Have you encountered a jewelry dealer whose prices seem so
low they are almost too good to be true? Or one whose supply seems to increase
dramatically overnight but cannot disclose the provenance of any piece? Do you wonder how “Cash for Gold” operations
pop up everywhere and then stay in business?
The (unfortunate) answer: theft.
Theft is not just in the news, in the sketchy areas of town, or a
plotline of Law and Order – it happens in antique malls, estate sales and even
your own home. Need further evidence?
Consider my routine sighting of the Magical Maids:
Almost every day (at lunch or in the evening), a van opens
in the parking lot of our antique mall.
Out pop several Maids, with conspicuously bulging aprons. These women enter the mall and go directly to
the jewelry dealer. Have they become
alchemists on the side? Do they have trust funds but satisfy their obsessive
need for cleanliness with a side job?
Unfortunately (for them and us), the answer to those (admittedly absurd)
questions is no.
 |
| The Alchemist. Engraving by Peter Bruegel the Elder, ca. 1525-1569. Photo from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
The jewelry dealer does not ask questions, does not log
descriptions of the pieces being purchased and does not pay much. Yet the Maids (and other Unexpected Alchemists)
keep coming back. It is known to all in the mall that the Magical Maids are
selling the dealer gold, silver and gemstones.
It should also be known by all in the mall that they are not coming
across these pieces in periodic cleanouts of their own jewelry boxes.
While it always stood out to me, and certainly put the
integrity of the jewelry dealer in question, it was only recently that I
learned the mall has been a front for major gold buying for years. At the most reputable gold buyer in the area,
a description identical to the one written above yielded an immediate “I know
where your mall is.” Indeed, all it took
was a county name and a high volume of questionable precious metal transactions
for the expert to identify the business.
In fact, he had been aware of the questionable (and illegal) movement of
gold through the mall even under several previous owners, and had personally turned
down one prior owner’s large quantities of Magic gold.
What can you take from this true story:
1)
Check your jewelry boxes and put rarely used
expensive and/or family pieces in a safe or safety deposit box. There are people welcomed into your home who
have sticky fingers – some may be employed by you, some may not be.
2)
If buying jewelry (or any high-end item) at a
shop, ask questions about that piece and the dealer’s sources. The last thing you want is to buy a “hot”
piece of jewelry that is later tracked down by the police and reclaimed.
3)
If you are having your own estate sale, secure
any jewelry of worth in a case or out of sight.
Show it to prospective buyers one at a time. Take it to several established and accredited
jewelers to learn about it, and get price quotes. If you consider selling it yourself online,
beware of the potential for returns -there are horror stories of mailing out
genuine stones and receiving a return in which the stones have been replaced by
CZ and lab-generated fakes.
4)
Final disclaimer: I have nothing against maids,
nor am I accusing all maids of being thieves, or of being of such questionable
moral character that theft would be a possibility. This tale was meant to illustrate one
instance of “things the dealer doesn’t want you to know”, the need for
collectors and heirs to secure (and insure) their collections, and the
importance of asking questions about where a piece came from – and not just
because you happen to be a history buff.
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