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Gold Buying Businesses

(posted 27th/Feb/2010, updated again 1st/Mar/2010)

A television news report on 26th/Feb/2010 about the latest gold buying strategies by some businesses. Are consumers being ripped off?

The story showed how a gold jewellery item is worth $2,000 to buy in a shop but consumers are only offered a fraction of that price (around $300) by gold buying / recycling businesses.

These businesses are doing what jewellers and gold refiners have been doing for many years and with the same intention. All they are doing is strongly publicising this service to remind people that they can convert their unwanted fine jewellery into money. In fact most (and possibly all) of these gold buying businesses are already involved in manufacturing and / or refining of precious metals. These businesses are not doing anything wrong as long as they don't mislead the consumer, so the consumer must be aware or told the truth by the buyer about the weight, quality and value of what they are selling. When the seller knows the truth it doesn't matter what they are then offered by the gold buyer. Even if they are offered $100 on a $10,000 piece of jewellery it doesn't matter as long as the seller knows the facts on what their item is worth.

Note: What a jewellery item is worth has nothing to do with what it can sell for. Selling unwanted jewellery is like selling an unwanted car as selling a car fast is guaranteed if it's taken to a car wrecker, who will buy it really cheap on scrap value. A car yard will offer more (as long as the car is in working order and at least in a fair condition). Selling it privately gets the seller the most money but it can take some time to sell their car. So selling unwanted jewellery to a gold recycler is the equivalent of selling a car to a wrecker. It's fast and easy but it's cheap. There are other options to sell unwanted jewellery at a higher price but it's not as easy and takes more time. 

So above I have said that there is nothing wrong with selling gold to a gold buying business (AKA: gold or jewellery recycler) at a very low price as long as the seller is fully aware of what they are selling and what their item is really worth. At the end of the day what makes progress in society is the willingness of people to let go of what they don't need at a low price for someone else to profit from. If people need it then they won't sell it, and jewellery sitting in a drawer to eventually be lost or stolen is not as good as immediate useful cash in the pocket. Remember these businesses are asking you to consider selling unwanted gold and are not asking you to sell wanted gold, as they know people won't part with something they want so cheaply. Also recycling jewellery is beneficial for the environment as less gold, diamonds and gemstones will get mined.

However there is a bad side to the gold recycling industry as told below:

It upsets me on how some businesses target their customers. I recently seen an ad by a gold and diamond buying / recycling business that was targeting women that have a broken relationship on bad terms, and kept the engagement ring. In situations like these most women will sell the ring for almost anything. I have heard a story of a woman throwing out her $15,000 ring in the rubbish bin from a bitter relationship break-up. The ad that I seen was offensive, especially to the man that bought the ring. Also technically this ad (how it was worded) is illegal since an engagement ring is not automatically the woman's property in the event of a relationship break-up since only the reason of the break-up and who paid for the engagement ring legally determines whether the ring belongs to her or him. If she kept the ring, whether entitled to legally or because he didn't want the ring back or didn't care that she kept it then there is nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong if she decides to sell her engagement ring (and keep all the money) - but why sell it really cheap (almost giving it away) to a business with no regard or respect for her and him (using an offensive advertising slogan)?  OK to sell it cheap, but to someone deserving.

News: (Posted 30/01/2010)

The Aussie Dollar is back on the way down - which means higher diamond prices are coming soon.

For people that are planning on getting engaged we recommend that now is the time to buy a diamond or diamond engagement ring. A 10 cent reduction in the Aussie dollar would add approximately $1000 to the cost of the average 1 carat diamond. It's a fair bit and worth considering to buy sooner rather than later. Of course this is just a wise speculation based on the past fluctuation pattern of our dollar, but there is no certainty that the Australian dollar will keep going down to sub 80 us cents.

Classified Ads in EngagementRings.com.au

AD 222 > White Gold 1.19ct Engagement Ring and Double Wedding Band, AD 217 > 1.00ct Diamond Engagement Ring 14k White Gold Band (NSW), AD 215 > 18ct Y G ladies dress ring P/Sapphires/Ruby/Emeralds/Diamond (QLD), AD 214 > 18ct Y Gold Ladies Handmade Wedding band10 Brilliant Cut Diamonds (QLD), AD 205 > Gorgeous 1.36ct brilliant cut diamond engagement ring (NSW), AD 203 > Brilliant cut diamond engagement ring (NSW), AD 202 > 18ct ylw gold diamond engagement ring & wedding band 2.32cts (QLD), AD 201 > Ladies 18ct,Gold Wedding Ring set with Diamond and Rubies (NSW), AD 200 > Ladies 18ct Yellow Gold Dress Engagement Ring (NSW), AD 199 > Stunning 0.51ct princess cut diamond ring, 18ct white gold (WA), AD 195 > Diamond Wedding Band (WA), AD 194 > Solitaire Diamond Engagement Ring (WA), AD 193 > Brand New 1.22 Cts Brilliant RoundCut Diamonds Eternity Ring, AD 191 > Pearls & Sapphires Earrings (QLD), AD 190 > Creamy-White Pearls + Sparkling Diamonds = Superb Earrings (QLD), AD 189 > Beautiful floral-design Diamonds & Pearls Brooch (QLD), AD 188 > Rose Gold & Garnets Brooch (QLD), AD 187 > Gold Pendant with Sapphire (QLD), AD 186 > Gold Clip Earrings with Rubies and Diamond (QLD), AD 185 > Superb Pearl & Diamonds Clip Earrings (QLD), AD 184 > Beautiful Sapphire & Diamonds Ring (QLD), AD 178 > Striking 18ct Gold Ocelot/Leopard Design Brooch (QLD), AD 177 > Elegant 3 Stone Brilliant Cut Diamond Engagement Ring (NSW), AD 176 > Smokey Quartz Pendant on Gold Chain (QLD), AD 175 > Stunning Diamond & White Gold Sword-Shaped Brooch (QLD), AD 174 > Unique Amethyst & Diamond ring. Is the amethyst your stone? (QLD), AD 172 > Pearl & Diamonds Pendant (QLD), AD 171 > Fabulous Diamond Ring! Are you looking for something unique? (QLD), AD 169 > Pearl & Diamonds Ring (QLD), AD 168 > Gorgeous Green - Huge Tourmaline & Diamonds Ring! (QLD), AD 164 > SPECTACTULAR 18kt yellow gold 5 diamond ring (1.05ct) (VIC), AD 162 > 2.03ct Princess Cut Diamond Ring (NSW), AD 160 > Princess cut Diamond ring (VIC), AD 158 > Opal and Diamond Ring (QLD), AD 156 > Square Diamond Ring (NSW), AD 155 > Stunning handcrafted diamond engagement ring (QLD), AD 153 > Elegant womens diamond engagement ring (NSW), AD 152 > 18 carat White Gold Princess Cut Diamond Ring - NEW (NSW), AD 151 > Handmade Stunning Men's Dress Ring Garnet and Diamonds (QLD), AD 146 > DIAMOND SAPHIRE TWO-TONE 18ct WHITE GOLD RING (QLD), AD 141 > STUNNING BAGUETTE DIAMOND LEAF RING (QLD), AD 140 > 1 Carat Brilliant cut J S1 diamond tiffany style ring (NSW), AD 138 > BEAUTIFUL 2CT LOOSE EMERALD (QLD), AD 131 > Ladies vintage engagement ring (QLD), AD 113 > Stunning Engagement Ring (QLD), AD 101 > Diamond engagement Ring with a round pink diamond (NSW), AD 96 > Engagement Ring, Solitaire diamond, Round Cut in White Gold (WA), AD 56 > Engagement Ring, 18 Karat white Gold, 0.86 Carat Diamond (NSW), AD 54 > Nicholas Pike,9 stone diamond ring (SA), AD 15 > Platinum diamond ring, 2.08 carats, emerald cut diamonds (NSW)

To browse the classifieds and see what others are selling or if you wish to place an advertisement - please click here

HPHT - Coloured Diamonds

What is HPHT?
HPHT stands for High Pressure High Temperature.

Naturally mined white, brown or cape diamonds (which are a fraction of the price of natural fancy coloured diamonds) are put through HPHT technology in a laboratory in order to change their colour to a fancy: PINK, PURPLE, GREEN, ORANGE and YELLOW.
To compare a natural coloured diamond to a HPHT coloured diamond is like comparing frying an egg outside on a brick using the suns heat opposed to frying an egg inside on a gas stove.
Both eggs are still fried eggs and they both came from a Hen, so it’s just the frying process that’s different - and nothing else.
HPHT is simply replicating nature in a laboratory. HPHT coloured diamonds are permanent and irreversible, just like natural coloured diamonds. The diamond was mined from the Earth - but only the colour is changed in a laboratory in a matter of days using HPHT technology, rather than waiting around a million years for the earth to do it.

The Earth had already done it’s bit by creating the natural diamond but the diamond was mined before it had the chance to evolve in a fancy colour - so man just continued natures journey, but accelerated that journey in laboratory controlled conditions.

A HPHT coloured diamond is identical to a natural coloured diamond. It’s a very attractive option because it’s a fraction of the price.
(eg: A 1ct intense purplish pink diamond may sell for around $1000,000. A HPHT purplish pink diamond can cost around $10,000. (100th the price).
So if you’ve always wanted a beautiful pink diamond but can’t afford it or cant’s justify spending the same amount for a diamond as you would spend to buy a nice home - then HPHT is the way to go.

When a diamond’s colour is changed using HPHT it is permanent and irreversible, just like a natural coloured diamond - So colour quality is not compromised.

HPHT coloured diamonds cannot be detected by jewellers and most gemmologists. Only gemmological laboratories using sophisticated equipment and tests may detect that the diamond was coloured using HPHT technology. However it is still so hard to detect (as it’s a fine line determining the difference between HPHT coloured diamonds and natural coloured diamonds.)

HPHT technology is also used to create diamonds in a laboratory.

These diamonds are created in a matter of days in a laboratory, instead of thousands or millions of years in nature. Once created they are rough gem, like in nature when mined. Diamonds created through HPHT have the same weight (specific gravity) and hardness as a naturally mined diamond, so that qualifies them as a diamond but as they are man made they are called "Synthetic" or "Cultured" diamonds. Physically they are as real diamonds but they were created by man instead of nature.

HPHT technology for fine diamonds was invented in the Soviet Union but perfected in the United States.