Sell your estate jewelry and keep 80-85% of its worth

Because they are different measurements, not different opinions of the same one. A retail replacement appraisal, the kind written for insurance, estimates what buying a comparable piece in a store would cost today. An estate inventory or probate figure is prepared for tax and administration and follows its own rules. A fair market value estimates what a piece would fetch between willing parties. An auction estimate is a range set before a sale, not a result. A direct resale offer is what a buyer will pay you now; this would be after the costs of verifying, holding and reselling the piece. 

There is no fixed percentage between any two of these, and anyone quoting you one is guessing. Learn more here about how these figures differ

Often yes, but the authority comes from the estate rather than from possession, and the rules vary by jurisdiction. Some wills grant a personal representative power to sell chattels outright but others may require the beneficiaries’ agreement, a court authorization, or distribution in kind before anything can be sold.

Estates in probate, estates with minor beneficiaries and contested estates each carry their own restrictions. Read the governing documents and confirm with the estate’s attorney before committing to a sale. That is general information rather than legal advice. Getting pieces valued is a separate question and carries no obligation, so an itemized estimate is usually safe to obtain while the authority question is being settled. Get an itemized estimate

Disagreements are usually about unequal information rather than unequal intentions. One person remembers what a piece cost, another has an old appraisal, a third has been told it is worth nothing. An independent itemized valuation replaces all of that with one document everyone can read, showing each piece separately with the metal, stones and any maker value broken out. That does not decide anything for you and importantly, it is not legal advice. What it does, however, is let a keep, divide or sell conversation happen over the same set of numbers. Where the disagreement is about entitlement rather than value, that belongs with the estate’s attorney.

Most of what you will find is one of two systems saying the same thing. The karat system counts parts of gold out of 24, so 10K, 14K and 18K describe 41.7%, 58.5% and 75% gold. Millesimal fineness states the same purity as parts per thousand, which is where 417, 585 and 750 come from, along with 916 or 917 for 22K and 999 for 24K. Silver usually shows 925 for sterling, and platinum shows 950, PLAT or PT950. Alongside those you may find a maker’s punch, an assay office mark or a date letter, all worth photographing. Where a mark is missing, worn or does not match the metal, testing settles it.

Feel free to use our gold calculator.

Identify everything first, then decide. Selling a mixed group as one lot is quick, and it is also how a signed piece, a good gemstone or a collectible item gets absorbed into an average. Anything with a recognized maker’s mark, a stone of real size or quality, a period style, or unusual construction deserves to be looked at on its own before any bulk figure is discussed. The remainder, the worn chains and odd earrings and broken findings, genuinely can be handled together. 

An itemized estimate will separate the two groups for you; which is the point of doing it before rather than after. See how signed pieces are handled.

Three different trades with three different shapes. A specialist estate buyer brings the most category knowledge and will usually separate metal, stones and maker value, with payment on agreement. A pawn shop pays the fastest and prices for a quick turn; most often on metal weight alone, which suits worn gold and suits a signed brooch badly. An auction house can reach collectors and sometimes exceeds any direct offer, at the cost of certainty and time: there are seller’s commissions and fees, a sale date months out, and no guarantee a lot sells at all. 

Importantly, ask each one what test they used, what comes off the top, when you are paid, and whether you get the reasoning in writing.

No. Send it as it is. Repair costs are paid at retail and rarely come back in an offer, and on estate pieces the risk runs further than money. Refinishing, polishing or replacing original parts can: remove the surface, the wear pattern or the components that made a period or designer piece collectible, and that is not reversible. A snapped chain still holds all of its metal. A ring missing a stone is still valued on the metal, the remaining stones and the setting. Where a repair genuinely makes sense, it shows up in the assessment, and you can decide then with the numbers in front of you.

Yes, and multi-item shipments are ordinary. You ship on a free prepaid FedEx label, insured in transit and fully tracked, and everything is authenticated on camera when it arrives so you can watch rather than take the result on trust. 

Importantly, pack pieces individually, in soft pouches or tissue, so chains do not tangle and stones do not rub, and include the loose parts. You will then receive a written estimate covering each item separately, and you can accept some and decline others. Whatever you decline ships back free, with nothing owed. Insurance cover has an upper limit per shipment, so if the group is likely to exceed it, say so before you ship and the arrangements are set to match. Click here for more information on how the process works.