My Pocket My Pocket 90% of Spaniards have jewelry, but only 37% know its value 90% of Spaniards have jewelry, but only 37% know its value

90% of Spanish homes have jewelry and gold, but only 37% of citizens know the value of their jewelry.

This is clear from the 'Report on the possession and use of jewelery and gold in Spanish homes', presented this Wednesday by José Guirao, general director of Fundación Montemadrid, and by Santiago Gil, director of the Montes de la Foundation. According to the study, carried out by the market research company Toluna, the most common jewels are rings (82%), earrings (74%), bracelets (65%), necklaces (55%) and watches ( 31%).

Regarding materials, the most popular piece is the gold ring or ring (82%), followed by the silver bracelet (52%), the pearl necklace (23%) and the diamond set in a ring (17%).

Santiago Gil explained to 20minutos that "since the pandemic there has not been a significant increase in the number of Spaniards who have resorted to pawning jewelry, as occurred in the previous economic crisis of 2008." "We practically maintain the same level of clients," he underlines. And this has been due, he maintains, to the fact that the Spanish savings rate reached historic levels due to confinement and restrictions.

In this regard, he added that his clients "are no longer people with great economic difficulties as was the case decades ago with the pawnbrokers, but from different social strata, for example small businessmen who want a loan or a housewife who has broken the washing machine and the money comes in handy".

Pawning jewelry to obtain liquidity: rings, necklaces, watches...

Many Spaniards resort to pawning jewelry due to the characteristics of this type of financing: these are microcredits with the guarantee of jewelry at a low interest rate, where the disbursement is immediate upon granting, there are no initial opening expenses and the cancellation can be made at any time during the life of the loan. All this makes it an attractive and acceptable product in specific moments of need for financing.

Valencians and Canaries, those who commit the most; Galicians, the least

Valencians, Canaries and Andalusians are the ones who resort the most to financing guaranteed by jewels, with 25%, 22% and 21% respectively, while Galicians are the least (10%).

66% feel sentimental value for jewels

For 66% of Spaniards, jewels have emotional/sentimental value, according to the study, while 37% like to wear them.

33% of Spaniards have them at home without a safe

33% of Spaniards leave their jewelery at home without a safe during holidays, while 26% leave it at home but stored in a safe, 31% take them with them and only 10% leave them in a private safe.

21% see jewelry as a form of investment

21% of those surveyed see jewelry as a form of investment. In this regard, 18% of households have applied for a credit or loan, leaving a jewel as collateral, while 57% of Spaniards are willing to request a loan or credit, leaving one of their jewels as collateral in case they need liquidity. .

Very well-known system in Madrid, less so in Castilla-La Mancha

The level of knowledge of this type of credit by autonomous community varies between 76% in the Community of Madrid and 60% in Castilla -The stain.

Distrust towards those who buy gold due to fraud

According to the report, 66% of those surveyed are willing to use the service of the establishments who buy gold, however, 81% admit to feeling distrust. In this regard, a report from the Department of Economy and Finance of the Community of Madrid warned that 60% of the scales were rigged, almost 90% of the establishments do not report the price per gram of gold and almost half do not provide the client no document or proof of the transaction carried out.

97% of customers who pawn get their jewelry back

In 2020, 97% of the customers of Fundación Montemadrid's Montemadrid network got their jewelry back, since in many cases they have a high sentimental value. However, the remaining 3% were auctioned. If the jewel reaches a price higher than the amount owed in the auction, the remaining amount, after deducting the expenses, is paid to the owner of the piece.

Pawning technological items?

Santiago Gil, director of Fundación Montemadrid's Montemadrid Forest network, has assured this newspaper that they have been considering the option of incorporating the pawning of technological items, such as tablets , computers or mobile phones. "They are already doing that in other countries, like Mexico," he says.

However, Gil maintains that the philosophy of Montemadrid, which has delegations in different cities in Spain, is to focus on jewels. "Most Spaniards have jewelry in their homes, which do not lose value, unlike technological items, and also have a high sentimental value for them, something that does not happen with a computer," he explains. For all these reasons, he concludes, "at the moment we do not plan to incorporate this possibility."