Everything you need to know before you buy or sell gems and jewelry at auction.

A source of expert guidance to help you enter today s fastest-growing marketplace for gems and jewelry. This definitive guide to buying and selling at auction covers both the unique risks and opportunities to be found how to make a profit on yesterday s treasures or find a valuable treasure of your own.

Entertaining, informative and packed with tips from an "insider," this practical, easy-to-understand guide makes available for the first time detailed information on:

• What distinguishes auction buying and selling from other methods
• How to buy and sell at auction: The rules of the game
• What you need to know before bidding on:
• - Diamonds
• - Colored gemstones
• - Pearls
• - Gold and platinum
• Design and style: Great jewelry periods and great jewelers
• Special concerns when buying and selling on Internet auction sites
• How to avoid the pitfalls when buying and selling at auction
• What auctions do guarantee, and how to protect yourself against what they don t
• and much more.

With comprehensive price charts and auction results, as well as resource information on auction houses and websites, Jewelry & Gems at Auction is a book no potential auction buyer or seller can afford to be without.