I talked about recycling, now I going to give some thoughts about up-cycling. A lot of people go to yard sales, auctions, thrift stores and give second or even third life to furniture, clothes, toys, dishes and so on. On the bigger scale cars even homes are fixed or renovated and passed from one owner to another. It makes a lot of sense and even wealthiest people buying used.

Shouldn’t be the same when it comes to jewelry? I definitely think so. As an owner of Tecumseh Gold Exchange I buy a lot of jewelry that is simply scrap but sometimes people bring pieces that have never been used or used very seldom and gently. It is a shame to melt such jewelry, a real waste. For some reason term “used jewelry” rubs ladies wrong way. Try to give a girl used diamond engagement ring and watch out boy when she finds out. They think its bad karma to get somebody’s else ring. The bad luck will strike again because of the ring. Makes a lot of sense, right? Wrong!

When guy goes on a hunt for that perfect shiny ring, and finds it, he cringes, grinds teeth and spends, lets say $7000 at a “fine” jewelry store on that brand new ring. So he thinks, so she expects.

Jewelry always has been recycled. So more than likely, the gold and diamonds in your brand new ring already has been part of jewelry before. Some jewelry stores will sell you refurbished ring as brand new, and nobody is able to tell the difference. Diamonds are so hard that they don’t get scratches, dents, they don’t fade, they look exactly the same the day they were cut, and after 30 years of everyday wear. Gold, on the other hand, gets scratched and dented easily. But a little buff and polish makes it looks like new.

That $7000 could be cut in half or even more if the bride to be would consider accepting a used ring. That’s major savings could be used toward the honeymoon, just imagine where else you can spend that savings. Or if you use credit how much less you have to pay back. If you buy from from a person, not from business, you even save on taxes.

The ring pictured as the main image for this post was sold online for $800. That’s a huge savings for the lucky new owners. It even came with wedding band and engagement ring. Keep your mind open and always keep your eyes open for great deals on used jewelry.

Post & Photo by: Andy Nowicki @ Tecumseh Gold Exchange