Another thread is about a diamond necklace. This reminded me…
My mom gave me her wedding ring when I got engaged, saying I could give it to my fiancée. She said it cost $13,000. Like the poster in the other thread, I know nothing of jewelry. Can a 2 kt. diamond in a chunk of gold really be ‘worth’ 13 kilobucks?
How do I go about having it appraised?
What the hell am I going to do with the thing, now that I’m no longer engaged and probably never will be?
Yep. A really nice, above average, 2ct diamond can retail for that much. Of course, it’s more of a question of “how much can I sell this diamond for.” :eek:
Lotta difference.
That’s rather cynical! (It’s also exactly what I was thinking! 
)
If you really want a cheap appraisal, take it to a pawnshop and ask how much you can get.
It will be “worth” about 4x that. If you found the right market, you could sell it for more.
Anyway this formula used to work. I haven’t actually been to a pawnship in a long time. But the intake people used to really know their stuff when it came to diamonds.
How much does an appraisal cost? Do you just go to any jewelry store?
Diamond resale sucks, though - thank the DeBeers family and their amazing marketing. Nobody wants a used diamond.
Would a woman (in general, of course) even want a “used” wedding ring handed down from not her fiancee’s mom?
There mysteries about this whole thing I still don’t understand. 
I’m a nice cubic zirconia and two week trip to Europe kind of person.
And I’m terribly romantic. To a fault, I’ve been told.
Peace,
mangeorge
Informative. Thanks.
I’m not looking to sell it, BTW. I’m just curious about it.
Check and see if Antiques Roadshow is coming near you. The schedule is out in January, I think.
Let us know if you get on the show. 
Two karats? That’s a big diamond! If you’re not looking to sell it, you can always get it re-set (either for yourself, or for a future fiancée).
Give it back to your mother? Or keep it and give it to a nephew or niece when the time comes.
Or, put it on a nice chain and hang it from the rear view mirror of your Seneca?
My buddy at the pawn shop sold me a ring for $1200 for the missus and we went and got it appraised and the replacement value was $10,500. It was a .91ct VVS1 color F set in platinum. So a 2ct rock going for $13k seems within reach.
Keep in mind that there are roughly 4 different values that can be assigned to an item by an appraisal. It’s important to know which one you are being given.
Retail Value (MSRP) = The price you would likely find it offered for sale in a retail establishment. Usually inflated, and rarely is anything of value sold for that price.
Replacement Value = What it would cost to replace the item if it were lost or stolen. Generally used for insurance purposes and is typically a fair indicator of what you as a willing buyer could be expected to pay without doing a lot of comparison shopping and/or negotiating. Generally a bit lower than full retail.
Typical Sales Value = What you could reasonably expect to sell it for on the open market given sufficient time and effort. A bit lower still, since most individuals don’t have the resources or ready customer base that a retail establishment would.
Actual Cash Value (Distressed Value) = What you can sell it for right here, right now, for cash money. Think selling it at the pawn shop, to a friend or neighbor, or to some stranger on the street to raise money for a bail bond, drug fix, etc. This would be the bare minimum, rock bottom value placed on a given item.
Depending on the item being sold and the current economic situation, there can be a tremendous difference between each of those values. It also helps show that the “value” of an item often depends on whether you are buying or selling.
What’s left of my mom is in a box somewhere at my sister’s house. I don’t think she can use it. I’ll have to see how my nephew grows up.
When I type up appraisals of coins and jewelry for probate, I usually call this “fair-market” value. It’s what stands the test of the IRS for tax purposes.
Yeah, Fair Market Value, that’s what I was trying to remember but the brain fart kept getting in the way. Thanks samclem.
That’s what you get for sticking beans in your ears!
(I got that from my daughter :D)