Selling Inherited Jewellery in North Devon: What Should You Do First?

Inheriting jewellery can leave you with a mixture of sentimental and practical decisions.

Some pieces may immediately remind you of the person who owned them and be something you know you want to keep. Others may not suit your style, may be damaged or could simply remain unworn in a jewellery box for years.

If you’re considering selling inherited jewellery in North Devon, it’s worth taking some time to understand what you have before making a decision.

At Devon Gold in Barnstaple, we have more than 50 years of combined experience buying and selling precious metals. Our experienced team can assess unwanted gold, platinum, jewellery, coins and other items from our shop on Barnstaple High Street.

What Should I Do With Inherited Jewellery?

There isn’t one right answer.

Inherited jewellery can have both financial and sentimental value, and those two things don’t always align.

Before deciding what to do, it can help to separate your jewellery into a few categories:

• Pieces you definitely want to keep
• Jewellery you may want to pass on to another family member
• Items you’re unsure about
• Jewellery you know you won’t wear
• Broken or incomplete pieces
• Items you would like professionally assessed

You don’t need to make a decision about everything at once.

If there are pieces you’re unsure about, understanding what they’re made from and potentially what they’re worth can help you make a more informed choice.

Where Can I Take Inherited Jewellery in North Devon?

If you’re based in Barnstaple or elsewhere in North Devon, you can bring unwanted or inherited jewellery to Devon Gold at:

74 High Street
Barnstaple
Devon
EX31 1HX

Our experienced team can inspect your items and assess precious metals such as gold and platinum.

Visiting a local specialist means you can speak directly with the people assessing your jewellery rather than sending potentially valuable or sentimental items away before knowing exactly what you have.

Is My Inherited Jewellery Real Gold?

Sometimes it’s immediately obvious that a piece is gold because it carries a clear hallmark.

Other times, it isn’t so straightforward.

Older jewellery may have worn markings, while pieces purchased overseas may use different markings or have no recognisable UK hallmark at all.

Colour alone isn’t enough to establish whether an item is genuine gold.

At Devon Gold, we have specialist X-ray equipment for testing precious metals, helping us identify the composition of items that may otherwise be difficult to assess.

So if you’ve inherited jewellery and have no idea whether it’s gold, you don’t necessarily need to work it out yourself.

Bring it in and let our experienced team take a look.

Understanding Gold Hallmarks

Hallmarks can provide useful information about a piece of jewellery, including its precious metal purity.

You may encounter gold jewellery marked as different carats, such as:

• 9ct gold
• 14ct gold
• 18ct gold
• 22ct gold

You may also come across jewellery made from white gold, rose gold or yellow gold.

However, don’t immediately discard something because you can’t find a hallmark.

Some items may still contain precious metal even when their markings aren’t obvious.

Can Broken Inherited Jewellery Still Be Worth Money?

Yes.

A broken chain, damaged ring or single earring might have very little practical use as jewellery, but that doesn’t necessarily remove the value of the precious metal.

If the item contains gold, the metal itself can still have value.

This is particularly relevant when sorting through an inherited jewellery collection.

You might find:

• Broken chains
• Rings with missing stones
• Damaged bracelets
• Single earrings
• Broken clasps
• Bent jewellery
• Old watch cases
• Tangled chains
• Jewellery that hasn’t been worn for decades

Rather than assuming damaged items are worthless, it’s worth having them checked.

What Determines the Value of Inherited Gold Jewellery?

When jewellery is being assessed for its precious metal content, several factors can influence its value.

These include the weight of the precious metal, its purity and the applicable precious metal price.

This is why two pieces of jewellery that appear similar in size may not necessarily have the same value.

One could contain a different purity of gold or simply weigh considerably more than the other.

Gold prices also change over time, meaning the precious metal value of an item isn’t permanently fixed.

Having your jewellery professionally assessed gives you a much clearer understanding of what you actually own.

What If I’ve Inherited Gold Coins?

Jewellery boxes sometimes contain more than rings and necklaces.

Gold Sovereigns and other precious metal coins are often passed down through families and may have been kept for many years.

Devon Gold buys a variety of genuine gold coins, including Sovereigns, Britannias, Krugerrands, Maple Leafs and other gold coins.

If you’ve inherited coins alongside jewellery, you can bring them into our Barnstaple shop at the same time.

You don’t need to identify everything before visiting us.

What About Inherited Watches?

Old watches can also be worth investigating.

Even where a watch no longer works, parts of the item may potentially contain precious metals.

Gold pocket watches, in particular, are sometimes discovered among inherited belongings that have been stored away for decades.

If you’ve inherited an old watch and aren’t sure what it’s made from, bring it along with the rest of your jewellery and let our team assess it.

Should I Sell All My Inherited Jewellery?

Not necessarily.

Selling inherited jewellery is a personal decision.

Some pieces may have relatively little financial value but enormous sentimental importance. Others may be valuable but have no particular emotional significance to you.

There may also be certain items you’d prefer to pass on to children, grandchildren or other relatives.

Having jewellery assessed doesn’t mean you’re committing to selling everything.

Instead, it gives you additional information that can help you decide which pieces you’d like to keep and which you’re comfortable parting with.

What If I Don’t Know Anything About the Jewellery?

That’s completely fine.

You don’t need to know the carat, weight, age or origin of every piece before bringing it to Devon Gold.

In fact, this is often the situation when jewellery has been inherited.

You may simply have received a jewellery box containing a mixture of pieces without any paperwork or explanation.

Our team can examine your items and help identify the precious metals present.

Specialist X-ray testing can also assist with items where the metal content isn’t immediately obvious.

Don’t Assume Costume Jewellery Means Everything Is Costume

An inherited jewellery collection may contain a mixture of valuable precious metals and inexpensive costume jewellery.

If you aren’t familiar with jewellery, separating one from the other isn’t always easy.

Rather than making assumptions based purely on appearance, consider having uncertain pieces checked before disposing of them.

A small, unremarkable-looking piece could potentially contain gold, while something that appears particularly elaborate might not necessarily be made from precious metal.

Professional assessment removes much of that uncertainty.

Can I Sell Several Items Together?

Yes.

You might have one unwanted ring or an entire collection accumulated over several generations.

Devon Gold works with both members of the public and trade customers and can assess different quantities of precious metals.

If you’ve inherited numerous items, bringing them together can make the process easier and help you understand the collection as a whole.

You can then decide which items you’d like to keep and which you may wish to sell.

Jewellery Valuations in Barnstaple

Sometimes you don’t want to sell a piece at all.

If you’ve inherited jewellery that you intend to keep, particularly something valuable, you may need an appropriate valuation for insurance purposes.

Devon Gold provides jewellery valuations for insurance purposes and has an in-house qualified diamond grader.

This means we can help customers who want to retain inherited jewellery as well as those looking to sell unwanted precious metals.

Why Choose a Local Barnstaple Jeweller?

Inherited jewellery can be deeply personal, so understandably many people prefer dealing with someone face-to-face.

Devon Gold is a family-run business with more than 50 years of combined experience buying and selling precious metals.

From our store in the centre of Barnstaple, we help customers understand and sell unwanted gold, platinum, coins and jewellery.

We also buy and sell modern and vintage jewellery, provide precious metal testing and offer professional jewellery-related services.

Our aim is to make the process straightforward, professional and easy to understand.

Serving Customers Across North Devon

Our Barnstaple High Street shop is conveniently located for customers throughout the wider North Devon area.

Whether you’re sorting through a single jewellery box or dealing with a larger collection of inherited possessions, you’re welcome to bring your items in for assessment.

You don’t need to know exactly what everything is.

If you’re uncertain whether an item contains gold or another precious metal, that’s something we can help establish.

Looking to Sell Inherited Jewellery in North Devon?

If you’ve inherited jewellery that you don’t intend to keep, Devon Gold can help you understand what you have and assess its precious metal content.

We buy a wide range of unwanted gold and platinum jewellery, broken jewellery, gold coins, Sovereigns, watches and other precious metal items.

With more than 50 years of combined experience and specialist precious metal testing equipment available, you can speak directly with an experienced local team.

Visit Devon Gold at 74 High Street, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 1HX to have your inherited jewellery professionally assessed, or contact our team to find out more.