Originally Posted by Perche

Sort of agree. Buyer beware. If OP is just looking for gold, there's no point. If OP is looking for gold jewelry, there's no reason to buy it in Florence. Florence, like Venice, has its famous bridge. In Venice the Ponte Rialto is full of junk shops where tourists get completely fleeced, and go home thinking they scored a great piece of art. Yet, amid all of that junk on Ponte Rialto if you want a cameo piece there is a true artist named Eredi Jovon right on the bridge. Nothing is fake, and it is all true art.

San Marco is full of junk, but a few blocks away is a guy who makes handcrafted eyeglasses, almost each a one of a kind, and without question when you come back to the states everyone will make comments about how beautiful they are. You will even have strangers walking by you and here them say, "did you see those glasses, how beautiful!"

Florence is the same. Nothing but junk on Ponte Vecchio, and 98% of tourist come home with overpriced junk. But there on the bridge is Fratelli Picini, a true artisanal family that makes top of the line handcrafted jewelry such that you won't find anywhere else in the world.

As with restaurants, you just have to know where to go. I go to Florence for leather. My day to day office bag is Florentine leather. My travel luggage is leather. Florence is famous for leather, therefore 95% of it is fake, made in China, or in sweatshops in Tuscany using virtual slave labor. Just like Venice is famous for glass, but it's almost all made in China and sold as authentic. If you know to go to places like Scuola del Cuoio in Florence to get your leather, you can do very well. BTW, they called me a few weeks ago to tell me that they just opened up their first new store outside of Florence, located in NYC, and told me that I don't need to go to Florence anymore to get their stuff. Unfortunately, I'm not in NYC very much.

My take is that there is no purpose going to Florence and specifically looking to buy gold, so I agree with that. I also agree that if OP is going to Florence and looking to buy gold jewelry, he or she is almost certain to get ripped off. If OP is a little more explicit than just saying he wants to buy gold in Florence, people can help ward him away from the tourist traps.