Weighed Down By Jewellery

Weighed Down By Jewellery? Why not give it a new lease of life!

Over a lifetime, we can easily accumulate a lot of jewellery. It comes from so many different sources: deceased relatives, loving partners, holiday souvenirs, impulse buys, custom-made pieces, and items bought for a one-off occasion to match a special outfit. Some of it will be valuable and some of it will be purely of the costume variety. Among our jewellery collection will be pieces in need of repair, beyond repair, or which are outdated in terms of settings. We may even be in possession of items which we no longer feel are culturally appropriate for us to keep or be custodians of. Whatever it is, and wherever it comes from, when the time comes to declutter or downsize, jewellery is often one of the more difficult of our possessions to dispose of. If you are facing this task, the following suggestions may help:

Costume jewellery

If your jewellery is purely costume, consider donating it to a charity shop, a theatrical society, or a school drama department. Bundle it all in bags or boxes, and take it along to be ‘gone through.’ It will be more enthusiastically received if you offer to take away any that is not of use.

Approach art and craft groups to see if they can make use of your costume jewellery (they may be able use it to create something original). The Sustainability Trust welcomes exactly this sort of material.

Donate your costume jewellery to a school fair or market day to sell on a stall. Or if you want the fun of making a little pocket money, sell it yourself at your next garage sale or through Facebook marketplace.

Jewellery of value

 Note: if you are not sure of the value of jewellery, take it to a reputable jeweller to have it valued before you decide the best way to repurpose or part with it.

Broken jewellery can be expensive to have repaired. In which case you may wish to sell it for the value of the precious metal or stones that it contains. Check the internet for buyers of gold and damaged jewellery.

If your jewellery is in good condition, consider selling it through a reputable auction house or ‘cash converter.’ Or if you are familiar with how to use online sites such as Trade Me or eBay, list your jewellery with them (when doing so, don’t forget to include the cost of sending the jewellery to the buyer in the safest way possible).

Some jewellers offer a service whereby they will purchase your jewellery (including damaged pieces) and provide you with a gift card to the value of the material. You can then use the gift card to purchase a new item of jewellery from their store.

Valuable jewellery has the potential to be repurposed. If you want to turn an outdated or unloved piece of quality jewellery into an item you really would like to wear, approach a jeweller that offers to walk you through the process of transforming old into new!

What goes round, comes round! Although you may view a significant piece of jewellery as outdated, a younger person may look on it as ‘vintage’ or ‘retro.’ Before you quit your jewellery, why not consider gifting it, on a special occasion such as a twenty-first birthday or engagement, to a younger member of the family or a special younger friend who might appreciate it.

Clean it up! Jewellers are usually able to clean valuable jewellery – although at a cost. But once a piece of jewellery is looking sparkly and new again, you may find you are more inclined to wear and enjoy it!

Jewellery, valuable or costume, has been special to us, or to someone we have loved. We don’t always have space to store it, but with some careful thought, we can find meaningful uses for it.