[Jewelry making - Article 00389] - Re: [Orchid] Woman Stole $42,000 Ring, Sold It For $140

[Kelley Dragon]

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Amery -

    After 22 years in business, my boss knows that there can be
    'seller's regret', AND there is some requirement of state law that
    demands the 'holding time'. I don'[t think the state law requires 30
    days, though [different requirement for licensed jewelers vs
    pawnbrokers]- I think he does it out of his sense of customer
    relations. [Sometimes boyfriends sell girlfriend's jewelry, and
    girlfriends want to buy it back...there are some social/legal shady
    areas, and he tries to accomodate that.] Every purchase of 'estate'
    jewelry requires the recording of a drivers license and seller's
    phone number. 

    In our area, there are extended families, where the majority are,
    um, not respectable, but one or two are. It's not always easy to tell
    what is truly theft, and what is a family matter. When a girl with no
    job and a tatooed boyfriend comes in twice a week with gold jewelry
    to sell, and they hide the vehicle they arrive in...that's the packet
    that my boss may hold for a year, waiting for the police or a
    straight-arrow relative to show up asking about it. (The sister came
    in to buy back mother's ring and earrings.) Then there's the
    common-law couple who have occasional fallings-out...is it theft when
    one comes in to sell a ring or necklace? 

    In one case this month, he called the police about a sale he thought
    was 'hot'. Yes, it was. The police took his statement, got a DVD of
    the video camera recordings, and called the victim in to identify her
    jewelry. But the woman would not press charges against her
    granddaughter. No charges, therefore no 'theft'. 

    None of the above involved diamonds and platinum, however. But if it
    doesn't sit right with my boss, he will not send off the rings for
    scrap. And in the buying mode of high-value items, he gently gives
    the seller the 3rd degree, to evaluate how their story matches up
    with the circumstantial evidence. 

    Besides, who in the jewelry business would be so stupid as to not
    realize that the scrap purchase value of a platinum ring with
    diamonds is only worth $140? [Do the math on the spot price of
    platinum in a standard ring, and the value of even an eye-clean
    diamond(s)...it's much more than $140, even with a substantial
    buyer's discount...what's that tell you about the jeweler?]
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