Krombholz Jewelers has been a long-standing supporter of the Association of Volunteers, the Cincinnati Arts & Antiques Festival and Design Cincinnati. We're proud to feature them on our blog today as part of our virtual swag bag.
Did you know that Krombholz Jewelers has actively recycled gold for years? So the question might come up, how and why do you do that?
First, let’s talk about why we recycle gold.
The U.S. Geological Survey approximates that 171,000 tons of gold has been mined throughout history. Currently, the world mines about 3,000 additional tons a year. The real issue with gold mining is the toxic elements that are used to separate gold from other materials. These toxic separating elements include cyanide and mercury. Gold mining is currently the number one source of mercury pollution.
So how can this pollution be avoided?
The root to that answer might be in your jewelry box. By reselling your unwanted gold jewelry, you are helping the world avoid the need for newly mined gold. It is approximated that 50% of the current previously mined gold on the earth is in the form of jewelry. That is 85,000 tons of gold! There are 32,150 troy ounces of gold in a metric ton, so that is 2.7 trillion ounces of gold. Now, multiply that by $1600 per ounce and you can see how big of a number that is of jewelry just sitting out there somewhere!
How do we recycle gold at Krombholz?
We achieve this recycling two ways. First, we buy gold from our clients and send if to a refiner to purify this gold. The refiners return the pure gold to us and we alloy and cast this gold into new jewelry. The second way we recycle gold is through purchasing, repairing, refinishing, upcycling and reselling this jewelry. We are passionate about keeping well-made, interesting old jewelry intact, if possible.
We often have the question, “Is this a good time to sell my gold?”
Well looking at a chart of gold prices over the last 5 years illustrates that even if the current fluctuation has brought the price down from record highs, it is still 30% higher than the September 2018 low of $1218. Gold price at the time of writing this right is around $1600 an ounce.
So, what are you waiting for? During this state “Stay at home” order, clean out your drawers and jewelry boxes and help us save our environment and make some money while you are at it!
For an extra incentive for Design Cincinnati supporters, we will offer a 5% bonus for your gold allowance/sale.
When you visit Krombholz Jewelers tell them the Association of Volunteers sent you!