Dollivers and Diamonds

There was a brisk struggle among the Ds today as they fought to be the one chosen to take a trip to the jewelry store. I explained I was not buying diamond tiaras for use in watching the upcoming Royal Do, but they insisted that any trip to see jewelry was bound to work out well. In fact I was, as I told them, just selling a few scrap broken chains and pins from the bottom of the jewelry box, in search of a bit of spare cash.

Blonde D won the contest, since she was a) blonde, and everyone knows about blondes and diamonds and she was b) the only D currently wearing a silk dress and c) she already had her best handmade hat on. The others gave way on being assured that everyone will get a Wedding Outfit for the Big Day. Collars for the dogs, too? yes, yes, okay, just let's get out of here.




She selected the photo location, pointing out that it was really a biographical choice, and good things could come of this. I did get a bit of change back from the bits of chains, and had a great time with the jokesters at the store, who kept up an interesting patter while I observed how they test the gold, examine the silver markings and weighed and calculated based on the gold and silver spot prices and what they needed out of it.

Sid said, yes this is good scrap, real stuff, and it's a good time to sell. Well, these were bits left from my old antique sales days, so I knew what I was selling. Which is a great line for the seller to hear, that it's a good time to sell, despite the fact that it must also have been a good time to buy, or he would suddenly have no need right now...

It's surprising how you might have a nice bit of mad money lying around useless like this. One little trick I used to do when I went to auctions was to now and then buy up a box of mixed costume jewelry and other bits and bobs, which nobody much was interested in, most buyers wanting something they can recognize.

Then on the way home I'd stop at a jeweler's and turn over anything sterling or gold for spot cash. Not much cash, but heck, if you pay a dollar for a box of stuff and it yields thirty or more on the way home, that's not bad.

Those fun bits were few and far between in the world of buying and selling antiques,which contains more study and work and disappointment than most people might realize, but they're a nice memory, all the same. I felt as if I were retreading my own old footsteps today, asking the jeweler to make sure the cash was dry from the copying machine before he gave it to me.