Best shops for real gold (not plated!) jewellery

[Donewithrenovating]

After years of being skint, I see a period in a few months where I might be able to treat myself to jewellery (this may be wishful thinking but the browsing will be fun).

What I want and everyone else seems to have is plain simple gold jewellery- like nice Huggies that aren’t absolutely tiny, a simple necklace that isn’t spider-web thin thus destined to snap on the second wear (looking at you, Sezane).

Also have a jewellery box full of pretty but now pointless greying gold plated stuff so would rather just buy proper stuff slowly.

Any suggestions?

Hi - could you tell us the seller? They look great! Thank you

@amarante Bonds of Chester. They sell jewelry on eBay I will find you a link and you can look under 'Sellers Other Items'.
This is for a sapphire ring.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364334335636?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=sehvlaeztmi&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=grn2ux5ht_y&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

You need to scroll right down to the bottom of the page to find 'Sellers other Items'.

I know it’s a long way away, but my DiL and I have both had fabulous jewellery from Orofino, Cyprus: https://www.facebook.com/orofinojewellery

The owner designs and makes her own stuff, and will make things to order.

Glad I found this thread as there are great recommendations - thanks OP and everyone!

@caringcarer love that you treat yourself for your success and your pieces are fab. I’m coveting the earrings - I have my late mother’s engagement ring which is almost identical and I didn’t realize how much I’d love earrings or a pendant in a similar style. I’ll be poring over vintage jewellery sites now!

I have had some of my mother’s very clunky 1980s gold jewellery remade into something that I wear every day now. It is worth looking into bespoke jewellery, too.

I follow a bunch on vintage sellers on insta and have become a bit obsessed! I ended up buying a really nice amethyst gold ring for my 40th from a seller on Instagram, called @ loupvintagejewels
she has a mix of stuff, some is quite high end but the ring I got is 18ct and lots cheaper than if I bought in a shop. She also negotiated on the price.
I found lots of places like Monica vinader etc is just fancy plated stuff and teeny diamonds.
there are loads of good vintage gold sellers on insta, I’ll try and dig out the names.

I got these from Monica Vinader this week, they are vermeil but MV do solid gold pieces too - https://www.monicavinader.com/nura-pebble-huggie-earrings/gold-vermeil-nura-teardrop-huggie-earrings-gold

Also recently discovered Dinny Hall and they have some lovely bits!

My fave jeweller is Sheila Fleet, she’s from Orkney. This ring is next on my list! https://sheilafleet.com/products/celtic-trilogy-diamond-ring-in-9ct-yellow-gold-9y-dr156?_pos=6&_sid=5d59c0f27&_ss=r

Oh also heard good things about Mejuri https://mejuri.com/gb/en/

Second Zohreh V and Astley Clarke. The huggies from AC are beautifully made and very secure,strong ‘click’ fastenings. I never take them out.

I wear 14ct or 18ct solid gold earrings. I tend to go for Maria Tash, Alex Monroe, and BVLA.

I’ve got lots of gold I don’t wear any more, old earrings and necklaces from the 90’s. Perhaps having them melted down and something made is the way to go.

I inherited a beautiful 18ct gold Catholic medal pendant & chain with a 1934 date from a family friend.. I do wear it sometimes but all my other 'gold' jewellery is plated unfortunately.
I would love some real gold jewellery.

Zohreh is amazing!
Also loving the ebay recommendations.

@itsmyusername24 I'd love the names of those eBay sellers too please if you have a moment!

I have some great and very comfortable/secure huggies from Goldsmiths - I think they were £75 about 6 months ago, now £100 😳

I'm also in the market for recs for solid gold pendant necklaces - I'd like something that isn't round (otherwise it looks too matchy-matchy with my earrings) and is fairly small and delicate. Ideally under £150 max. (Has anyone used Wild Fawn Jewellery? I saw a nice crescent pendant on there but never heard of it.)

I've also had nice gold stud earrings from here: https://www.lucysymonsjewellery.com/collections/necklaces?page=5

but most of her stuff seems to be silver at the mo.

I’ve looked at some of these suggested, and I can’t believe the prices 😱

Find an independent jewellers. There are parts of the U.K. that have 'gold quarters or 'diamond districts' with loads of independent jewellers and craftsmen trading in a very small area. I have been to The Lanes in Brighton, Hatton Garden in London and the Diamond District in Birmingham but I'm sure there must be others.

with dozens of traders working side by side you can see designs and styles not available in the high st and they are often very competitive with one another which makes them flexible on price.

it can be intimidating at first but most independent jewellers I've been to are very passionate about their products and eager to help you find exactly the right thing. One lady in Brighton even let me swap a pair of diamond earrings I'd bought the week before just because I went off them! She recognised it was a lot of money to me (not to her, they were probably the cheapest earrings in the shop) and wanted me to be happy. It's a great policy -they will sterilise the unwanted earrings for resale in the onsite workshop so there is no loss to them and I am praising them to the sky to everybody I know.

I buy the vast majority of my jewellery from antique shops or auctions.

https://www.easyliveauction.com has a lot of reputable jewellers and you can set up alerts for things of particular interest. Currently I’m after some gold bamboo hoops after securing a gold bamboo bracelet last year.

@Middleagedmeangirls

One lady in Brighton even let me swap a pair of diamond earrings

this is one of the reasons why I love antique jewellers. I’ve always been able to part exchange previous purchases for the price paid (or more) for other pieces. Great if your find something isn’t as wearable as you anticipated.

I like the Gold Reserves website, they sell pre-owned jewellery really reasonably. They're based in Wales but post. I live on the south coast and have had a few bits from them. Had to do a return once (didn't like the item in person) and it was no problem at all to get a refund. Highly recommended.

A lot of what you see on people is probably gold coloured stainless steel. I have a few pieces now and they are so much better than the older plated stuff. Some brands that do these are D.Louise and Hey Harper. Obviously nothing like the amazing real gold but I really like them as a more affordable option especially for earrings.

All the gold jewellery at Element Isle is solid gold and not gold plated: https://elementisle.com/pages/gold-jewellery

I always wonder how much it costs nowadays to get a piece made. Nothing fancy. Just a solid bangle or something substantial that the jeweller no doubt has a mould for already.

I had one once which I had to sell to pay for a crown on my tooth. Sad. Wish I could have kept it.

The scrap 9ct gold price is just under £17 per gram now. So if you gather up all your single earrings and broken old chains it might add up to enough to make something new? Don’t know.

PS the valuation you get from a jeweller is significantly more that the piece is realistically worth. Always. Ask how much the jeweller would give you for it to buy it from you today. That’s a more realistic valuation.

I now want everything from here!