Jblundells, Author at JBlundell & Sons

Posted on 28 September 202121 September 2022 by Jblundells

I have £50k budget, how should I invest in gold?

One of the frequent questions we get asked is which gold bar should a customer buy? Well, it really depends on your investment budget and individual needs. However, usually people are looking to invest in gold over a longer term than bitcoin or shares or safeguard against inflation and such, what that means is you don’t want a temptation to sell gold too early or get locked into selling a kilo bar worth £40-£50k to release say, just £5k worth of cash!

If you have a investment budget of say £40- £50k you could easily buy 1KG bar, however it might be good to buy a 500gm bar that you wouldn’t easily be tempted to sell and buy a 250gm with 2X100gm and a 50gm bar. Tip is to diversify in terms of weight, so if you have a short term cash deficit then you don’t have to break a big bar of 1kg, you could just sell a 100gm or 250gm bar to get through a short term situation.

You could buy 10X100gm bars, however there smaller the bar more it costs per gram and also it could make it a little too convenient to sell something that you wanted to keep over a longer term. Again it depends on what your individual needs are, there are plenty of customers who choose this option as well and they do get a volume discount when bulk buying.

Another option is to get a secured loan against a gold bar, you should get 70% to 80% LTV ratio and may be the interest spent is worth not loosing an investment asset. J blundell and Sons offers both, we buy your gold and we give out loans against gold, please check out the ‘Borrow’ which covers loans in detail.

Hope this was helpful.

Advice above is generic and you should consult a financial advisor who can advise you about your individual needs.

Posted on 12 February 202112 February 2021 by Jblundells

Tips on How to sell scrap Gold in Hatton Garden

Selling or Buying Gold in London’s Hatton garden can sometimes be a little overwhelming, so here are a few easy tips to get you the best deal.

If you are in the Trade of jewellery, then let the shop know by showing a copy of company certificate. A visiting card is not enough.
Don’t let someone off the street approach you and suggest a shop. Strict NO! You don’t where the lead you and if someone is standing on street approaching people then obviously they will take a commission out of the transaction.
Check prices between (at least) two shops before you decide to sell
Check rates of scrap gold before hand by visiting different websites
Check prices on the day and make sure you are getting that day’s rate as advertised.
Although, the transaction value is high in this trade but margins are very low. Selling price difference between an individual and a trading company is about 5p per gram, so don’t embarrass yourself by asking a few pounds over the rate.
If you are selling in Hatton garden to a reputable shop then they would have modern technology to test your gold before buying
A reputable shop would not insist on paying you cash, they would happily do same day bank transfers

You could use your old jewellery to buy investment gold. Ask the shop they can sell you Gold Bullion in Bars or Coins.

A reputable shop would have one of these XRF analysers to assay your gold

Posted on 21 September 20205 July 2021 by Jblundells

How to sell unwanted gold and jewellery

It can be a daunting experience when you are trying to sell your unwanted gold, silver or any precious metal jewellery, so we have compiled a quick list for you to get best and fair price.

Understand what is your jewellery made of, for example is it gold, platinum, silver or palladium? You can use British hallmarks guide to ascertain metal and carat (fineness). You may use London assay office’s guide for this.
Don’t be afraid of shopping around. It is best practice to call 3 to 4 gold buying shops to ask what they are paying per gram on that day. Precious metals trade live and the price paid changes everyday, some shops pay on London fix for the day and some pay on live prices. Some shops make it easier for the customer by putting prices on their website. Generally, you can trust the shops that make information clear and transparent to you. When calling these shops ask them a few questions, for example “What are you paying for fine gold and 9 carat gold per gram today?” And “Are there any other charges when selling jewellery”
Compare prices with a quick internet search, you can get live gold prices. As a rule of thumb, you should get between 90% to 97% percent of market price. Say, you just found that the current price of Fine (24carat) gold is £50 per gram, then you should get between £45 to £48.5 per gram.
Carry identity documents, usually shops would ask for a photo ID and proof of address and you would obviously need to be above 18 years of age.
Be prepared for good news and bad news, because jewellery is made in different carats (fineness) it is not always easy to identify which carat jewellery is made of, especially for someone who is not in the trade. Also, depending on origin of jewellery, where trademark practices are not be as stringent as UK, it may mean that an item has a 22 carat stamp but, instead its made of 20 or 21 carat. Or you may think that an item is 9 carat and it actually is 14 carat or 18 carat, which means you would get more money back. Whichever the case a good gold buyer will talk you through the process of assaying your item.

When selling jewellery, remember that buyer is only buying the precious metal content and hence would not pay for money invested in ‘making’ of the item, any stones, wires or enamel.

And if you don’t want to part with your jewellery but need some money, you can always get a secured loan against it. Check out our pawnbroking and buyback services.

Hope this helps! If you have any questions drop a comment below.

Posted on 1 September 20205 July 2021 by Jblundells

How is price of gold jewellery calculated?

It is one of the most frequently asked questions and quite possibly one of the key misunderstanding in valuation of gold jewellery!

Gold trades live on the market and its price is usually represented as £ per troy ounce of fine gold.

Each ounce has 31.1035 grams and fine gold is 99.9999% pure, hence if gold is trading at say £1,450 per troy ounce then 1 gram of fine gold would be £1,450 / 31.1035 X 99.999% = £46.61 per gram.

You can use this handy web calculator to calculate price of gold in each carat.

Gold jewellery is made in different carats (that is purity or % of fine gold by weight) usually being 9 carat, 14 carat, 18 carat or 22 carat.

Table below shows usual carats in % of fine gold,

Carat	% of Gold
9	37.5%
14	58.3%
18	75.0%
22	91.6%

Most common carats in gold jewellery

Gold is valued at 24 carat or 99.999% purity

So if you have jewellery which is 9 carat, then there would be 37.5% of fine gold in it.

Lets say it weighs 10 grams then it would have 3.75gm (10gms X 37.5%) of fine gold. So, if gold price is £1,450 per troy ounce today then your jewellery would be valued as 3.75gm X £46.61/gm = $174.78