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Buying gold in Turkey, particularly gold jewellery, is gaining huge recognition proper now with the superb conversion price in opposition to the declining Turkish Lira and the capacity for customers to buy immediately from sellers with out a intermediary.
Personally, I’m getting uninterested in losing my cash on low-cost costume jewellery that can begin to tarnish and break simply after 1 or 2 wears. This quick style craze has individuals consuming equipment at an alarming price. What at first looks as if an excellent deal, solely $89 for a pair of gold-plated earrings, turns into such a legal responsibility with how briskly they exit of favor and begin to discolor.
After years of frustration with losing my cash on low-cost jewellery, I made a decision to go on a mission to search out nice offers on gold in one among the most well-known markets in the world, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. My intention was to search out good high quality items for honest costs that may final for many years as an alternative of some seasons.
Below you’ll discover tips about tips on how to discover superb offers on gold, tips to check the purity and authenticity of gold jewellery, and every little thing else I realized throughout my pursuit of high quality gold at the Grand Bazaar in Turkey.
My Hunt For Quality Gold Inside The Grand Bazaar
For this mission, I wanted an insider and gold knowledgeable to assist me. My pal Alyne and I met up with the fourth-generation grasp jeweler, Nurhan Gümüş. This man is aware of his gold, it’s in his blood. His great-grandfather was a gold jeweler in the Grand Bazaar in the 1800s, a occupation his complete household has upheld ever since.
We met Nurhan at the southern Carsikapi Gate that leads into Kalpakcilar Caddesi, the gold jeweler’s highway of the Grand Bazaar. Before we obtained into the nitty gritty of gold buying, he merely took me for a stroll up and down the lined streets so I may get a good suggestion of the immense selection obtainable inside the market. Basically, any sort of silver or gold jewellery you’re on the lookout for, you’ll discover it right here. If you possibly can’t discover it on show, you’ll meet distributors who will custom-make it for you or discover you one thing comparable inside a number of hours.
We spent the complete day inside the market shopping, testing, attempting on, and ultimately shopping for many gold items, together with a classic Rolex, gold earrings, and a gold necklace. I’m going to share each insider secret and tip I realized throughout our time with Nurhan, so you possibly can comply with in my footsteps with your personal Turkish gold buying spree.
Top 6 Tips For Buying Gold Jewelry in the Grand Bazaar
Ok gold lovers – Here’s what it’s essential to know to be an knowledgeable gold purchaser to finest apply all the ideas now we have for you all through this information.
1. Is it Hallmarked? (stamped)
Make certain the merchandise has the applicable karat marking stamp, often known as a trademark.
Examples are:
22k, or 916
18k, or 750
14k, or 585
10k, or 416
This signifies purity and can be a approach of confirming the jewelers’ mentioned particulars.
Best observe: Ask the vendor to point out you the hallmarks on the piece immediately.
2️. Know The Purity (what these hallmarks truly imply)
The purity of gold is decided by karat.
24 Karat gold is 99.9% pure and it descends as you go.
Percent of gold in:
24k = (99.9% gold content material)
22k = (91.6% gold content material)
18k = (75% gold content material)
14k = (58.3% gold content material)
10k = (41.6% gold content material, which suggests lower than half is gold)
Investing in gold jewellery with out checking purity is a BIG NO. The worth between one thing that’s 22 karats and 10 karats will differ immensely.
3️. Figure out the Best Price (the tough half)
The worth of the gold jewellery is indicated by its purity in addition to how a lot labor work has been spent whereas making the piece.
When shopping for a strong gold merchandise, the finest strategy to examine is apples to apples! Well in this case: karats to karats!
Similar-looking gold gadgets with comparable weights is perhaps 1000s of {dollars} much less or extra.. HOW?? 🤔
Think of a 100-gram gold chain in 10 karats.. this incorporates 41.6 grams of gold. But on the different hand, a 100-gram chain of 18-karat gold incorporates 75 grams of gold!
This alone is a HUGE 34 grams of gold distinction!
Best observe: Only examine the identical karat gadgets! If you’re looking at a 14k chain, examine it to different 14k chains of the identical weight.
4️. Determining Weight (How heavy is it?)
It is crucial to examine the weight of the precise gold merchandise that you’re shopping for. Since different gems, supplies, or enamel colours could make the weight heavier, you would possibly find yourself paying a better worth for much less gold!
Best observe: Ask the jeweler to weigh it on a scale & take a be aware of that gram weight
5️. Color Shouldn’t Matter (Yellow, Rose, or White)
Gold can have colour variations. Combining pure gold with particular alloy metals will create one other colour or tone.
Yellow gold has been the hottest tone all through historical past. Rose gold & white gold are much less widespread relying on present tendencies & worldwide areas.
Best Practice: The colour of gold mustn’t make the worth cheaper or dearer.
6. Do the math to get your per-gram value
How to get your gram value:
Take the whole worth of the merchandise & divide it by the weight = YOUR PER GRAM COST
Use that to match costs of things with completely different weights & identical karat purity.
While the per gram value doesn’t take different issues into consideration, like gems or different particulars the jewellery might need, or the store proprietor’s value of his storefront, it will provide you with an excellent baseline when buying round.
BOTTOM LINE:
So much is to be considered when making a jewellery buy, however when you have the actual karats and weight, you can also make an ideal base for comparability.
How to get an precise estimate of how a lot it’s best to pay for gold jewellery
Below is an equation to make use of as a tough estimate, utilizing the present price of gold, to find out if the worth they’re asking at the Grand Bazaar is honest.
Step 1: Google at present’s market price for gold.
Step 2: Let’s say the market price for the day is $50 per gram (pure gold). We will take that $50 and multiply it by the purity of the merchandise we’re trying at. For this instance, we’ll use a chunk of knickknack that’s 18k gold. 18k has 75% pure gold content material.
$50 X 0.75 (purity % of 18k) = $37.50
$37.50 is the value per gram of the gold materials itself in an 18k piece with at present’s price of $50 per gram.
Step 3: Now, faux the vendor has proven you an 18k bracelet and also you’ve put it on the scale to weigh it, and primarily based on the weight and worth, you possibly can see he’s charging $40 per gram. We can minus the uncooked value of the gold from the above equation ($37.50), which suggests he’s charging $2.5 per gram for labor and enterprise prices.
Now, there isn’t a ‘standard’ for a way a lot revenue a vendor must be making, or how a lot {dollars} per gram he’s charging for labor and enterprise prices. This varies significantly relying on the precise jewellery itself, how a lot element and design it could have, and different elements like his hire and different enterprise prices. What the above equation means that you can do is be higher knowledgeable about uncooked prices, examine apples to apples when buying round, and to really feel extra comfy about investing in gold.
Q&A – Buying Gold in Türkiye
Why ought to individuals think about shopping for gold in Turkey? Why not journey to Dubai to purchase gold?
Dubai (UAE) and Turkey each have very vibrant gold jewellery industries and each nations export and import billions of {dollars} a 12 months.
Dubai does have some slight value benefits in comparison with Turkey in terms of machine-made/engineered items like chains. That’s attributable to the truth their small and medium-sized companies have bigger budgets obtainable to them for machines to provide extremely environment friendly, machine-made gold gadgets.
Turkey, on the different hand, has two nice benefits. One is in the handmade / artisan jewellery division attributable to the over 5000 12 months historical past of knickknack making in Anatolia (present day Turkey). Turkey has an unequalled historical past of handmade jewellery that different nations can’t compete with.
The different benefit Turkey has over the UAE is a decrease value of the total journey. You can keep in Istanbul for a month or longer for what your funds can be for only a few days in Dubai.
We have curated a 3-day Istanbul itinerary for an ideal go to to the metropolis, with a gold buying expertise in the Grand Bazaar included!
Sometimes, it’s not all the time about the lowest value, however as an alternative the total expertise.
How can we inform if the gold is actual?
One of the best and quickest methods to inform if a chunk of knickknack, let’s say a necklace in this case, is actual strong gold or one thing else like brass with an inexpensive gold plating, is to rub a magnet on it.
Keep a small magnet in your pocket at the Grand Bazaar and use it your self to check any items you’re looking at. Real gold just isn’t magnetic and it’ll not stick. Many different cheaper metals are magnetic and can stick instantly.
If the gold is actual, how do we all know what the karat worth is? (Example: 10k, 14k, 18k, and many others?)
Sellers at the Grand Bazaar can do an acid take a look at proper there in the store. This entails the piece of knickknack being rubbed on a touchstone normally product of slate, then a particular karat method of acid is used. So, a 14k gold bracelet can have its personal 14-karat acid gold take a look at. Once the acid is dropped on the stone, if the acid eats away at the markings on the stone, it means it’s not the karat it states. If the markings do stick with the 14-karat acid, or whichever karat-specific acid take a look at was used, then it’s legit.
There are a whole lot of gold retailers in the Grand Bazaar. How can we discover a good one? Anything particular to search for or to keep away from?
The finest approach is to be an knowledgeable purchaser and find out about the fundamentals of gold, i.e. the gram weight, the karat purity, after which checking that the mentioned karat is hallmarked on the piece itself.
Knowing the primary pillars of knowledge means that you can extra correctly examine while you go in and ask some questions. If you see the salesman can’t level out the markings, doesn’t find out about an acid take a look at, or can’t present the primary data you’re on the lookout for – you possibly can safely assume they don’t seem to be in a position to present skilled assist. You must be cautious of locations like that. Most retailers are skilled and useful, however after all, it’s a bazaar and an everchanging market so the costs will differ.
X Avoid locations that may’t pay a lot consideration to you or can’t present particulars shortly.
✓ Do enterprise with shops that may shortly present details about the items, can provide the acid take a look at, and are keen to be affected person.
Can I negotiate on worth at shops inside the bazaar?
Yes. Always negotiate with sellers. That’s what has been executed all through historical past at the Grand Bazaar and it’ll by no means change.
However, it must be famous that sellers can have completely different prices of doing enterprise and it could have an effect on how a lot they’ll negotiate with you. A store that has the most prime location and the highest hire in all of the bazaar could not have as a lot room as a second-level store. There isn’t any method for a way a lot to barter, however once more figuring out the primary market worth of gold will assist immensely in this example.
Do jewelers in the Grand Bazaar take bank cards or solely money?
Both money and bank cards are accepted by virtually all of the retailers inside the Grand Bazaar. There are a number of smaller shops that will not take bank cards, however they are going to normally have a sign-up to tell you. Safe and safe ATMs can be found each inside and out of doors the bazaar.
If you might be utilizing a bank card, many distributors will wish to cost a processing price. The price is normally 2.5% to three%, however ought to by no means be greater than 5%.
Can I SELL my private gold inside the Grand Bazaar?
Yes, there are locations known as “sarrafiye” in Turkish (gold patrons) situated immediately inside the bazaar.
Due to the Anatolian / Turkish tradition of giving, gifting, & saving gold it’s quite common for individuals to commerce their cash, bracelets, & jewellery at these locations. You can enterprise inside the Grand Bazaar and ‘shop’ your gold round to see who’s paying the finest costs of the day.
What we purchased
Istanbul really is the new cool, and now we have the gold to show it. Here’s what we obtained throughout our first mission at the Grand Bazaar (and we’ve obtained one other journey deliberate this spring for a number of extra items)
Alyne
Gold Hoop Earrings 6g 14k gold = $190
Gold Necklace 6.7g 14k gold = $230
Gold Huggie Earrings 3.5g 18k gold =$160
Kashlee
Gold Huggie Earrings 3.5g 18k gold =$160
Vintage Rolex $6000 (Ladies DateJust, early 90’s)
Now, some individuals studying this would possibly suppose I obtained ripped off with the Rolex as a result of it ‘wasn’t bought at a licensed Rolex supplier” however I must remind you that is Turkey. Since then, I’ve had it verified and I’m over the moon with the buy, since it will have been significantly extra if I had bought it in the Western market.
One of the coolest experiences was attending to comply with the vendor by means of some tight alleyways, behind the scenes from the fundamental bazaar, and obtained to observe how they cleaned our gold earlier than giving it to us.
I couldn’t have made this text with out the numerous hours and steerage from Nurhan, so I’d prefer to make a particular thanks to him.
Nurhan Gümüş is an Armenian fourth-generation grasp jeweler in the Grand Bazaar. He’s the founding father of GrandBazaarJewelers.com which focuses on wholesale B2B jewellery and TurkishJewelry.com which is the premier jewellery information & tendencies weblog for Turkey. He was born in Istanbul and his household immigrated to the United States in 1980. In the U.S. he began apprenticing at the age of 12 in his household’s jewellery manufacturing enterprise. He relocated again to Istanbul 13 years in the past attributable to its worldwide aggressive benefit (and his benefit of being a local English speaker Master Armenian jeweler).
He at the moment helps entrepreneurs create their very own jewellery line and presents one-on-one skilled jewellery help. You can discover him on IG @grandbazaarjewelers
We did the analysis for this text whereas being friends in Istanbul with Go Türkiye. While the tourism board graciously hosted our keep, our itinerary and elective actions, reminiscent of gold buying, had been on our personal funds. Our concepts, opinions, and suggestions stay our personal.
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