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Buying gold in Turkey, particularly gold jewellery, is gaining large reputation proper now with the superb conversion fee towards the declining Turkish Lira and the potential for customers to buy immediately from sellers and not using a intermediary.
Personally, I’m getting uninterested in losing my cash on low-cost costume jewellery that may begin to tarnish and break simply after 1 or 2 wears. This quick trend craze has folks consuming equipment at an alarming fee. What at first looks like deal, solely $89 for a pair of gold-plated earrings, turns into such a legal responsibility with how briskly they exit of fashion 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 seek out nice offers on gold in one in all the most well-known markets in the world, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. My purpose was to seek out good high quality items for honest costs that will final for many years as an alternative of some seasons.
Below you’ll discover tips about easy methods to discover superb offers on gold, tips to check the purity and authenticity of gold jewellery, and every part 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 skilled to assist me. My good friend 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 career his total household has upheld ever since.
We met Nurhan at the southern Carsikapi Gate that leads into Kalpakcilar Caddesi, the gold jeweler’s street of the Grand Bazaar. Before we bought into the nitty gritty of gold procuring, he merely took me for a stroll up and down the coated streets so I might get a good suggestion of the immense selection out there inside the market. Basically, any form of silver or gold jewellery you’re in search of, 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 just a few hours.
We spent the total day inside the market shopping, testing, making an attempt on, and finally 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 procuring spree.
Top 6 Tips For Buying Gold Jewelry in the Grand Bazaar
Ok gold lovers – Here’s what it’s essential know to be an knowledgeable gold purchaser to greatest apply all the ideas we’ve got for you all through this information.
1. Is it Hallmarked? (stamped)
Make certain the merchandise has the acceptable 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 manner of confirming the jewelers’ stated particulars.
Best follow: 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 set 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 implies 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 range 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 greatest approach to examine is apples to apples! Well in this case: karats to karats!
Similar-looking gold objects with comparable weights may be 1000s of {dollars} much less or extra.. HOW?? 🤔
Think of a 100-gram gold chain in 10 karats.. this accommodates 41.6 grams of gold. But on the different hand, a 100-gram chain of 18-karat gold accommodates 75 grams of gold!
This alone is a HUGE 34 grams of gold distinction!
Best follow: Only examine the similar karat objects! If you’re looking at a 14k chain, examine it to different 14k chains of the similar weight.
4️. Determining Weight (How heavy is it?)
It is important to test 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 may find yourself paying the next worth for much less gold!
Best follow: 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 coloration variations. Combining pure gold with particular alloy metals will create one other coloration or tone.
Yellow gold has been the hottest tone all through historical past. Rose gold & white gold are much less standard relying on present tendencies & worldwide areas.
Best Practice: The coloration of gold mustn’t make the worth cheaper or costlier.
6. Do the math to get your per-gram price
How to get your gram price:
Take the whole worth of the merchandise & divide it by the weight = YOUR PER GRAM COST
Use that to match costs of things with totally different weights & similar karat purity.
While the per gram price doesn’t take different issues into consideration, like gems or different particulars the jewellery may need, or the store proprietor’s price of his storefront, it will provide you with baseline when procuring round.
BOTTOM LINE:
Rather a lot is to be considered when making a jewellery buy, however when you’ve got the actual karats and weight, you can also make an amazing 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 fee of gold, to find out if the worth they’re asking at the Grand Bazaar is honest.
Step 1: Google right now’s market fee for gold.
Step 2: Let’s say the market fee 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 bit 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 price per gram of the gold materials itself in an 18k piece with right now’s fee 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 based mostly on the weight and worth, you possibly can see he’s charging $40 per gram. We can minus the uncooked price of the gold from the above equation ($37.50), which implies he’s charging $2.5 per gram for labor and enterprise prices.
Now, there isn’t any ‘standard’ for a way a lot revenue a vendor ought to be making, or how a lot {dollars} per gram he’s charging for labor and enterprise prices. This varies drastically relying on the precise jewellery itself, how a lot element and design it could have, and different elements like his lease and different enterprise prices. What the above equation permits you to do is be higher knowledgeable about uncooked prices, examine apples to apples when procuring round, and to really feel extra snug about investing in gold.
Q&A – Buying Gold in Türkiye
Why ought to folks take into account 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 price benefits in comparison with Turkey in the case of machine-made/engineered items like chains. That’s on account of the truth their small and medium-sized companies have bigger budgets out there to them for machines to supply extremely environment friendly, machine-made gold objects.
Turkey, on the different hand, has two nice benefits. One is in the handmade / artisan jewellery division on account of 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 price of the general journey. You can keep in Istanbul for a month or longer for what your finances can be for just some days in Dubai.
We have curated a 3-day Istanbul itinerary for an ideal go to to the metropolis, with a gold procuring expertise in the Grand Bazaar included!
Sometimes, it’s not all the time about the lowest price, however as an alternative the general expertise.
How can we inform if the gold is actual?
One of the best and quickest methods to inform if a bit 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 is just not 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 often manufactured from slate, then a selected karat components of acid is used. So, a 14k gold bracelet could 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 isn’t 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 numerous gold outlets in the Grand Bazaar. How will we discover a good one? Anything particular to search for or to keep away from?
The greatest manner 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 stated karat is hallmarked on the piece itself.
Knowing the primary pillars of data permits you to extra correctly examine whenever 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 in search of – you possibly can safely assume they aren’t in a position to present skilled assist. You ought to be cautious of locations like that. Most outlets are skilled and useful, however in fact, it’s a bazaar and an everchanging market so the costs will range.
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 supply 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 finished all through historical past at the Grand Bazaar and it’ll by no means change.
However, it ought to be famous that sellers could have totally 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 lease in all of the bazaar could not have as a lot room as a second-level store. There isn’t any components for a way a lot to barter, however once more understanding 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 outlets inside the Grand Bazaar. There are just a few smaller shops that won’t take bank cards, however they may often have a sign-up to tell you. Safe and safe ATMs can be found each inside and outdoors the bazaar.
If you’re utilizing a bank card, many distributors will wish to cost a processing payment. The payment is often 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 consumers) positioned immediately inside the bazaar.
Due to the Anatolian / Turkish tradition of giving, gifting, & saving gold it’s quite common for folks 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 greatest costs of the day.
What we purchased
Istanbul really is the new cool, and we’ve got the gold to show it. Here’s what we bought throughout our first mission at the Grand Bazaar (and we’ve bought one other journey deliberate this spring for just a few 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 folks studying this may assume I bought ripped off with the Rolex as a result of it ‘wasn’t bought at a licensed Rolex supplier” however I have to remind you that is Turkey. Since then, I’ve had it verified and I’m over the moon with the buy, since it could 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 way of some tight alleyways, behind the scenes from the foremost bazaar, and bought to look at 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 wish 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 on account of its worldwide aggressive benefit (and his benefit of being a local English speaker Master Armenian jeweler).
He presently helps entrepreneurs create their very own jewellery line and affords 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, equivalent to gold procuring, had been on our personal finances. Our concepts, opinions, and suggestions stay our personal.
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