Roadshow Jewellery & Watch Buyer
Company: Cotswold Gold Exchange / Oodles Precious Metals Ltd
Role: Roadshow Jewellery & Watch Buyer
Location: UK roadshow-based role
Type: 3 to 4 days per week
We are looking for an experienced Jewellery & Watch Buyer to join our roadshow buying team.
This is a specialist role and applicants must have at least 5 years’ experience buying jewellery. The position would suit someone from an antique jewellery, pawnbroking, auction, gold buying, watch buying, estate jewellery or precious metals background.
The role involves attending public valuation events across the UK, meeting customers face-to-face, valuing jewellery, gold, silver, watches and related items, and making fair, confident buying offers on the day.
What the role involves
- Attending 3–4 roadshow events per week to value and purchase items from the public.
- Travelling to event locations, usually within a 90-minute drive time of your location.
- Providing a professional and friendly experience to every customer.
- Making fair offers and negotiating where needed.
- Working closely with fellow buyers as part of a team.
- Using your knowledge to identify value and make smart buying decisions.
You will need to be confident identifying jewellery eras, styles and quality from the 1700s through to the present day, including Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Retro, mid-century, vintage and modern pieces.
You must also be able to calculate scrap gold and silver values quickly and accurately, understand different gold carats, silver standards, hallmarks, weights, metal content and stone values, and judge whether an item is worth more as resaleable jewellery rather than scrap.
The role requires a good understanding of gemstones, including the ability to identify common precious and semi-precious stones, recognise differences in cut, colour, clarity and carat weight, and assess how these affect value. You should be confident distinguishing between different stones.
The role also requires a good working knowledge of watches. You should be able to assess brand, model, condition, reference numbers, movement type and market desirability, with a basic understanding of manual wind, automatic, quartz and mechanical movements. You should also be comfortable looking up watch reference numbers and using sold listings to help price watches accurately.
Key responsibilities
- Buying gold, silver, jewellery, watches and precious metal items at public roadshow events.
- Valuing jewellery and watches confidently in front of customers.
- Identifying precious and semi-precious stones, including their cut, colour, clarity and carat weight.
- Making clear, professional offers to customers.
- Explaining valuations in a trustworthy and respectful way.
- Testing and assessing items accurately.
- Checking comparable sold prices where needed.
- Keeping accurate records of purchases, photos, prices paid, watch references and customer details.
- Working with the wider buying team to ensure smooth roadshow operations.
We are looking for someone who is
- Experienced, confident and commercially minded.
- Knowledgeable about antique, vintage and modern jewellery.
- Confident identifying precious and semi-precious stones.
- Able to assess stone cut, colour, clarity and carat weight.
- Fast and accurate with scrap calculations.
- Comfortable assessing watches and researching values.
- A confident negotiator with good commercial awareness.
- Honest, professional and detail-focused.
- Strong with customers and able to explain valuations clearly.
- Able to work independently at busy public events.
- Holds a full UK driving licence and has access to their own car.
- Willing to stay away overnight when required.
Desirable experience
- Experience working at antique jewellers.
- Experience working in pawnbrokers.
- Experience working in auctions.
- Experience buying and selling jewellery, watches, gold, silver or precious metals.
- Previous roadshow experience.
Employment information
- 3 to 4 working days per week.
- Typical event hours are 10:00am – 4:00pm.
- £30,000 basic salary plus uncapped commission.
- Average total earnings of £80,000+
- Field-based role with no fixed location.
- Applicants must hold a full UK driving licence and have access to their own car.
- Occasional overnight stays may be required.
About the role
Our roadshows attract members of the public looking to sell gold, silver, watches and jewellery. We pride ourselves on offering knowledgeable, fair and transparent valuations, backed by real trade expertise.
This is not a basic retail role. We need someone who can buy confidently, calculate quickly, spot quality, identify stones, research watches properly, and handle customers with care and professionalism.
To apply
Please send your CV and a short covering note outlining your jewellery and watch buying experience, including the types of items you have bought and the environments you have worked in.
Pay: £30,000.00-£80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- On-site parking
- Profit sharing
Work Location: In person
