Buying Gold Jewellery – Buyer Beware

Some of us buy gold jewelry because it looks good, our mom said so, it compliments the color of our skin, its a great possible investment, yaddy, yaddy yah. The reasons are as numerous as the overly honest dealers who would sell you the goods.

I guess I shouldn't skip too quickly over the "great investment theme" because its somewhat important to know that 10 Carat gold all the way up to 18 Carat gold is generally not considered to be great 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 jewelery that is at least 22-24 Carat Gold. The trick, especially in North America and England, is where does one buy 24K Gold?

Most jewelers who don't sell 24 Carat gold are likely to tell you that there is no such thing in jewelry since its too soft for most applications. They do have a point there.

I first started buying gold in the souks of Al Kobar, Saudi Arabia. It was, at one time very cheap there. Then I moved on to the gold souks of Dubai and the other middle east *more* commercial centers. 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.

Truth was, I thought it was 24, but it 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 jewelery shops on both the Hong Kong and Kowloon side. Supposedly, the HK government certifies what they are selling, but these tourists traps have all kinds of interesting motivational 'deals' especially in Kowloon. Anyway, they have certificates claiming they are 99.999% pure, but when I took their stuff to Toronto, I was told oh no, its only 22K not 24.

When I further took their stuff to a reputable goldsmith to melt down, he again informed me that it was only 22.5 to 23 Carats Gold purity. I keep thinking about how embarrassing it would be to pull out one's own little gold volume/weight measurement tool in one of those massive elite stores and proudly if not loudly proclaim that their 99.999% gold isn't truly what it claims to be - I am also imagining that one would be set on by police for creating a disturbance.

And I know someone else will post and tell me that they are from HK and the govt certifies these big shops blah blah but I have purchased big items 4 times 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 )

Lesson learned, when buying gold from a store don't ever fully 100% trust your seller or your buyer because the value of the metal is so high, understand that if they 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.

Some might respond and say, but you still got 22 Carat right? Truly the answer is "Yes I did", even if I thought I was paying for 24. And further, now that I know that it is really 22.5 Carat necklaces and bracelets that I am buying and not 24 like they say, I would dicker the price down with the true understanding of what I am getting.

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

If what you are looking to purchase is 14 Carat or below, ignore everything above, 14 Carat is not investment quality anyway.

Wear it, enjoy it, don't lose it and have fun.