We buy - Diamonds - Watches - Gold - Jewellery - Silver

Good to know

Mercanti d'Oro has been in the jewellery business since 1910. We are situated n the historical part of Milano, close to the La Scala Theatre. Our main business is purchasing, restoring and selling gold, diamonds, jewellery, silverware and watches.
We provide expertise for each of these areas. We are not simply a "gold-buyer". We are a jewellery centre where a large number of originals and restored items are on exhibit to the public in our gallery, each with its proper price tag. We purchase, based not only on the gold value of an item, but in our estimation, we consider also if there is an important signature, antique value or type of design that adds to the value.

1. How to evaluate a gold object.
2. How to evaluate jewellery.
3. How to evaluate diamonds.
4. How to evaluate perls.
5. Order the manual.

How to evaluate a gold object.

Gold objects are usually market 18 kt (carats), in order to indicate the gold content of the object. This corresponds to 750 parts gold in 1000 parts of alloy.
An object produced in series or without artistic aspiration is weighed and valued at its gram value. If the object has been produced manually, can be considered art work, has a specific history or has any other type of added value, we will still weigh it but will also consider these other factors. We buy not only the gold part, put look at the entire piece of jewellery at hand.

How to evaluate jewellery.

When evaluating jewellery, there is first the basic value of the metal concerned, wether it is silver, gold or platinum. The weight indicates the value of the metal in itself. Following that, a value is assigned to any precious stones which are present in the jewellery piece.
Finally, the various estimated values are added up to give the current value of the object.
METAL + PRECIOUS STONES

When the object is very old, or has a signature such as "Van Cleef and Arpels" (A French fashion house founded in 1896 by Salomon Arpels e Alfred Van Cleef), this adds an entirely different value.
A “Fabergè” egg for example, that may cost incredible millions of euros, is not put on the scale to be weighed. This means that the actual value of an object can be significantly increased by the metal content, the content of precious stones, as well as by the design itself.

It is equally true that, even if an object has been signed by a prestigious firm, such as "Bulgari", "Cartier", "Boucheron" or any other renowned firm, but is still an object that has been produced in series, even with the famous brand name, it remains an object produced in series.
In such a case, the design value lies solely in the pleasure of wearing the object.

To illustrate what is jewellery, we can use the genius of Fulco di Verdura (Palermo 20 marzo 1898 – Londra 1978. famous Italian jewellery maker), as an example, or the centrepieces or a sacred chalice in gold by Alfredo Ravasco (jewellery maker from Milano in early 1900), (a chalice which the priest uses for the holy comunion).

It is not taste, that establishes the value of an object. It is the aesthetic quality, the artwork, the quality of communication expressed through the ability of the jeweller in creating an effect that will make an emotional impact in the onlooker.

Il valore non è stabilito dal gusto, a volte ci sentiamo dire "Ma questo non lo metterei mai!" Non è di questo che stiamo parlando, metterlo o non metterlo, se piace o non piace.

The aesthetic value comes from the way the gold is made to harmonise with the gem stones. This is what makes it jewellery.

Whether the object will appeal to an individual person, is sometimes not relevant. Perhaps you have heard someone say that they don't like Picasso, or someone commenting negatively on a painting in a museum when you were looking at a painting by Rembrandt, "I would not want to have this painting in my house". That illustrates that each and everyone of us have our different tastes.

We estimate the value of jewellery that you bring us, and if you are interested in selling it, then we buy it.

Every object has a commercial value, at which it can be sold.
The harder it will be to sell the object, the lower its value and vice versa.

Another thing that should not be taken too lightly, is that sometimes the understanding of a piece of art will be lacking. Perhaps the person sees no distinction between a chain and a jewel. Being a simple chain, an object may lack artistic value. At the same time it may be true that it is the perfect accessory for a beautiful woman. It may have no value in itself, but the bearer makes it beautiful. Many times, the oject itself is nothing special. It may be the case that the chain has such a wonderful design, that even I get fascinated by its simplicity. The fact remains though, that it is just a chain.

How to estimate the value of a diamond

The characteristics that make it possible to determine the value of a DIAMOND are:

WEIGHT + COLOUR + PURITY + SIZE

COLORE:
The classification of Colour is indicated by the letters D to Z+
D – E – F – G is diamonds that are coloured white or are almost transparent.
H – I – J are diamonds that are o a general commercial grade colour.
K – L are diamonds that are white, but somewhat tinted.
Da M alla Z are diamonds that have a clear yellow or brown colour.

PURITY:
A diamond crystal is considered to be pure when it viewed in 10 times enlargement and has no imperfections. The stone should be transparent. The value of the stone will decrease if there are evidence of white or black spots or other inclusions.

SCALE OF PURITY FOR DIAMONDS:

IF – VVS 1/2 – VS 1/2 – SI 1/2 – P 1 – P 2 – P 3

IF = Internally Flawless = Entirely without imperfections at an amplification of 10X.
VVS 1 / 2 = Very Very Slight = Inclusions that are very difficult to see when aplified 10x.
VS 1 / 2 = Very Slight = Inclusions that are difficult to see when aplified 10x.
SI 1 / 2 = Slightly Imperfect = Inclusions that easily can be viewed, when aplified 10x.
P 1 / I 1 – P 2 / I 2 – P 3 / I 3 = Imperfect = Inclusions or defects wich may be viewed easily with the naked eye.

How to determine the value of a pearl.

Pearls are small miracles of nature. Theyn are a very special cration.
In nature exists more or less 20.000 different species of pearl producing shellfish. The high quality pearls, however, which are used in jewellery, come only from the family Pteridae, belonging to the genus Pinctada.

The most important types of perls are:

Pearls from the Japanese sea. They originate from all along the Pacific Coast and are pearls of a magnitude up to 10 mm.
Australian pearls. They come from the mothern coast of Australia and from the Suthern Seas. These are pearls, between 10 and 16 mm in size.
Polynesian pearls. They originate from all across Polynesia and are of greyish-black colour. Their size varies between 10 to 16 mm.

Commercially, pearls are divided in three different categories:

NATURAL: Entirely produced by the inclusion into the shellfish of marine larvae, parasites, fragments, and, rarely, grains of sand, without any human intervention.
CULTIVATED: Produced by shellfish after the insertion of a nucleus of mother of pearl, with human intervention.
IMITATIONS: Entirely synthetic, produced with a nucleus of glass or mother of pearl being immersed in chemical baths.

Factors for evaluation of the quality:

The commercial value of a pearl, whether natural or cultivated, is based on seven different and fundamental criteria.
DIMENSION: The diameter of the pearl is measured with a precision gauge.
FORM: A pearl can be formed with holes, be semi round, irregular (baroque), semi-irregular (semi-baroque), fantasy, pear, teardrop, oval or stick shaped.
SURFACE ASPECT: External characteristics, cracks, scratches and colour smudges on the surface of a pearl, may adversely affect its commercial value.

COLOUR: The examination of colour is essential for a proper assessment of pearl and must be viewed from two aspects, base colour and nuance.

• Pink pearl, with a pink nuance
• White pearl, with a pink nuance
• White pearl with a pink/green nuance
• Cream coloured pearl with a pink nuance
• White pearl with a green nuance
• Cream coloured pearl with a green nuance
• Yellow pearl

Degree of colour constancy:

The colour should be uniformly distributed across the surface of the entire pearl and be equal for all pearls on a thread. This can be good, fair or poor.
LAYER THICKNESS: The thickness of the mother of pearl layer can be sufficient, medium, thin or insufficient.
ORIENT: This is a suit of phenomena, among them: Refraction, reflection and dispersion è un insieme di fenomeni quali: rifrazione, riflessione e dispersione.
This can be excellent, good, fair or poor.