What Do You Buy?
At Sell Your Gold we buy any item containing diamonds or precious metals such as gold, silver or platinum. Our four main categories are jewelry, watches, diamonds, and precious metals (including coins, too). We currently do not buy gold or silver plated item.
| Jewelry | Watches | Diamonds | Precious Metals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watches, bracelets, chains, necklaces, earrings, rings | Men's and Women's Watches: Rolex, Breitling, TAG Heuer, Tiffany & Co., Piaget, etc. | Wedding rings, engagement rings | All gold, platinum, silver |
| Platinum and silver jewelry | Pocket Watches: Cartier, Elgin, Gruen, Patek Philippe, etc. | Earrings, bracelets, necklaces | All American Eagles |
| Designer and non-designer | Loose diamonds | All commemorative coins | |
| Estate jewelry | All cut, color, clarity, carat size | All collectible coins |
When you send your items in to our secured facility there are a couple different ways we will examine and test your items.
We test with Acid:
Gold is a "noble metal," which means it's resistant to corrosion, rust, and, yes, acid. Typically, when testing a metal you will rub the purported gold item on a black stone — because gold is soft, it will leave a mark on the stone. We will also do this when testing platinum and silver items. Acid is then applied to see if the small streak of gold remains. The more pure the metal the stronger the acid will have to be to dissolve it. Nitric acid is used to test for 14k or lower. Aqua regia and a mixture of nitric acid will be used to treat more pure metals. You can do this at home by purchasing an acid testing kit, but there is no need if you are sending in your items. We will do this all for you with our expert jewelry staff.- We look for Hallmarks:
Most precious metal items, including both coins and jewelry, will include a stamp of some sort built right into the metal to tell you the purity of the metal contained therein. There are a few different ways to find these:- For many gold coins, the stamp is usually on the front face.
- In rings and bands, look for a stamp on the inside of the ring. (Hint: you may need to use a magnifying glass for this, so find that old "Junior Detective" kit.)
Look for the letter "K," as this designates the Karat, or purity, of the gold. Karat is measured up to 24K.
XRF Machine:
Lastly, we will test your items using our cutting edge technology, the XRF machine. The XRF is short for "X-ray Fluorescent" analyzer. The X-ray emitted interacts with the atoms inside the gold, which in turn feeds back information to the X-ray itself. Because the X-ray can then "recognize" the individual signatures of particular atoms thanks to their properties, you can then tell whether you are dealing with gold or another type of metal. This process works because gold is a physical element, and like all elements, it is the simplest form of matter before you start breaking down the atom itself. This gives it the unique properties you associate with gold — also some unique properties in its atoms that differentiate it from other substances.