t necessarily like the actual piece. You can always have a valuable necklace or ring auctioned off years later when you decide you don’t like it. You can’t, however, go back in time and undo your decision to sell something. Furthermore, just because you don’t like the particular piece doesn’t mean that your children won’t someday want it when they reach adulthood.

Have It Restored

Perhaps you originally liked the antique diamond brooches, but time has taken its toll. While some items of jewelry can be damaged beyond repair, such an instance is rare. Almost all cases of jewelry disrepair can be fixed by the right jeweler. Whether the item needs a new chain or needs a deep cleaning to restore its original shine, chances are that it can be fixed and restored to its original beauty and value.

Pass It Off To Another Family Member

If you received a piece of jewellery that you didn’t like in a loved one’s will, speak to family members before you consider selling it. There might be someone in your family who would actually treasure the item in question. Plus, perhaps they inherited something that they aren’t crazy about that they’d be willing to trade for the jewellery. Remember, a will only dictates who receives which belongings. It doesn’t say that family members can’t trade and swap once they’ve received them.

Sell To A Jeweler or Consignment Shop

Selling privately can sometimes be a better choice than working with an auction house or service. While you won’t be able to receive competitive bids, the process is a lot simpler. Also, jewelers and consignment shops typically offer quite competitive rates. Remember, you want to be sure that you are confident in your decision to sell the item. Once it’s been sold, it’s near impossible to try to locate and buy back.

Sell Through An Online or Physical Auction Service

Auctions offer something that jewelers and consignment shops don’t, in that you can receive competitive bids for your item. For this reason, you stand to make more money than if you sold to a buyer who offered you a fixed price. However, having an item auctioned can sometimes be an arduous process. In some cases, your item won’t sell the first time and you’ll have to keep putting it on the auction block. But persistence can certainly pay off in situations like these. Sometimes people won’t sell their items at their first attempt at an auction, only to have their item sell for double the asking price at their second or third auction.

Sell It For Parts

If a jewellery item is in a very bad state, sometimes selling it as it is just isn’t an option. However, diamonds and gold are always worth something, even when they’re damaged. Broken jewellery might still be worth a nice chunk of change. Gold in almost any state is always worth something, as it can be melted down and turned into new items by the purchaser.

If you find yourself with an inherited piece of jewellery, you have a lot of options. Ultimately, you should put a lot of thought into what you decide to do with it and whether or not you want to sell it.

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