Over at The Faster Times, journalist Andrew Myers investigates whether or not silver tableware, bowls, pitchers, teapots, trays, and jewelry are a safe spot for investors to stash their cash during turbulent financial times. Myers says that if we look at silver as a precious commodity, there’s longstanding precedence pointing to: Yes.

According to British-born, Manhattan-based dealer Alistair Crawford, “Coins, i.e. money, were made from silver for centuries. If one had an excess of money, coins were melted down and fashioned into holloware as a visible display of wealth.” In pre-paper currency economies, silver thus became the medium for practical yet decorative profligacy, says Myers.

To learn more, Myers interviews San Francisco-based silver dealer Michael James, founder and managing director of The Silver Fund, who says, “The most-in-demand 20th-century silver are ‘signature’ pieces by esteemed designers that include Georg Jensen, the Danish maker who is known as ‘the Father of Scandinavian silver,’ and the major French talent, Jean E. Puiforcat,” adding that since he began selling Jensen silver 15 years ago, “the most important works have easily increased in value 15% a year—at least.”

James, who started the original Silver Fund in 1996 in London before relocating to San Francisco (first, in a shop near Union Square, and since last year in Jackson Square), notes that Americans are the majority of his clients, and were among the earliest to amass major silver collections: “William Randolph Hearst is said to have bought out the entire Jensen stand at its first U.S. show, the 1915 Pan Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.”

To better serve the San Diego community, San Diego Jewelry Buyers (SDJB) has announced that it has increased the firm’s limit on collateral cash loans on diamonds, fine jewelry, and watches to $250,000 per customer. According to SDJB president Carl Blackburn, the company has increased its cash loan limits due to the declining accessibility of mortgage loans from traditional banking institutions.

“The economy has unexpectedly put so many individuals and businesses in a tough spot right now,” says Blackburn. “Many just need a little extra cash until the economy turns the corner. We are fortunate to be in a position where we can help them through this rough patch.”

Blackburn says that the benefits of SDJB’s collateral cash loans are that they do not put a customer’s credit rating at risk, and there never are any hidden fees or surprises. When a customer owns diamonds, jewelry, or fine watches that qualify them for a cash loan at SDJB, they know exactly how much monthly interest will accrue. If a loan is defaulted on, SDJB always notifies the client before selling the collateral. Cash loans begin with collateral valued at $2,500.

San Diego Jewelry Buyers also provides a high level of customer privacy. No credit check is ever required and the company never voluntarily discloses information about its clients and their transactions. Although a provider of pawnbroker services, SDJB is a pawn shop like a Rolex is a wristwatch. “Our downtown location inside the Jewelers Exchange Building provides a welcome level of comfort, dignity, and confidentiality to our clients,” says Blackburn. “We treat them with the respect that they deserve. We’re also easier and friendlier to deal with than a bank.”

To learn more about SDJB’s cash loans on diamonds, estate jewelry, Swiss timepieces, and precious metals, please visit SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com.

San Diego jewelers take note, your colleagues in New Jersey are taking advantage of the recent popularity in gold buying parties, reports the Ashbury Park Press…

When Thomas Calabro said, “We are at the heart of a gold rush right now,” he was holding up the heart: a mound of gold jewelry on a red velvet display board surrounded by South African Krugerrands.

All told, the assortment was valued at about $250,000. The coins alone were worth almost $40,000, sold to Calabro by a longtime client while gold was spiking at $954 an ounce.

“The last time gold was sky high was around 1979, the year we opened,” said the owner of Twin City Jewelers on Clifton Avenue in Lakewood. “We built this place on the last gold rush.”

In 1980, gold peaked at about $850 per ounce. Last March it broke the $1,000 mark for the first time in history.

Calabro has the current recession to thank.

As trust in traditional money investments erodes, many people are turning to the most reliable of currencies. And that means quadruple the business for Calabro in the gold sector.

The boost in the “scrap metal” trade for jewelers has hedged a slowdown in retail. So now’s the time when jewelers and jewelry owners are perhaps the only people in the country able to bask in this economic climate — indeed, they’re throwing parties.

After spending a while on the sidelines watching their businesses lose to private “gold parties” — the much flashier cousin to the Tupperware affairs — jewelers have started to play a hand.

Earth Treasures in Eatontown is advertising to host “gold-selling” fund raisers for charities, in which partygoers sell unwanted jewelry, silver, coins and scrap gold for cash, with the charity receiving a percentage of each transaction.

Calabro himself has visited many homes, arriving sometimes with $20,000 in cash and leaving after some hors d’oeuvres with a case of jewels.

“It was very frustrating,” Calabro said of the initial competition. “But if you can’t beat them, you have to join them.”

National Jeweler reports that the tough economic times, in combination with high metal prices, have people around the country gathering at gold parties to sell their old gold jewelry.

Folks in the media have been comparing the gold-buying parties to recession-era Tupperware parties, resulting in cash for participants, who are choosing to clean out their jewelry boxes as the price of gold rises above $900 an ounce.

According to news reports, the parties begin with guests bringing unwanted jewelry, watches and coins to a host’s house. The host, with the help of companies that are mining the trend like MyGoldParty.com, the Gold Refinery and Nassau Buyers, then tests the gold content and weighs the items, and pays out a certain percentage to guests based on the price of gold that day.

A percentage also goes to the party host, the party representative and the refinery that eventually ends up with the gold and melts it down, according to news reports. In addition to much-needed money, the parties also provide a safe haven, and a social outlet, for consumers looking to cash in on high gold prices but unsure about entering a jewelry store.

According to an Associated Press report of a gold-buying party held in Granby, Conn., one participant said, “It’s terrific because it’s a little bit intimidating to think about walking into the jewelry store, even though they may be heavily advertising it, and, you know, to someone that you don’t know and turning over your valuables to them.”

While gold parties can indeed be fun, San Diego consumers should be aware that the buying offers you get at such parties will most likely be less than at a reputable San Diego gold buyer, since the person who is throwing the party is taking a percentage off the top, which means less cash in your pocket.

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If you decide that a gold buying party isn’t for you and you plan on approaching a San Diego gold buyer with your gold jewelry, then you want to be prepared. Before going to a potential buyer, read this article: 7 Questions to Ask Your Gold Buyer

More Californians are taking advantage of a jump in the price of gold to turn their old gold jewelry into cash, says the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The price of gold, which rose to $1,000 an ounce last February and March, then dropped to the mid-$900s, is back above $900 an ounce, sparking a gold rush.

The newspaper article mentions that Santa Cruz Pawn is the only licensed and bonded pawn shop in the city of Santa Cruz, and that it has been in business for more than 10 years, paying cash on the spot for jewelry that might be damaged, missing pieces or just not your style. Bruce Pedersen, owner of Watsonville Pawn, says that most people don’t know that they can come to a pawn shop to sell their gold jewelry. This is unfortunate, since Pedersen said that when he called the “cash for gold” phone number advertised on television, he got referred to another phone number, where he found the voice mail full and no longer taking messages.

Pederson also stated that the $900 per ounce advertised price quote is misleading because it applies only to pure 24-karat gold. Most gold jewelry is 10 karat or 14 karat, so it is worth less, he said. For example, 12 karat is 50 percent gold so the price could be $450 an ounce, half the rate for 24 karat gold.

Other advice worth remembering is that “if it’s gold over silver, it’s worth less,” says Michael Craig, owner of Monterey Bay Estate Jewelry and Antiques, explaining that silver is priced at $12 an ounce.

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While people of all walks of life are turning gold jewelry into cash, the opposite is true too. Many people are now turning cash into gold, seeing gold as one of the few secure investments in this volatile economy. To read about the cash to gold trend, go to this article: Record Sales for Gold Bullion and Coins.

This year business is up for California pawn shop owners, an indication of how much tougher this season has become for some. According to the LA Times, Collateral Lender (a well-known Beverly Hills pawn shop) has seen a 20% surge in customers over the last three months or about the same period the stock market tanked.

Traditional lenders have seized up, and people of all walks of life are handing over their diamonds, purses and golf clubs to make their next mortgage payment or, in some cases, pay their employees for the holiday season, pawn shop workers say.

“This whole period now is nuts,” said Tal Shmargal, owner of Collateral Lender. “We have people taking loans just to keep their business afloat.”

It’s a trend that’s been reported nationally as the nation’s economy continues its downward spiral. Two of the nation’s leading publicly traded pawn companies — Ezcorp Inc. and First Cash Financial Services Inc. — are among just a handful of stocks that have risen this year, up 31% and 20%, respectively.

“For a lot of people, we’re the only source for money,” said Dave Adelman, president of the National Pawnbrokers Assn. and owner of Jerry’s Pawn Shop in Atlanta. “They can’t go to a bank and get money because they won’t lend. . . . Most definitely pawnshops are more busy. This time of year we’re doing very well.”

Such is the case at Collateral Lender, where a Christmas tree commanded center space on the shop’s floor and Wham’s “Last Christmas” was blaring from the radio speakers. On the corner of Wilshire and Robertson boulevards next to a glossy BMW dealership, Shmargal’s pawn brokerage is also a reminder of how hard times afflict the affluent.

Collateral Lender opened in Beverly Hills in 1990 around the time many pawn shops were shedding their age-old image of being dangerous haunts of last resort by instead focusing on the well-heeled.

Shmargal said many of his visitors appeared rich on paper but were cash poor in this economy. Those seeking loans include actors he cannot name who come and drop off their wares and stockbrokers in desperate need of paying off debts immediately.

“We don’t ask their stories unless they volunteer,” Shmargal, 52, said.

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If you are concerned about anything with regards to confidentiality or security when dealing with a pawn shop in California, you needn’t be. To ease any San Diego pawn shop concerns that you might have please read this article: Your Confidentiality & Security.

Walking into a San Diego pawn shop or jewelery buyer’s office can be an intimidating experience if you have a diamond ring, earring, necklace, or bracelet that your looking to get a cash loan on or sell outright. You might be shocked by the amount of cash that is offered you. Before you walk through those doors, here are some things to keep in mind:

1) Understand that the price a San Diego buyer offers you will be substantially less than the retail price, because the buyer has to assume a great deal of added risk in buying your diamond or diamond ring. In other words, buyers have no assurance of the money they will receive when they try to resell your item, or how long they will have to hold onto your item before selling it at an acceptable profit.

2) The shape of your diamond will affect the price. For example, a round Brilliant cut diamond is often much easier to sell than a fancy shaped diamond like a Marquise, Heart, Trilliant, or Victorian cut. The more confident the buyer is that they have a ready buyer for your diamond the easier it is for them to assess the price. If there isn’t sufficient demand for the shape of your diamond in the current market that will lower their buying offer.

3) When a diamond is accompanied by certification this assists the buyer in pricing that item because this eliminates the need for them to grade the diamond themselves, the results of which may or may not perfectly match the findings on the certificate.

4) Keep in mind that the appraisal value of your diamond is the retail replacement cost. This figure has no bearing on the price which you will be offered should you decide to sell a diamond ring.

5) San Diego Pawn shops in general operate a business that requires greater liquidity. That is, they often need to turn around items much quicker than an established jewelry or diamond buyer. Thus the offer you might receive for a loan on a diamond at a pawn shop is likely to be lower than if you were to sell the item outright to a jewelry or diamond buyer.

6) Be wary of those San Diego diamond buyers who say that it is only the diamond that holds high value and that they just sell the ring for the scrap value of the precious metal. While mass market rings are valued at scrap value, branded fine jewelry that bears handcraftsmanship often holds substantial value and should not be chopped apart and melted down.

7) If possible, look for opportunities to sell your diamonds or diamond ring to a relative, friend, or friend of a friend in San Diego, as you may receive a higher price for your item by selling it privately in this manner.

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San Diego jewelry lovers probably know that Burma rubies are among the most coveted gemstones around. These gems now will become even more rare in the States with the start of the: Burma Ruby Ban.