Collaborative / Partnered Post - My Jewellery Obsession And 4 Things That You Need To Know Before Selling Your Gold Jewellery*

Ever since I was a little girl I've loved jewellery, one of my most treasured memories of my grandma, is emptying out her jewellery drawers and playing jewellery shops with all of her necklaces, bracelets and brooches. I remember being bought the odd thing as a child, but as soon I was old enough, I couldn't get enough of the stuff, and I asked for it as presents, and when I could I bought my own - I don't care whether it's new or vintage, costume jewellery or the real thing, I am a real jewellery obsessive, as you can probably tell from these pictures of just some of my collection.

I am always loathed to get rid of things, but tastes change (clown necklaces anyone?), things get broken, and every now and then sense kicks in and I try and make my collection a little bit more manageable. I'm not one for throwing things away so I usually pass my unwanted pieces on to friends or family, or I take them to the charity shop. You can't give away everything though, so what do you do with those more special but still unwanted pieces, or even necklaces that are tangled or earrings that are broken, well if they're made of gold or any other precious metal, then you can of course sell them.

Selling gold jewellery for cash is still something that's extremely popular with a lot of individuals, especially during the tough economic climate in the UK. This is because gold is still something which is both sort after and valuable, and even though the prices have gone down a bit lately, there is still good money to be made selling your unwanted gold jewellery. I must admit I've actually sold quite a few pieces in the past, as I say tastes change, things break, and sometimes it's better to have the money in your hand rather than sitting unloved in drawer somewhere.

Anything involving money can be a bit of a minefield though, it's better to be safe then sorry, and it's important to think about it long and hard before you make any decisions, so if this is something that you're considering, then there are four important things to consider before you hand over your unwanted gold jewellery for cash.

Selling your gold online can be more profitable...

There are lots of different places whereby you can sell your gold jewellery, such as jewellers, cash for gold stores, kiosks in shopping centres, pawnbrokers and of course via online companies. Although it might seem like the most scary and complicated one, the last option may be the best one because internet stores tend to give you a higher valuation for your gold. The reason for this is because the online world is more competitive. You can easily compare quotes via the internet so companies need to stand out and give you the best price out there.

You can sell gold which is broken or tangled...

A lot of people deter from trying to sell their gold for cash because it is broken or their jewellery is all tangled. People think that this means the company in question will not accept their gold and thus it is worth nothing or very little. However, this could not be further from the truth. The worth of your gold is calculated based on the weight of it and how many carats it is. So, if you have got an old tangled gold necklace and it is broken, you can trade this in so you can buy new jewellery, whether you’ve been brave and recently got a nipple piercing, or a helix piercing or you simply want to add to a new and more on trend piece to your collection.

You should never have to pay for a valuation of your gold...

A lot of people, including some people that I know have unfortunately ended being up tricked by companies who charge them to see how much their gold in worth, either that or they take a valuation fee off the final offer. You shouldn't have to pay money in order to learn how much you can sell your gold for. After all, this defeats the object of selling your pieces in the first place, okay you want to get rid of something but at the same time you also want to make a bit of extra cash. You need to ask for a free quotation; moreover you need to ensure that there are no obligations involved. Make sure that you don't have to go ahead with the transaction just because a company gives you an estimate.

You can receive your cash quickly...

More and more people are turning to selling their gold for cash because of its quick payment solution. This is a much more attractive option in comparison to payday loans and credit card spending. Nevertheless, some people do not realise just how quickly you can receive cash for your gold. It is not a drawn out process like auction websites and alike. Instead you get an instant valuation and once the gold is received , from most buyers you will get your money within 24 hours. This is great because it means that cash for gold can solve problems such as unexpected costs and expensive bills. Just make sure that this is the case and you're dealing with a reputable company who won't leave you hanging and waiting for your money.

As I say even though the price of gold has fallen compared to say a few years ago, it's still something worth considering if you have some unwanted or broken pieces just lying in the drawer and you could do with some extra cash for some home improvements, a holiday or even just to buy some new pieces of jewellery. The key thing is to be careful, make sure you know what you have, and shop around, in my experience the valuations varied dramatically, so get a few different quotes, it might take a bit of time but it will be worth it in the long run. Hopefully this post has given you something to think about, just consider some of the things that I've mentioned, do your research and pick a reputable company and you should be quids in, and you could be ready to add some new pieces to your jewellery collection - I can honestly say that I probably don't need any more jewellery but I don't think that's going to stop me buying more x Are you a jewellery obsessive like me? Let me know in the comments x

*Collaborative / Partnered Post

A Small Jewellery Haul Featuring Iced Rainbow, Dreams And Sparkles And More x

Hey Guys x I'm sorry for the lack of posts this week but over the last few days, I've been a busy bee, attending some blog events, testing products, and taking lots and lots of photographs. I've also had a couple of personal issues this week, some of which you'll know about if you follow me on twitter, so I'd just like to thank you for all of your support and kind words. Onwards and upwards though and nothing lifts my spirits quite as well as a haul does, so I've got a little jewellery haul for you.

One of these days I'll actually get round to do a jewellery collection, and storage post and video but in the meantime you'll just have believe me when I say that I absolutely adore jewellery. I love fine jewellery but my true love is costume, fashion and unusual pieces. A handmade and individual brand that I've been loving a lot lately is Iced Rainbow. I've already posted about a couple of their pieces ( read my posts here and here) and I'm a huge fan of Tom's work but one of his Spring / Summer collection Flare and Flourish is just so me. I already have the Monochrome Retro Daisy Charm Necklace but for summer I wanted something a little bit brighter, I love orange so I went for the Retro Art Daisy Charm Necklace.

In the exactly the same style as my previous necklace the only difference with this one is the colour. Instead of the black and white, here the Swarovski crystal, centred daisies and one of the ovals are in an orange perspex, separated by yellow, cut out perspex discs. I love this necklace it's so happy and summery. The necklace that I got was on a silver plated chain and was £20 but you can also get it on a sterling silver for an extra £10.

Another website that does quirky, and unusual handmade pieces is local North East company Punky Pins. Every month on their website they do a special themed Mega Mystery Pack - Lucky Dip Surprise Bag. You can get either a £10 pack or a £25 pack. As I say the packs are themed and last months theme was cats :). They do a lot of cat themed pieces so I couldn't resist and went for a £10 pack.

All of the packs contain a variety of pieces, usually that were either limited  edition or about to be discontinued. I have to say though my pack was well worth the money, I got a cat themed greetings card two necklaces, a bracelet, some pin badges and some earrings. The most impressive piece by far the Cat Lady necklace.

My pictures aren't really giving you an idea of the size of this but hopefully you can get a better idea when you watch the accompanying video of how substantial this pieces actually is. Made of acrylic on a silver tone, chain, the white background features a cartoon cat illustration.

It don't think that it's a piece that you could wear every day but the other necklace that I received is definitely more wearable. Again on a silver tone chain it features, a small wooden paw print pendant. I think that is really cute and I have a real love for wooden pieces so this is something that I know I'll wear a lot.

As well as the necklaces I also received a charm style bracelet again on a silver chain. This bracelet features a similar to design to both the Cat Lady necklace and the greetings card that I received. I features acrylic, pink cartoon cats, fish skeletons and hearts. I have quite chunky wrists but this is a nice fit.

Sticking with the cat theme I also received a set of 3 pin badges. I think I'm going to put these on my old denim jacket to liven it up a bit for summer.

The final that I got in my pack wasn't that cat themed unless you think of Hello Kitty, but since I have a bit of an obsession with bows I don't mind. These are chunky, pink, and white bow design, stud earrings and I love them :)

Unfortunately none of these pieces seem to be available online any more but the site really does have some unusual and unique pieces so you're bound to find something that you like x

The majority of these pieces are quite bold and there does appear to be a real trend for statement pieces of jewellery at the moment, and it's a trend that I'm loving. My thing at the moment is bright, chunky, statement necklaces and I recently picked up this one from Dreams and Sparkles.

Dreams and Sparkles is an online store set up by one of my fellow North East bloggers, Shannon from Raspberrykiss, and as soon as I saw this necklace I knew that I wanted it. I have a lot of similar pieces but the colours and the size of this necklaces makes it different from anything else that I own x

This Rainbow Diamante Statement Necklace is just £4 and features a variety of bright acrylic stones, and faux crystals on a chunky, silver tone chain. It's a real look at me piece, and I love wearing necklaces like this over a plain top. I wore it this week at a blogger event and I teamed it up just with jeans and over a plain black slinky top.

Statement necklaces really are me at the moment and whilst the recent Next Spring Sale was largely disappointing I did get one jewellery piece. This is one big, heavy necklace, it comes on a black and white, fabric rope and features crystal detailing down the side, and three chunky stations comprised of coral, black, and acrylic stones, and almost smokey quartz like, faux crystals. It lovely, strong and well made but I'm not sure I would have paid £30 for it. I paid £12 but it's back up to £30 both online and in Next stores.

As much as I love statement pieces I still wear a lot of smaller, ditsy pendants and this one here from ebay is something that I've wanted for sometime.

I love natural gemstone pieces, turquoise and howlite and whilst I can't guarantee the authenticity of this piece, I love this alternative take on the sideways cross trend. On a gold tone chain, the pendant is really small and delicate but you get that fabulous pop of colour on the neckline. This necklace was just 99p from this ebay seller.

The final jewellery piece that I've bought lately comes from Avon, and it was another item from one of their sale catalogues. Mounted on a flexible wire this wrap round bangle features smokey, faux crystal stones, coupled with a star charm. Unfortunately I can't find this on the Avon site any more but it might worth having a look in their clearance brochures.

So that was my latest jewellery x To give you a bit more of an idea on the sizes of the pieces please watch the accompanying video and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel.



Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow my blog to keep up to date with my latest posts x

Bangle Bargains

A little while ago Marie Claire offered a set of brass bangles by fair trade jewellery company Made as their free cover gift. I got a set with my copy and I have to say I love them - I have pretty chunky knuckles and a lot of high street bangles just don't fit me - at the time I debated whether to buy more copies of the magazine for more bangles but I thought better of it.

Before my little tumble though I'd been wearing my set quite a lot so I thought I'd have a little look for some more. The retail price of £15 was a bit too much so I had a look on ebay and managed to pick up 3 sets for less than a tenner :) Two of the sets are pictured here but I think I'll be wearing the four sets together for a nice layered look :)