Searching Pawn Shops for Vintage Jewelry

If you're trying to start or expand a craft and bespoke jewelry business, you've likely found that the supplies you want can be unexpectedly expensive. Yes, you can find cheap supplies, but for gem-quality stones and precious metals, the sheer amount you need to buy can add up so quickly.

One strategy that people use -- if you haven't already used this yourself -- is to find older jewelry and take it apart to access certain components, or to just resell the jewelry. Estate sales and thrift stores offer some sources, but pawn shops are often overlooked.

Part of that is due to a couple of misconceptions. People think of pawn shops as places where you pawn something and then get it back later. That's not always true. Many people don't reclaim their items, or they sell them outright to the shop. Then the shop resells those items.

Vintage Pieces May Have Rare Components That Customers Want for Repairs

Stop in at a pawn shop and look at the jewelry on display. Some of it will be fairly common, but you can find vintage pieces that have rare components that your customers might want when they try to repair some of their own vintage pieces.

These pieces could be anything from old ceramic beads to crystal components with a specific cut and size that are no longer made that way. For example, Swarovski stopped selling their crystal beads in 2021. While other companies have stepped up to provide similar supplies, you could find that you need a bead with specific faceting that the newer versions don't have.

But if you can find a vintage piece that contains these beads, say a choker that has alternating Swarovski crystals and pearls, you've just found yourself a source of desperately wanted beads. And having the extra pearls for use in other pieces doesn't hurt.

Vintage Pieces May Have Components You Want to Repurpose Into New Pieces

Standing among rows and racks of strings of beads isn't always the best for designing new pieces of jewelry. In fact, it can be downright distracting as you see so many lovely items that you want to use but don't have a set design for. Supplies of new gems can be very expensive; the cheaper supplies you find online tend to be of lower quality, even if they look good.

If you're looking for emeralds of a certain cut and high quality, for example, you could find a ring that has just what you're looking for. You could buy that jewelry from the pawnshop for less than what you'd pay a wholesaler for a new emerald of the quality you want because the pawnshop gem would be considered used.

Vintage Pieces of Value to Your Customers May Be Hiding in Plain Sight

Don't forget that pawn shops can have vintage jewelry from all decades, including periods that your customers may be fans of. While you might like to sell mainly vintage costume pieces, it's nice to offer some finer items with precious metals and stones. You never know which customer is going to be taken with that decades-old ruby ring.

If you've already had sales, take a look at which items sold the fastest, and which decades or movements they were from. If you know you have a lot of Art Deco fans, for example, look for geometric pendants and brooches that they may find interesting. If chokers seem to be a big seller, a stash of midcentury pearl chokers could be just the thing to beef up your inventory.

Whether you're hoping to find rare beads or full pieces to sell, you can usually spot items you want at pawn shops. Take time to browse what they have, looking at everything from the loose diamonds to the rings to the necklaces in near-new condition. Pawn shops like 2 J's Pawn & Gun have ever-changing selections, and placing them on your regular jewelry-spotting trips can pay off handsomely.