Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum

Information and Services in Turkey Section => Good (or Bad) Shop Guide => Topic started by: Jacqui Harvey on September 20, 2010, 23:32:53 PM

Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 20, 2010, 23:32:53 PM
We had a wander up the street in Calis after a meal one evening.  We looked into Onur Jewellery and I bought a nice silver bracelet to take home for my daughter.  I then saw a 9 ct gold baby bracelet and being a new Grandmother I asked to see it.  It had little blue Turkish eyes in it.  I asked  the price, now being in my business I know what gold is making per gram.  The guy weighed it, and I noted it was 4 grams which I calculated would be about £38.00-£40.00  (although I knew the little eyes where not gold but would add to the weight). He told me it was very cheap £100.00.  I was amazed and I told him it was far too much money. He said  it was my Grandchild and I should not worry about the money. I still said it was too much.   He said it was the last price and put it back in the case.  I know I could buy an antique baby bracelet for about half this price in the U.K.   Incidentally, the current gold price for 4 grams is £36.00  ;)
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Scunner on September 20, 2010, 23:40:18 PM
I don't think it is Jacqui, I agree with you. I think it was, very much so, but in the last couple of years most definitely not.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: peecee on September 21, 2010, 05:52:53 AM
Bearing in mind it was only 9ct think I would agree with Jacqui, way too expensive.  Pure gold is around $1279 an ounce at the mo.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: littlereddevil on September 21, 2010, 09:09:16 AM
I didn't realise they sold 9ct in Turkey. All the stuff I have bought over the years has been minimum 14ct.I used to buy loads at good prices but don't bother so much now the prices have gone up.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: stoop on September 21, 2010, 09:44:14 AM
Don't forget £36 is the value of the gold as scrap. Surely you would expect to pay something for the workmanship and the fact he has to make a profit?

We thought gold in Fethiye was very expensive as well but I think it's just a fact of life now that gold is worth much more and you pay extra if you want it to be made into nice jewelery. People will pay £100+ for a Links of London or Pandora silver bracelet which is probably worth around £10 - £15 scrap.

Compared to the UK though Turkey is not cheap for silver or gold jewelery any more.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Scunner on September 21, 2010, 10:00:55 AM
The problem is that it isn't about the price of gold in Turkey, it's about the price of gold compared with the price of gold in the UK. As gold prices go up that differential shouldn't have disappeared, but it has. In fact, the price difference should be even more apparent as prices become bigger numbers. I wonder why the gap has closed, could it possibly be greed? Surely not. Expect to see some gold shops close over the next 12 months.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 21, 2010, 10:59:34 AM
Stoop, I fully expected the shop to make a profit so paying, say £60.00 would have been fine with me, but £100 was just greedy!!
Another point is, British Gold is much higher quality than foreign gold, which is why, at auction a British piece will always make more money.  I always notice, when a Foreign piece comes up at Auction the Jewellery buyers will never bid as much money, they always want to see British Hallmarks on pieces.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Robw on September 21, 2010, 15:48:25 PM
14ct Gold in just under £15 a Gram scrap according to this website

http://www.lois-jewellery.com/Todays%20Prices.htm
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 21, 2010, 16:07:09 PM
This site is for Hallmarked Gold... Turkish Gold is not Hallmarked.
Also the baby bracelet had a lot of little blue eyes in it which were not gold, but were heavy and included in the weight.
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: grahamturner09 on September 26, 2010, 01:29:14 AM
It doesn't really matter what the gold is worth it is the workmanship and the fact it is a shop he has to make a profit you wouldn't go in to furniture store and then complain that the wood and material costs only came to half or a third of what they were selling it for
haveing said that I have a gold watch that is now worth twice the price I paye'd for it in turkey and it makes no difference if it is hallmarked gold is gold
Title: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 26, 2010, 13:23:43 PM
I can tell you there was not a lot of workmanship in this piece, a small gold chain with some blue glass eyes. I would happily have given a profit, but not an over inflated one.
If an item of gold or silver is not Hallmarked in Great Britain, it has to be sold as either Yellow Metal or White Metal by law.  So if you tell an Auction to sell your gold unhallmarked watch as gold they will not do it, because they will be breaking the law.
I also have a gold watch Rotary watch(hallmarked) I paid £175.00 for secondhand two years ago in Scotland.  I had it into a Jewellery shop for a slight repair and was told this watch would cost £900.00 new.  However, being told something is worth a certain price, or even getting an insurance valuation at this price is no guarantee of the price you will get when it's sold.
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Jeannie on July 03, 2012, 17:28:37 PM
My friend had a white gold bracelet made from   Onur's with 8 diamonds in it , she was never happy with it and decided to have it melted down with a lot of other jewellery she didn't wear at a jewellers  I have used for over 20 years here in the UK, when it was done she was told there were only 2 real diamonds in the bracelet!! She was horrified to say the least, while I was there in Calis I confronted the jeweller and he denied any knowledge of it although several people were witness to the order and purchase of the bracelet she was not given any paperwork.
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: ringo on July 03, 2012, 20:02:24 PM
I purchased two wedding ringe in turkey and they are both hallmarked.
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: nichola on July 03, 2012, 22:32:02 PM
I am shocked to hear the story of Jeannie's friend  :o

Doğan says he has heard this sort of story before to which I am doubly shocked  :o  :o to think this may not have just been a one off bad jeweler
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: stoop on July 03, 2012, 22:35:34 PM
I would recommend anyone who intends to buy diamond jewellery to look at the link below and get familiar with the 3 c's. Clarity, Cut and Colour.

Cut usually determines how the stone reflects the light. The deeper the cut the more it does so and the more it costs. Not that easy to check without an eye glass.

Clarity is easy to check. There is a chart which shows what, for example, a diamond with VS1 should look like and explains it in simple terms. Basically if you ask the jeweller to borrow his loupe (eye glass) with a VS1 diamond you should just about be able to see some inclusions (bad - quite often small black marks in the stone but can be clouding also). If you see lots then it is probably a lower grade stone (S1 or I) and you should question the information they are giving you. If you cannot see any inclusions then it's either a flawless stone (which is quite rare and would be reflected by it's high price) or a fake.

Colour is again sometimes personal choice, if, for example you want a champagne or other fancy colour. However the most expensive ones are the ones that appear colourless.

I would recommend taking a copy of the chart with you as well as I have seen doctored ones in Turkey. I once questioned the clarity of a VS1 diamond as it was quite badly included and was at best an SI1 or SI2. The jeweller then showed me a chart which was very different from the official one I had at home.

Personally I would buy a loupe off ebay for about a fiver and practice with your stones at home. It's quite interesting to see the insides of the diamond and you will probably be gob-smacked at how much soap and crap your rings pick up!

ops - forgot the link :-\

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000062973
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: philrose on July 04, 2012, 05:51:34 AM
I think it's also worth noting that in Fethiye gold is a lot more expensive than in other Turkish area's. So if your selling come to Fethiye but if your buying go to Istanbul...
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Carpete on July 08, 2012, 22:38:52 PM
Also check the prices regarding the k of gold. A shop in Fethiye priced me at 90tl  per gram for a 7 gram bracelet (plus a sum for workmanship) which would have been correct  BUT only if the gold was 24 K!!! It was 14 so it was almost half that in reality as 14k was 53 tl. Buyer beware!
I shall stick to the UK for long term security of resale value.
Carpete
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: micky mouse on July 09, 2012, 16:57:12 PM
Not all gold is hall marked infact i recently took two items to the jewellers to prove they were gold by getting a acid test on them proved to be 9ct gold,gave me receite cost £5 per item,so how would i get on if i was to sell them if unmarked gold is sold as yellow or white metal?Also  i recently sold a chain that i purchased in chalis 10years ago paying £200 for it then on ebay 33grams 14k received £802 now thats a good profit in my books although i agree turkish gold is alot dearer than in the uk.
Title: Re: Gold is it a bargain in Turkey?
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on July 09, 2012, 17:39:33 PM
Mickey that was a terrific price from Ebay. If this was a melt price today's live price for 14ct Gold is £19.23 per gram.  This makes £634.9 for 33g. :o
So £802 was wonderful, someone must have bought it to wear and not melt.  Think they will have to keep it a while before it gets to it's gold value.
Must take a look at Ebay when I get my next piece of gold  ;)