The Truth About Some Gold Jewelry Investments
Written by Janice Jopin   
Monday, 17 August 2009 05:06
Many of us purchase gold fashion jewellery because - it looks excellent, our mother said so, it compliments the color of our skin, its a great possible investment, yaddy, yaddy yah. The reasons are as plentiful as the wonderfully honest dealers who would sell you the goods.
by JaniceJopin


Many of us buy gold jewellery because - it looks excellent, our mummy' said so, it compliments the color of our clothes, its a great possible investment, yaddy, yaddy yah. The reasons are as numerous as the wonderfully honest dealers who would sell you the jewellery.

I guess I shouldn't pass too quickly over the "great investment theme" because it is or can be somewhat important to know that "10 Carat gold" all the way up to "18 Carat gold" is not generally considered to be shrewd investment material. It is simply not investment grade, hard assets even if your home insurance covers it in case of theft.

If investment is your reason and you don't want to buy gold bars or certificates, and of course you want to flaunt your investment on your skin during special occasions then go for jewellery that is at least 22-24 Carat Gold. Typically, the areas of the world where stronger than 18 Carat Gold can be purchased are parts of India,Philippines,Hong Kong and the Middle East

Most jewellers who don't sell stronger than 18 Carat gold are likely to inform you that there is no such thing in jewelry since its too soft for most applications. They do have a point there however from experience I can tell you that 22 Carat Gold necklaces of 110 grams have been known to support the pull of a 22 klg child.

I first started buying gold in the souks of the middle east. It was, at one time very cheap there. Later I moved on to the gold souks of Dubai and the other Emerites. Real 24K stuff can be had there - not the 10K worthless stuff sold in england or the 14K **not-to-die-for* stuff sold as gold jewelry in Canada and the United States.

If truth be told, I thought it was 24, but the jewelry was usually only 97-98% pure, but hey, still better than the 14k fluff sold in North America.

Then I found them. These are massive jewellery shops on both the Hong Kong and Kowloon side. They sell fantastic pearl, emerald and exquisitely carved gold pieces. We are told and shown paper that indicates that, the HK government certifies what they are selling, but a few of these tourists traps have all kinds of interesting motivational **deals** especially in Kowloon. Anyway, they have certificates claiming their 24 Carat Gold is 99.999% pure, but when I took their stuff to Toronto, I was told oh no, its only 22K not 24.

I took their stuff to an internationally known goldsmith to melt down, he again informed me that the material was only 22 to 23 Carats Gold purity. I kept thinking about how embarrassing it would be show one's own little gold volume/weight measurement tool in one of those massive elite stores and proudly if not loudly proclaim that the pure piece they were trying to sell wasn't truly pure at all - I am also imagining that one could expect a nice long talk with the local police for creating such a golden performance.

I am expecting a counter plug where someone will say I am from HK and the govt certifies these big shops blah blah but I have purchased big items 4 times in 6 years and each time while trying to sell elsewhere in North America and the UK have been told similar bad news ( Even when I presented the govt stamped HK certificate|It made no difference to the buyers even when presented with the certificate of authenticity which comes with each piece purchased from HK ) Can authenticity certificates be faked? Certainly. Might certain shops fake them? I can't say.

Lesson learned, when buying precious metals in the form of jewelry internationally don't ever fully 100% trust your seller or your buyer because the value of the metal is so high, understand that if either of the two groups can sucker you for even 2-3% of the value, they will, they can and they won't stop - irrespective of govt certifications blah blah blah.

Lesson learned, when buying gold internationally don't ever fully 100% trust your seller or your buyer because the value of the metal is so high, understand that if either of the two groups can sucker you for even 2-3% of the value, they will, they can and they won't stop - irrespective of authenticity proofs blah blah blah.

If your goal is truly for investment and you have no overriding need to put on the bling then buy a certified gold bar from a western based dealer who is very much liable in western courts and has both insurance and liability coverage.

If what your concern is to buy 14 Carat or below, ignore everything above since, 14 Carat is not investment quality anyway.

If you are in HK and hesitating to buy. Don't hesitate, just understand that very rarely ever will a street vendor sell you absolutely 24 Carats, even if he believes that is truly the gold carat. Dicker the purchase price with the knowledge that you're are probably getting substantially more than 22 Carats but is unlikely to be truly 24 Carats. Compare this to the North American or even UK experience where you are most likely being sold only 14 Carats.

So buy it, wear it, enjoy it, don't lose it and have fun.

Information:

Mankind has been buying awe inspiring gold and diamond jewellery almost since the beginning of time. One would think there shouldn't be any of this precious metal left by now, lol. Surprise! There is still lots. Have a look at the best diamond jewelry Rings on the planet.