Business Spotlight: Penn-West Gold & Diamond Company

Even though the price of gold has dropped from its all-time high of more than $1,900 an ounce, Daniel Dastranj still sees a steady stream of customers at his Penn-West Gold & Diamond Company shop located at 8224 Perry Highway in McCandless.

At today's prices, gold is trading for about $1,574 an ounce, and that's more than enough incentive for many people to clean out their jewelry boxes, dresser drawers, or safe-deposit boxes.

The shop opened in August of 2012. Dastranj, along with partner Chris Pfender, opened a second store in January in Bridgeville.

While many of his customers want to sell gold and silver, Dastranj says the big money is in diamonds.

"We paid someone over seven grand for a piece of diamond, he said. "Diamonds are more precious, a 2-caret diamond could be worth $5,000 to $6,000, depending on the clarity, size, and shape, everything matters when it comes to diamonds."

Dastranj says some of his more regular customers are people who buy up all kinds of things at flea markets, estate sales, and thrift stores.

"I have a lady who comes here, approximately three times a month with items she's bought at sales. She leaves it with me and I go through it," he said. "If there's any gold I separate it, if there's any silver, I separate it. Then I weigh it, and according to the weight, I pay the money. We also buy coins and old watches." 

With so many companies out there offering to buy gold and silver, Dastranj says it pays to shop around. However, he is skeptical of anyone, particularly large chain stores, which promise to pay the most for precious metals.

"We all sell for the same price, to refiners, so the person who has least amount of overhead, can truly afford to pay the most," he said. 

Dastranj's McCandless location doubles as a gallery for his paintings, which are available for purchase. 

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