In the couture jewelry and diamond category, San Diego Jewelry Buyers’ offerings include a round 6.00 carat G, VS1 diamond for $275,000; a radiant cut 5.12 carat Fancy Yellow Diamond ring for $82,500; a round 10.01 carat K,VS2 diamond for $210,000; and a round 10.03 carat I, VS1 diamond for $420,000.

In the fine mechanical watch category, San Diego Jewelry Buyers offerings include a Men’s Pre-Owned (2001) Rolex Masterpiece Special Edition. This unique platinum timepiece is priced at $50,000, and includes a full diamond bezel and diamond dial. Also available to the horology connoisseur is a Men’s Pre-Owned (2004) Patek Philippe 5040. Priced at $55,000, this timepiece is crafted in 18K yellow gold and comes with a leather band.

San Diego Jewelry Buyers also has more modest mechanical watches and fine jewelry available for holiday shoppers. “We have thousands of loose diamonds in our inventory,” says Blackburn, “plus a wide selection of estate and vintage jewelry. In other words, our vault can more than match the expectations of almost any budget or discerning need.”

Of course, San Diego Jewelry Buyers is also available to purchase or provide an instant collateral loan on any gold, jewelry, or watch item for customers who need extra funds this holiday season. “We are open to purchase any product that is made from gold, silver, or platinum, or which has been set with diamonds or gemstones,” says Blackburn.

Located in downtown San Diego, within the Jewelers Exchange Building, San Diego Jewelry Buyers has been in the luxury pawnbroker and jewelry buying business for over thirty years. Their reputation is such that KUSI TV News chose to feature them in a news program aimed at helping consumers choose a good gold buyer. To find out more about what items SDJB has for sale or how they can help you get instant cash with no credit check, call them toll-free at: 800 557 9413.

For more information about the company, visit their website at SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com.

Located at the Jewelers Exchange Building in the gas-lamp quarter of downtown San Diego, SDJB leverages over 30 years of industry experience and fine jewelry expertise to make certain that customers receive the fairest cash offers and loans for their diamond/gemstone jewelry, and premiere brand watches.

The Associated Press is reporting that gold’s remarkable run has implications far beyond smart investors. In New York’s diamond district, more people started showing up late last year to sell their gold, and the crush hasn’t let up, said Anthony Iannelli, owner of Iannelli Diamonds.

“They’re bringing in jewelry from the ’70s and ’80s they don’t wear anymore,” he said. “They’re following the news and see prices are high. They realize they have a little cache, and want to take it out of the vault.”

Typically, gold is a safe place for investors to park their money, says the AP, not something they buy to make money. It doesn’t earn any interest, and because it’s always sought-after, its value tends to be fairly stable. For example, when gold first reached $1,000 it was in March 2008, shortly after the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns. Investors bought it up then because they feared for the stability of the financial system.

This time is different. Investors — think of them as the ’09ers — are buying gold to protect themselves against the falling dollar. Currencies are weak investments around the world because of record-low interest rates. Foreign banks that hold substantial amounts of U.S. debt, such as China’s, want to diversify their holdings. News earlier this month that India’s central bank bought nearly $7 billion worth of gold from the International Monetary Fund triggered a frenzy of gold buying.

The surge has been remarkable. Gold is up 7 percent just this month, and 26 percent for the year. Some forecasters see it going to $1,200, $1,500 or beyond — unless the buying frenzy comes to a halt. That is good news for folks in San Diego looking to sell their old gold jewelry and other gold items.

San Diego Jewelry Buyers (SDJB), the elite pawnbroker of San Diego County, has reported a steady increase in immediate cash loans on luxury collateral, such as fine jewelry, gold coins, rare timepieces, and large carat diamonds. According to Carl Blackburn, president of San Diego Jewelry Buyers, the rise in its large instant cash loans is due to a combination of factors: the privacy SDJB ensures its clients; the fact that no credit check is required; continued lending restrictions among banks; and the ability his company has to offer significant cash loans on the spot.

“Since the second quarter of 2009, when we increased our loan limits on qualified collateral, we have seen a notable increase in 25-50k loans, on everything from high grade vintage watches and large estate diamonds, to rare jewel-studded writing instruments and custom made fine jewelry,” says Blackburn. “The credit crunch has been especially hard on many high net worth entrepreneurs in San Diego,” he adds. “And fortunately we’ve been in the position to help many small businesses maintain their liquidity after they’ve been turned down by banks or other institutional lenders who continue to tighten their purse-strings.”

According to San Diego Jewelry Buyers, the company will accept any luxury asset for collateral that is fashioned from precious metal (gold, platinum, or silver) or which includes precious gemstones, such as diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. SDJB also offers large cash loans on exceptional timepieces, providing generous valuations on exclusive brands such as Rolex, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Panerai, and Audemars Piguet, as long as the hard market value of the watch qualifies for the company’s minimum loan amount of $2500. For loans below $2500, the company recommends customers use one of the many jewelry pawnbrokers in San Diego that require no minimum.

“We have a special interest in many top shelf brands of Swiss timepieces,” adds Blackburn. “And our staff has decades of experience evaluating the real worth of these mechanical works of art. A rare or vintage timepiece could still qualify a client for a substantial loan, even if the piece is not fashioned in gold or platinum.”

The process for receiving an instant collateral loan from San Diego Jewelry Buyers is described as follows:

1. Call or email SDJB to set an appointment.
2. Bring in your valuable items.
3. SDJB’s qualified consultants will appraise your items while you watch.
4. You will receive cash on the spot against the value of your items.

To learn more about SDJB and read about the personal experiences of their customers, as well as view a TV news program which features the company, please visit them at: SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com.

WALB News in South Georgia is reporting on a new trend that we have also seen occurring in San Diego; that is, signs of an economic recovery are showing up at some pawn shops. The report from the peach state rightly mentions that pawn shop activity is often a good indicator of the economic pulse because many people use them like banks for loans or cash advances.

For the last year, pawn shop owners have been reporting that most customers were pawning items to get quick cash. There’s still a lot of that happening, but store owners say they’re starting to see more shoppers looking for bargains on items many would consider luxuries.

To back up their report WALB notes a big crowd of customers were doing business at Albany’s Dawson Road Jewelry and Pawn in Georgia. “We have seen an increase in the amount of traffic coming through,” Owner Jason Sheffield said. “Needing money to get through the week, to make it to next week’s paycheck. Then you got some people who might run across hard times in their business,” he added

But in recent weeks Sheffield is seeing more people buying gold jewelry and other luxury items at up to 50 percent less than retail. While many people are still pawning items, Sheffield states that his his store’s redemption rate has been close to 70% recently, meaning most people are able to pay back their loans and recover their pawned items.

As the economy continues to tighten, the San Diego Jewelers Exchange (SDJEX) has emerged as the must-stop shopping complex for San Diego jewelry shoppers looking to make the most of their hard-earned dollar. The SDJEX is becoming increasingly popular because shoppers can sell their old jewelry here and then use that extra cash to help purchase a new item from one of the many affordable retail shops or artisan studios located inside the Jewelers Exchange Building.

“Over the past several months, we have seen a tremendous increase in business,” says Carl Blackburn, president of San Diego Jewelry Buyers (SDJB), the exchange’s leading buyer of pre-owned watches, gold, and diamond jewelry. “Some shoppers are coming to us to get extra cash to pay the bills, but many are using the money we pay them to finance a new gift for a loved one. Here at the San Diego Jewelers Exchange, we can find customers the perfect jewelry gift, plus help them finance that purchase.”

According to Blackburn, shoppers often take advantage of San Diego Jewelry Buyers’ large stock of pre-owned fine diamonds, watches, and estate jewelry, which has been restored to pristine condition. Other times, Blackburn takes customers to visit one of the exchange’s many fine jewelry artisans, such as award-winning designer Timothy Meier, to order a custom-made ring, earring, or necklace.

“No matter what you are looking for, a Tiffany diamond ring, a Rolex watch, a David Yurman bangle, or a one-of-a-kind creation, at the San Diego Jewelers Exchange you’ll be able to get it at a price well below original retail,” says Blackburn. “And the bonus is that we are located in the Gaslamp Quarter of Downtown San Diego, right next to the dining and entertainment district, so with the money you save, you can head over to one of the many excellent restaurants and entertainment venues to enjoy a great evening.”

To learn more about the jewelry buying and collateral loan services provided by San Diego Jewelry Buyers visit their website at: www.sandiegojewelrybuyers.com or drop by their showroom (Suite 110) at the Jewelers Exchange Building.

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 gold buyers and sellers take note. According to the Financial Times, investors are buying record amounts of gold bars and coins. Why? Because they are shunning risky assets for the relative safety of bullion as renewed fears about the health of the global financial system resurface.

The US Mint sold 92,000 ounces of its popular American Eagle coin last month. That is nearly four times the amount it sold a year ago and more than it shipped during the entire first half of 2007. Meanwhile, other countries’ mints have also reported strong sales, with large purchases of coins being seen as a sign of safe-haven gold buying.

The Financial Times reports that traders and analysts have said that jewelry demand, historically the backbone of gold consumption, has collapsed under the weight of the high prices—and that sharp falls in demand in key markets like India, Turkey and the Middle East have capped the potential of any price rally. That lack of jewellery demand has not discouraged investors though. Jonathan Spall, director of commodities at Barclays Capital in London is quoted as saying that Barclays has seen more new enquiries about investing in gold so far this year than during the whole 2008.

The fact that gold is exhibiting all the classic signs of being in a bull market is good news for San Diego gold sellers, because it means that you can expect continued high prices for your gold from local buyers.

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Not convinced yet about the popularity of gold as a solid investment in today’s economy? Then have a look at the following gold asset article: Is Gold Going to Become a Mania Asset?

The good news keeps coming for people looking to sell their gold in San Diego. Bloomberg reports that gold climbed to the highest level in seven months on demand from investors who want to protect the value of their assets as stocks slump and the global recession deepens.

Gold has jumped 40 percent in almost four months as investor confidence in financial assets erodes and central banks spend trillions of dollars to prop up banks. Bloomberg says that investors are increasing holdings of gold in exchange-traded funds, depository accounts, and coins and bars.

The value of gold held by investors at the Perth Mint in Western Australia is said to have risen to over $2 billion in the past year, with 80 percent from overseas. Sales of the 1-ounce Kangaroo and other gold coins more than doubled to 199,840 ounces in the four months to the end of January from 76,792 ounces in the year-ago period, and sales this month have already exceeded February 2008.

Bullion also climbed on speculation central banks may increase their gold reserves as a store of value. Bloomberg quotes Steven Zhu, trading manager at Shanghai Tonglian Futures Co., as saying “There’s been a lot of talk about central banks buying gold but they are quiet about it because they don’t want to disrupt the market.” Either way, the signs are clear enough that gold prices are going to remain strong for those want to sell their gold.

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Did you know that there is a reclusive jewelry designer who just goes by the single name JAR (his initials), but whose jewelry is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? Read about this enigmatic jewelery designer at: The Man Known as JAR.

Joel Arthur Rosenthal affects to be known by a single name: JAR (no periods). His shop in Paris’ Place Vendôme has no display window, no regular hours. It does not advertise and opens its doors to only a select few, including Elizabeth Taylor, Elle Macpherson, Barbara Walters, Ann Getty, Mary Pinault and Jo Carole Lauder (and reportedly Marie-Josée Kravis, Marella Agnelli and Princess Firyal of Jordan).

According to a report by Forbes, the craftsmen in Switzerland and France who make is jewelry produce only 70 to 80 pieces a year, each of them one of a kind and many designed with a particular buyer in mind. JAR reserves the right to refuse to sell an item if he doesn’t think it will look good on the intended wearer. His creations often sell for twice what the first buyer paid.

Rosenthal graduated from Harvard in 1966, then moved to Paris. He dabbled first in scriptwriting, then needlepoint, opening a tiny shop where he experimented with unusually colored yarn. Its clientele included designers from Hermès and Valentino. Rosenthal one day was asked if he could design a mount for a gemstone. That sent his career in a new direction. After a brief stint as a salesman at Bulgari in New York he returned to Paris in 1977 and started designing pieces that relied at first on inexpensive stones like coral, moonstone, and minute colored diamonds.

He focused on pavé, a technique for setting small stones so close together that they look paved with jewels. His settings are so finely wrought as to be virtually invisible, and gradations of color progress from subtle to vivid. Unlike other jewelers, he uses a dark metal alloy for the settings to highlight the gems’ color.

Only twice has Rosenthal displayed his jewels to the public, most recently in London in 2002. Four hundred pieces lent by 145 JAR faithful were crowded into small vitrines. He insisted that the lights be dimmed and that flashlights be given to his guests, who groped and gaped their way from case to case.

Considering how hard hit the Beverly Hills community now is by the current economy, you just might find the unthinkable, a JAR piece in a high-end pawn shop. If you do, and happen to have an unusually large amount of money to spare, a JAR piece would certainly be a glamorous piece to add to your investment portfolio.

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If you think we were just joking about finding a piece of JAR jewelry at a Beverly Hills pawn shop, we really weren’t. The pawn shop industry in exclusive California neighborhoods is doing gangbuster business. Read about it at: Beverly Hills Pawn Shop Sees Surge.