Hatton Garden rewards preparation. Private sellers arrive with family pieces and find a fast market that prizes certainty. The worry is understandable. You may not have certificates, receipts or even the original boxes. You want a fair offer that recognises craft and history, not just metal weight. You also need comfort that the process is lawful, safe and documented. The good news is that London’s jewellery quarter handles undocumented pieces every day. Professionals replace missing paperwork with tests, expertise and legal checks that protect both sides. Once you know how dealers reach a price, what they must check by law, and how to compare offers, the sale becomes a controlled transaction rather than a leap of faith.
Start by fixing expectations. Trade buyers work to resale economics, not insurance numbers. They must verify metal fineness, identify stones, check provenance risks, factor in refurbishment and certification costs, and meet tax and compliance rules. Each step takes time or cash, which is priced into the offer. Your role is to remove uncertainty where possible and recognise the signals of a compliant buyer. Do that and the market in Hatton Garden can move quickly and pay correctly for quality, period significance and condition.
Start informed and control your sale from appraisal to payment
Treat the day as a project. List each item, note weights where known and collect any related material such as older valuations or boxes. Build a short description for each piece using plain language. Book appointments with two or three vetted buyers rather than wandering from door to door. Inform each of you that you are seeking written offers. Ask for testing to be done in front of you and for weights to be shown on approved scales. Expect an immediate bank transfer on completion and a detailed purchase receipt. This creates a clean record and removes cash handling risk.
Know where legal responsibility sits when you sell to a dealer
In the UK, when a private individual sells personal property to a business, regulatory duties largely fall on the dealer. Your duties are simple. Act in good faith, describe what you know without misrepresentation and sell only items you have the right to sell. Anti-fraud, hallmarking and consumer protection rules focus on the buyer’s conduct and systems. A transparent process in which the dealer explains tests, records ID and issues a receipt is a sign that those duties are being met, not an accusation aimed at the seller.
Understand how UK hallmarking protects you and shapes offers
Hallmarking is a statutory consumer protection. It is an offence for a business to supply or describe as gold, silver, platinum or palladium an article above the exemption weight unless it bears an approved UK hallmark. Approved hallmarks consist of a sponsor’s mark, a fineness mark and an Assay Office mark. The London leopard’s head denotes testing at Goldsmiths’ Hall. Exemption weights are 1 g for gold, 7.78 g for silver, 0.5 g for platinum and 1 g for palladium. Dealers must display the official British Hallmarking Council Dealer’s Notice and must weigh on Class I or Class II instruments approved under the Weights and Measures Act. These rules explain why a buyer will insist on testing and why unmarked items above the threshold will be sent for formal assay before resale.
Fun fact: the leopard’s head of the London Assay Office has been used on precious metal items for centuries and remains the visual shorthand for a hallmark applied in the capital.
Expect ID checks and record keeping under AML rules
Jewellery is classified as high risk for money laundering because high-value goods can be converted between cash and portable assets with ease. If a business accepts or makes cash payments of 10,000 euros or more in a single or linked transaction it is classed as a High Value Dealer and must register with HMRC, apply customer due diligence and keep records. Even below that threshold, robust ID checks are considered best practice. Dealers will copy photographic ID and proof of address and keep the file for 5 years in line with Regulation 40 record keeping duties. This documentation supports lawful trade and deters stolen goods. Treat an unwillingness to take ID for a significant purchase as a warning sign.
Avoid restricted materials that trigger bans and permits
Organic materials can stop a sale. The Ivory Act bans dealing in elephant ivory and, from 28 January 2025, extends the ban to ivory from hippopotamus, narwhal, killer whale and sperm whale, subject to narrow exemptions. Items that meet the de minimis exemption must be registered through the government service before any sale attempt. Reputable buyers will refuse pieces with ivory unless the official registration for an exemption is produced. Other wildlife materials, including tortoiseshell and some corals, fall under CITES controls. Where provenance cannot establish that a worked specimen predates the relevant cutoff, professional buyers will decline.
See how VAT treatment affects trade prices in practice
VAT treatment shapes offers. The VAT Margin Scheme taxes only the dealer’s margin rather than the full resale price, but it cannot be used for certain categories. HMRC excludes precious metals, investment gold and unmounted precious stones from the schemes. HMRC also defines ineligible precious metals as goods consisting in precious metals or goods whose price is at or near the metal value, which effectively excludes scrap metal transactions. Second-hand jewellery bought from private sellers can be eligible if all conditions are met, but many transactions either fall outside eligibility or are handled under normal rules. This complexity and potential exposure influence buying prices. Dealers model costs assuming VAT will fall on the full price where the schemes cannot be used and on the margin where eligibility is clear.
Use science to prove metal and stones without old papers
Testing has moved beyond corrosive scratch tests. Assay Offices and trade buyers use X-ray fluorescence to read elemental composition non destructively within seconds, giving a precise fineness breakdown of the alloy. This supports an offer and, where needed, prepares an item for assay and hallmarking. For stones, trained gemmologists use loupes, microscopes and refractometers to distinguish natural from synthetic, detect common treatments and estimate quality. The most valuable pieces may be sent for independent reports to remove subjectivity before resale.
Decode values and why insurance numbers differ from offers
Know the four value concepts. Insurance replacement value reflects the cost to buy a comparable new item at full retail and is set to protect a future purchase, not to predict resale. Auction estimates express a likely hammer range before commission and fees. Trade offers represent immediate cash purchase price with risk, tax and refurbishment costs subtracted. Scrap value reflects only metal content against the live market and is used for broken or non resalable items. Missing paperwork increases risk and cost for the buyer and typically reduces the offer versus an otherwise identical item with a strong lab report. The difference can be material for diamonds and some coloured stones because certification tightens quality bands and supports a higher resale tier.
Decide when diamond certification adds net value
The global trade treats GIA as the benchmark for diamond grading consistency. Without a report, a dealer grades cautiously and prices in a buffer in case a lab later confirms a lower colour or clarity. For stones from roughly 0.70 carat upward, a GIA report often pays for itself by removing that buffer, improving bids and widening the pool of potential buyers. For smaller stones the fee can swallow too much of the value. As of April 2025, a GIA Diamond Grading Report for a 1.00 to 1.49 carat natural D to Z diamond is listed at 85 US dollars before handling and shipping. London laboratories also publish fee scales for coloured gem identification and treatment opinions, which dealers may use for ruby, sapphire and emerald.
Follow a step by step plan for a safe visit to Hatton Garden
Prepare a short pack. Item list, any earlier documentation, photos if useful, and a note of your target outcomes. Check two or three buyers in advance, with preference for firms that are members of the National Association of Jewellers and publish compliance information. The NAJ codes of practice focus on honesty, integrity and professional standards and include guidance on ID, data protection and transaction records. Membership is a useful trust signal.
Book timed appointments. Ask how testing is performed and whether XRF is available. On the day, expect a clear sequence. Visual inspection for hallmarks and maker marks, precise weighing on approved scales, non destructive metal analysis, gem identification under magnification and a discussion of resale potential. Ask the buyer to split values across multiple items rather than providing one aggregate figure. Compare written offers between appointments. Large gaps are rare. Small variations reflect stock needs, expertise and appetite for certification cost.
Agree terms with a transparent buyer. A proper offer references the day’s metal market, observed quality and any assumed certification costs. Payment by immediate bank transfer is standard and safer than cash. Take a detailed receipt that records the business name and address, date, item descriptions, weights where relevant and total paid. Dealers who apply due diligence on provenance and identity are protecting both of you. Some will search specialised databases such as the Art Loss Register for serialised or uniquely identifiable items as part of their checks.
Navigate logistics of getting there and timing your day
Hatton Garden sits in EC1N between Chancery Lane and Farringdon stations. Public transport is simplest. Plan for weekday or Saturday between roughly 10:00 and 17:30, since Sundays and bank holidays see limited trade. Cluster your appointments to minimise waiting. Allow time at the end of the day for transfers to clear and for any buyer to complete compliance records. Bring formal photo ID and current proof of address. Expect the dealer to keep copies in line with AML rules for 5 years.
Close with a clear checklist and confident next steps
Your objective is a clean, well-evidenced sale at a sensible trade price. The highest leverage moves are simple. Choose compliant buyers. Insist on transparent testing in front of you. Remove uncertainty by securing lab reports for significant stones where the economics justify it. Understand VAT treatment and how it influences the room a buyer has on price. Keep copies of everything. A structured approach replaces apprehension with control. As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed.
