British Gold Prospectors at the InterContinental

By: Uwe Reimann

Grete Weissmann had agonised over it for a long time. Finally, she opened up her jewellery box at her home in Duisburg and removed her husband Karl’s fine IWC white gold wristwatch. Eleven years after her husband passed away, Grete has decided to sell the white gold watch. “His company presented him with the watch in 1971 as a commemorative gift. It cost 1,000 Deutschmark back then,” she explains. Nina Esteves is already sitting at a simple, black table in the InterContinental. She works for the British company Roadshow EU and her job is similar to that of a gold prospector. She and four colleagues are waiting in the upmarket hotel for people like Grete Weissman, people who have gold, platinum, fine watches or jewels and have decided to sell them.

“Hardly any of these people are selling out of necessity,” comments Roadshow director Morne Botes. Most people bring their items along because they hardly ever see the light of day or just sit around gathering dust. The majority of people bring gold with them to the hotel for valuation. It is also not uncommon to see a few diamonds and some fine timepieces. However, they are not all as valuable as the rare, 22,000-Euro Rolex from the 1950s that was seen recently. Esteves and her colleagues also have to sift through a lot of junk that is practically worthless. Rings and chains that might mean a lot to people are of little interest here. Emotions cannot be sold.

Each week, the gold prospectors from the UK start a new ‘dig’ in another European city. Although they sell some of their finds to dealers, their primary customers are collectors seeking exclusive pieces. “We make a 20% profit on all transactions,” comments Botes.

None of this matters to Grete Weissmann. What does matter to her are the emotions awakened in her by her husband Karl’s watch. She can hardly bear to sell the fine timepiece. “It felt like a betrayal. But then again, what else would I have done with the watch?”

But Nina Esteves at least made the decision easier for her yesterday morning. The British gold prospectors paid Grete almost 1,600 euros for the watch.