Many families are selling fine jewelry during estate cleanouts after discovering that small items tucked around the house can quietly add up to thousands of dollars.
Don’t let your jewelry sit around like couch potatoes — sell it!
At Orion’s Attic, we regularly walk into homes where clients are focused on furniture, antiques, artwork, and the overwhelming logistics of clearing out an entire property.
Meanwhile, jewelry often gets pushed off to the side.
Sometimes it’s sitting in old dresser drawers. Other times, it’s buried inside boxes or sewing kits. Sometimes it’s scattered throughout the house in little dishes, cabinets, closets, or purses that haven’t been opened in years.
And sometimes, it adds up to real money.
A Silver Spring Client Nearly Donated Thousands of Dollars
A client in Silver Spring was preparing to move to a smaller home and paid very little attention to her costume jewelry collection.
Like many people, she focused on the “real” jewelry and assumed everything else was donation material.
As we worked through the house, we gathered costume jewelry from multiple rooms and consolidated everything in one place so it could be properly evaluated.
Junk-covered dresser turns up almost $3,000 worth of costume jewelry. Orion’s Attic buys costume jewelry in large quantities.
The final result surprised everyone.
The costume jewelry alone sold for more than $2,900.
In addition, a smaller group of fine jewelry pieces from the same project brought another $7,900.
“What fun news to get this morning,” the client told us after receiving her check. “Thank you so much!”
A Columbia Estate Cleanout Led to a $20,000 Surprise
We recently saw something similar during an estate cleanout in Columbia.
The client understood going in that there wasn’t much in the home we could realistically sell. The market for antiques — and most traditional furniture outside of authentic Midcentury Modern pieces — remains soft.
Most of the contents were headed toward donation.
But while working through the house, we noticed several diamond rings with gold bands and a few other pieces of fine jewelry and asked a simple question:
“Are you planning to keep these?”
She said no. She rarely wore them anymore and didn’t think they were worth very much.
A short time later, we handed her a check for more than $20,000.
That kind of moment happens more often than people realize.
Costume Jewelry Gets Overlooked All the Time
One of the biggest misconceptions we encounter is the idea that jewelry only matters if it’s solid gold or contains diamonds.
Best place to sell my costume jewelry, you ask? Orion’s Attic buys it, along with sterling silver jewelry as in this tray.
That’s simply not true.
Certain costume jewelry makers, vintage signed pieces, rhinestone jewelry, designer brands, and large grouped collections can carry meaningful value when properly identified and handled.
We regularly see people almost donate:
- Vintage costume jewelry.
- Gold jewelry.
- Sterling silver flatware.
- Coin collections.
- Watches.
- Broken gold chains.
- Single earrings.
- Jewelry boxes full of mixed pieces.
People are often shocked by how quickly small items can add up.
Estate Liquidation Means Looking Carefully at Everything
At Orion’s Attic, one advantage of a full-service estate liquidation and home cleanout is that we’re looking carefully at the entire contents of a property — not just the obvious headline items.
That broader approach often helps clients uncover value they didn’t realize was there.
As part of our estate liquidation and home cleanout services, we regularly help clients evaluate and sell both fine jewelry and costume jewelry collections discovered throughout a home.
We also purchase fine jewelry, gold, silver, coins, and sterling flatware even when we are not providing estate liquidation or cleanout services.
In some cases, we also purchase costume jewelry collections when there is sufficient quantity and quality of material.
Gold and Silver Prices Have Changed the Conversation
One thing many people don’t realize is how dramatically gold prices have risen over the past several years.
Even a relatively small amount of unwanted gold jewelry can add up surprisingly quickly.
That’s especially true during downsizing situations, inheritances, or estate cleanouts where people are already sorting through decades of accumulated belongings.
Contact Us if you’re in Montgomery County, Washington, or Northern Virginia and want help with selling fine jewelry, gold, silver, coins, sterling flatware, or even larger costume jewelry collections, Orion’s Attic can help guide you through the process from start to finish.
Related Reading
Why now is the time to sell gold and silver in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Learn more about liquidating estates in our Estate Liquidation and Downsizing Guide.
About Orion’s Attic
Orion’s Attic is a full-service estate liquidation, downsizing and home cleanout company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We also buy antiques and collectibles, fine jewelry, gold, silver and sterling flatware. We serve Montgomery County (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Olney, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Wheaton, etc.), Baltimore County, Frederick County, Howard County, Prince George’s County, and the greater metro Washington D.C., Maryland, Northern Virginia) area. Our company helps individuals, families, executors, and trustees sell gold, silver, fine jewelry, and sterling silver with confidence, transparency, and speed. If your goal is to sell gold and silver quickly, safely, and at today’s market price, Orion’s Attic is ready to help. We also buy mountains of costume jewelry.
Now in our 15th year in business, Orion’s Attic completes more than 100 full-home estate liquidation and cleanout projects each year — working on-site nearly every weekday.
