“Our philosophy has always been to keep our overhead low, so we can offer customers more cash and bigger loans for their gold, jewelry, diamonds, and watches,” says Carl Blackburn, owner of San Diego Jewelry Buyers & Loans. “In the past, this meant we operated out of a small office at The Jewelers Exchange Building. Now we are able to serve San Diegans from our new larger location, and it is less than half the price, per square foot, of our old place. In other words, this will not affect our ability to pay the best and fairest prices for gold jewelry, diamonds, and other precious assets.”

San Diego Jewelry Buyers & Loans’ new location has increased visibility, with floor to ceiling windows covering the entire NE corner of 6th and E Street. It also provides customers with greater privacy and comfort. There is a showroom, coffee lounge, back office rooms including kitchen and pantry, and six separate individual offices, including private buying/consultation rooms and a small workshop for in-house jewelry repairs and custom work.

Since the new office suite is less than 100 feet from the San Diego Jewelers Exchange and its wide variety of specialist craftsmen, customers who purchase estate diamonds and precious gemstones from SDJB at wholesale prices can still have them easily set into custom-made fine jewelry crafted by the Exchange’s jewelry artisans. An internationally recognized jewelry designer as well as one of San Diego’s most prominent fine jewelry buyers, Blackburn often advises diamond jewelry shoppers, especially future newlyweds, on how to best design a gold or platinum ring around an affordable estate diamond purchased at SDJB.

Blackburn is also a recognized spokesperson regarding ethical business practices for gold and jewelry buyers, having last year been interviewed by Sasha Foo of KUSI TV News. Ms. Foo, a former CNN anchor, sought Blackburn’s advice on how San Diegans can avoid getting scammed when selling their gold. Consumers seeking further advice can find it on the SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com website, which is filled with helpful articles such as Tips on Selling a Used Rolex, How to Sell a Used Diamond, 7 Quick Questions to Ask a Gold Buyer, and Appraisal Tips for Jewelry Sellers.

To set up an appointment at their new offices and talk with Carl Blackburn personally about any precious asset you wish to sell or receive a collateral loan on, please call SDJB toll free at: 800-557-9413.

Located across from the Jewelers Exchange Building in the gas-lamp quarter of downtown San Diego, SDJBL 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.

According to SDJB, the strong price of gold can help consumers weather the current economic downturn in two ways. For investors looking to store their wealth, gold provides an attractive alternative to the stock market or real estate. And for consumers and small businesses seeking quick cash to pay off outstanding bills, now is an excellent time to be selling your scrap gold, outdated gold jewelry, or other gold assets.

For those looking to sell gold, Blackburn says that San Diego Jewelry Buyers consistently pays customers between 50% to 100% more than other gold buyers and pawn shops in the San Diego area; and as much as 400% more than some of the well-known national gold buyers who advertise on TV. “Our business model is based on low overhead, large volume, small margins,” says Blackburn. “It works for us, and it works for our customers. We make enough to operate with a profit, and the end-consumer ends up with a lot more money in their pocket.”

But Blackburn is quick to add that customers shouldn’ t just take his word for it. San Diego Jewelry Buyers encourages people to shop around and do their homework, such as examining closely gold buyer reviews. SDJB also offers the following tips for finding a reputable gold buyer who will pay you top dollar:

1) Be wary of high-end retail stores in high-rent locations advertising to buy gold. The common misconception is that the better the location and quality of the jewelry store, the more money they have to pay you for your gold. Actually, the more overhead they have, the more profit they need to make on your transaction, thus the less money you will get for your gold.

2) Call gold buyers by phone and get a feel for how they answer your questions. Most likely if the phone call goes smoothly (no telemarketing feeling, or snobby, or secretive voice on the other end), then your face to face transaction will also go smoothly.

3) Check out the gold buyer’s website. If it is sloppy and disorganized, then it’s likely that their business is too.

To learn more about selling your gold in San Diego watch KUSI TV’s special report, “Selling Your Gold? Don’t get scammed!”, where Emmy-award winning reporter Sasha Foo interviews Carl Blackburn about how to sell your gold smartly.

To schedule an appointment with SDJB call 800-557-9413 or visit SanDiegoJewelryBuyers.com.

Question: How does a pawn work?

Answer: A pawn is another term for a collateral loan. Pawnbrokers lend money on items of value ranging from gold and diamond jewelry, musical instruments, televisions, electronics, tools, household items, firearms and more. Some pawn shops might specialize in certain items. Loans are based on the value of the collateral. When a customer pays back the loan, his or her merchandise is returned. A customer also could choose to surrender your collateral as payment in full. Pawn shops may offer extensions/renewals (where permitted by state law).

Question: Why would someone go to a pawnbroker to get a loan?

Answer: Pawnbrokers offer the consumer a quick, convenient and confidential way to borrow money. A short-term cash need can be met with no credit check or legal consequences if the loan is not repaid. Pawnbroking imposes a discipline on the borrower that other lenders do not. Pawn loans do not cause people to overextend credit or go into bankruptcy.

Question: How much should I expect for a loan on my item?

Answer: Loan amounts vary according to the value of the item. There is no minimum dollar amount allowed on a pawn transaction but the maximum amount might be set by state pawn laws. Your loan amount will be determined according to other factors as well such as demand and condition of the item. Not all pawn stores are the same and price will vary.

To read the rest of the Q & A, please check out the article by clicking on: Pawn Shop Q & A.

Cash for gold isn’t just a hot trend in San Diego. Shoppers around the country have been trading in their gold bling for quick cash. In an article recently published by The Denver Post, the newspaper lists the following tips for when selling your gold jewelry:

—Unless the piece is of a high-quality maker, such as Cartier or Tiffany’s, you’re looking at scrap gold pricing. Forget what you paid for it.

—Remove gemstones from your gold jewelry unless they’re too small to sell separately.

—Know the price of gold the day you’re going out to sell. The New York gold markets close at 1 p.m. Pacific time, so sell your gold in the afternoon.

—Weigh your gold jewelry in bulk. Keep similar karat gold together. You might get a better price.

—Do the gold math. Know the 100 percent value to see if offers are fair to you.

—Get gold buying offers from several stores, whether jewelry or pawn shops.

—Avoid online gold buyers. Unless you’re selling in high volumes, you’ll not likely get a better price.

—Never let strangers view gold jewelry at your home. Consider a bank and safety deposit box for security.

—Walk away if you don’t like the gold buyer’s offer. Gold is constantly on the move.

San Diego Jewelry Buyers (SDJB) has published a new guide for consumers looking to sell their gold. Titled “Selling Gold Jewelry: Top 10 Consumer Tips,” the article is the newest addition to SDJB’s online Knowledge portal. This consumer information center includes guides and tips for selling diamonds, estate jewelry, and gold items, as well as how to use these precious assets for private collateral cash loans that require no credit checks and do not put the consumer’s credit rating at risk.

Although the new gold sellers guide is aimed toward people in San Diego County, the tips on how to sell your gold are helpful to anyone looking to sell used (or pre-owned) gold jewelry to gold buyers. SDJB urges gold sellers to remember that all gold buyers are not the same, and that consumers need to educate themselves to get the most money for their gold jewelry, scrap gold, and other gold items.

Highlights of San Diego Jewelry Buyers’ gold sellers guide include:

**If a San Diego gold buyer (or supposed “gold refinery”) offers to beat any price in town, try to figure out exactly what that means. Ask questions looking for a “catch,” such as will they buy all of your gold, or just choose the best pieces? Will they pay more for antique or designer pieces or give one blanket price per gram for everything? The important thing to remember is this: If they’re willing to beat any price in town, then why wouldn’t they just give you their best price to begin with?

**Always be sure that the price a San Diego gold buyer is quoting you is the actual price that they will pay you, and not the price that gold bullion is selling for on the commodities market. If the figure they quote you sounds too good to be true, it probably is. They are probably giving you the bullion price, and not the actual value of your gold. Always ask, “Is that how much you will pay me per gram?”

**Look for gold jewelry buyers with the most knowledge, as they are most likely to pay you the most. For example, a David Webb gold brooch from the 1970s might be worth 5-10 times its weight in gold. The average gold buyer won’t realize this. But a gold buyer like San Diego Jewelry Buyers will understand this and pay you the true market value for designer gold jewelry.

To read the rest of SDJB’s guide, please go to the following URL:

http://www.sandiegojewelrybuyers.com/knowledge/gold-a-silver.html

Rolex is one watchmaker that needs no introduction. The Swiss watch manufacturer is the largest single luxury watch brand in the world, producing about 2,000 watches per day. The company’s estimated revenues are around 3 billion US dollars.

Founded in the early 1900s by Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis, Rolex has always been a leader. Among the company’s innovations are the first waterproof watch case; the first wristwatch with a date on the dial; the first watch to show two time zones at once; and the first watchmakers to earn chronometer certification for a wristwatch. Rolex still holds the record for the most certified chronometer movements in the category of wristwatches.

Rolex participated in the development of the original quartz watch movements, and in 1968, collaborated with a consortium of 16 Swiss watch manufacturers to develop the Beta 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex Quartz Date 5100. The first self-winding Rolex watch debuted in 1931. This not only made watch-winding unnecessary, but eliminated the problem of over-winding a watch and harming its mechanism. Rolex was also the first watch company to create the first water resistant watch to 330 feet.

Rolex has also made a reputation in watches suitable for the extremes of deep-sea diving, aviation and mountain climbing. Early sports models included the Rolex submariner and the Oyster Perpetual Sea Dweller 2000 (in 1971). Another sports model is the Rolex GMT Master II, originally developed at the request of Pan Am Airways to assist pilots in transcontinental flights. The Explorer and Explorer II were developed specifically for explorers who would navigate rough terrain—such as the world famous Everest Expeditions.

Today Rolex operates stores in many urban centers of the world, including: Toronto, Paris, London, New York, Mexico City, São Paulo, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Tokyo, Dubai, and Wellington, among others.

If you would like to learn tips about selling a used Rolex, visit: Rolex Selling Tips from a Watch Buyer

JCK Online reports that Mahatma Gandhi’s pocket watch and personal belongings realized just under $2.1 million as part of the Antiquorum Auctioneers sale of Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks, held March 4 and 5 in New York.

The auction as a whole took in $8.7 million. More than 500 online bidders, in addition to room and telephone bidders, bought modern and vintage watches at 142 percent of their low estimate resulting in 75 percent of all lots sold, the auction said in a statement. Gandhi’s pocket watch, sandals, glasses, bowl, and thali were sold for $2.096 million to what the auction house described as a “prominent Indian businessman who intends is to bring the items back to India for permanent public display.”

“Despite continued global economic concern, we have achieved tremendous results for our first auction of 2009,” said Evan Zimmermann, Antiquorum president and chief executive officer.

“Antiquorum is pleased that the objects attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest spiritual and political leaders of the 20th-century, will be returning to India, added Robert Maron, Antiquorum chairman. “We know that this was the hope of the Indian people, as well as many others around the world.”

The auction also included a watch belonging to both U.S. president John F. Kennedy and Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis. Known as the Kennedy Onassis watch, it is the only known item connecting JFK, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Aristotle Onassis. It fetched $120,000.

Another watch of great significance in the sale was the Patek Philippe Henry Grave’s platinum minute repeater, which sold for $630,000. The watch belonged to the late Henry Graves Jr. who inspired Patek Philippe to create some of its most complicated watches to date.

In addition, the “Giuseppe Bonanno” 1950’s Patek Philippe watch sold for sold for $36,000. Bonanno was an original member of the “Commission” whose purpose was to establish rule by consensus amongst the New York crime families and is thought to be the inspiration for the character of Vito Corleone in Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather.”

Several other Patek Philippe timepieces achieved excellent results, including: The Ref. 5016 in yellow gold, lot 536, fetched $ 494,000; the “TV Watch” in white gold, Ref. 5020 (lot 526), sold for $180,000; the Ref. 3970 in white gold (lot 525) attained $ 108,000; and the yellow gold “Celestial” wristwatch (lot 120), which sold for $186,000.

An Audemars Piguet watch, the “End of Days,” (lot 435) sold for $ 42,000. A Cartier Art deco desk alarm clock sold for $32,400, three times its’ pre-sale estimate.

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Do you have a mechanical timepiece or used watch that you are looking to sell in San Diego? If so, read this article before approaching a buyer: San Diego Tips: Selling Your Used Watch.

We reported last month how watch auctions were setting records, but not so with a recent jewelry auction at Sotheby’s in Switzerland. Nearly 150 jewels including the star lot, a huge blue diamond, were left unsold, as nervous buyers held back amid uncertainty in world markets, the auction house said.

“I think had we been having this sale six months ago, it would have been a very different story,” said David Bennett, as quoted by Reuters. “Clearly the market is in transition and like all markets in transition, people stand back to see what is going to happen,” he added. “People aren’t flooding into the stock market because they can’t see a pattern. I think it was the same thing here.”

One of the surprise no-sales was the Lesotho I, a 71.73 carat light brown diamond mounted on a ring by U.S. jewelry Harry Winston. “It has to wait for another year,” Bennett told the crowd after the huge and historic stone, which had been forecast to fetch 3.3 million-5.6 million francs, stalled at 2.5 million.

The best result of the auction was a pink diamond ring of 8.02 carats was bought for nearly $1.33 million. A pearl necklace with a clasp set with a large emerald surrounded by diamonds brought the same price. Another highlight was a round 11.70 carat Golconda diamond, set in a ring by the American Paris-based jeweler known as JAR (Joel Arthur Rosenthal), which sold for 1.2 million francs to a London-based dealer.

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Do you have some silver flatware that you are looking to sell in San Diego? Well, before you head down to that pawn shop be sure to read: Tips for Selling Used Flatware.

If you are looking to sell your watch in San Diego, there are a few important things to keep in mind. First, is the watch you are selling vintage or like new? For the watch to be sold as “vintage” it should be more than 40 years old. If the watch is under ten years old, then you should do whatever maintenance is necessary to make it appear as new as possible. For example, if the band is full of scratches you might consider replacing it. And if the watch is battery powered, replace the battery.

You should learn as much as you can about your watch, including the brand, model, design, functions, year of manufacture, and the current market demand for watches of its type. There are plenty of websites that can help you in this learning process. Try also looking up similar watches on e-bay to help gauge the demand for your watch. The greater the demand for your watch, coupled with a short supply, translates to higher prices and more money for you.

Visit or call several San Diego jewelry buyers to get a free quote on your watch. Some places will even provide a quote via email, as long as you provide them with all of the necessary details about your watch. If you go to visit a buyer in their office, do not leave your watch with them, but ask for a quote right away. A reputable buyer will have no problem giving you a quote on your watch during your visit.

Once you have received a range of buying offers for your watch, you can then choose the best one, or try to sell it via an online or offline auction. San Diego has several bricks and mortar auction houses that sell watches, including AAA Auction and Anstead’s auction.

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Interested in reading more about jewelry and watch auctions in San Diego? Try this article: California Auction Stretched Holiday Dollars.

Here are your top 5 tips to remember before selling your silver flatware in San Diego.

1) Identify whether it actually is made of sterling silver, and not just silver plated. If it is genuine sterling silver flatware, the word “sterling” will be on the flatware. That is, unless it is an antique manufactured prior to 1860.

2) Identify the maker, era, and any patterns; then go online and research the popularity of each. Collectors often focus only one particular kind of item. So you need to know if your flatware falls into an in-demand niche.

3) Don’t be overly concerned about signs of use. Slight damage on antique flatware does not significantly reduce its value. If the silverware is tarnished though be sure to have the tarnish removed, as tarnish will significantly lower the price. If any of your flatware pieces have been modified that will also lower the price.

4) Beware of forgeries. Just because your silver flatware is old, doesn’t mean that it is authentic or worth a lot of money. Forged maker’s marks have been appearing for hundreds of year.

5) Before selling your silver flatware, polish it with a soft polishing cloth and a non-abrasive polish. Wear cotton gloves and dry your flatware as soon as possible after cleaning. Don’t put your silverware in the dishwasher!

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Now that you’ve learned a few tips about selling silver flatware in San Diego, it would probably be a good idea to read this article: How San Diego Pawn Shops Work.