Gold: The unwanted treasure

Gold: The unwanted treasure
Arizona Republic, AZ
Cathryn Creno
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 17, 2008 05:17 PM

At the end of last week, the price of gold futures hit a record $1,000 an ounce.

So Don Hall packed up six broken gold chains and four rings his wife no longer wanted, a chain and ring his daughter no longer liked and five tie tacks he had received as company awards.

“I don’t even wear a tie,” the retired Ahwatukee pharmaceuticals executive said.

“Why not sell them and buy something I would really like?”

Around the Valley and across the country, owners of single gold earrings, broken gold chains and jewelry they just don’t like anymore are asking the same question.

Many are taking their gold to independent jewelry stores, coin shops and pawnshops and walking out with fists full of cash.

“It’s been packed in here,” said David Wyatt, owner of Master Creations Jewelry, 3145 E. Chandler Blvd. in Ahwatukee.

Hall is one of hundreds who recently brought gold jewelry to be evaluated at Master Creations, after Wyatt bought newspaper ads promoting the service.

“A man’s high-school class ring that was worth $20 twenty years ago is now worth $150,” Wyatt said.

He said one customer last Friday walked out of his store with $1,000 after bringing in more than an ounce of gold items – including a gold dental plate with gold teeth.

Chain jewelry stores typically do not buy jewelry from the public.

But Wyatt, an independent jeweler who’s been at his Ahwatukee location eight years, said that buying gold coins and jewelry with carat weights of at least 10 has always been part of his business. Gold-plated pieces typically are not worth buying because the amount of gold in them is so small, he said.

About a third of his annual revenue comes from jewelry and coin purchases, Wyatt said.

“I expect it to be a lot higher this year,” he added.

Shane Eckberg, jewelry buyer for Molina Fine Jewelers, 3134 E. Camelback Road in Phoenix, called the rising price of gold “just amazing.”

“Absolutely everyone I know in the Valley who does this is busy,” he said.

Eckberg’s primary goal is finding jewelry of high enough quality to resell instead of melt for the gold.

That brings the highest amount of money to the seller and his store, he said.

“People should remember that even broken chains have value – as long as it’s gold,” Eckberg said.

Meantime, Greg Willits, owner of Xavier Coins, Currency and Jewelry, 6750 E. Main Street in Mesa, said that he has not seen much of an increase in business since gold approached the $1,000 point. That’s because he has been busy for months.

“My surge started when the economy started to slow,” Willits said.

Willits, a member of the Better Business Bureau Serving Central, Northern and Western Arizona, advises sellers to make sure they are dealing with reputable buyers.

“There are people out there who will really take advantage of you,” he said. “So check with the Better Business Bureau, your friends and your neighbors.”

Wyatt said he tells nervous customers to get offers from several buyers.

“I offered one woman $1,000 for a ring, and she thought that was too low,” he said. “She came back after a pawnshop offered her $200.”

Hall said he decided to do business with Wyatt because a neighbor had good luck selling gold jewelry there.

At the end of Hall’s negotiations last Saturday, he pocketed $143 for his daughter’s chain and ring and $612 for his wife’s chains and rings and one of the tie tacks.

What about the other four company awards?

“Zippo,” Hall said.

They turned out to be gold-plated.

Reach the reporter at cathryn.creno@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8056.

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