Trading Post routinely has so called “investment diamonds” for sale at half the valuation. Typical is this one:
DIAMOND 0.96CT IVS2 Round brilliant with international certificate, EGL, valuation $14000, sell $7200 BONDI
Rings often don’t get half the valuation:
DIAMOND RING 1 carat, bevelled, set in 18 carat white and yellow gold, valuation $13800, need to sell fast $5250 negotiable SYDNEY
What about Canadian diamonds? I know Tiffany’s is setting up its first mining company up North, but haven’t heard Debeers mentioned. Same deal?
Samclem, thanks for your post. It’s good to hear from someone about a topic whose job is dealing with the topic.
To paraphrase, you seem to indicate about 25% on a diamond that you get a ‘good deal’ on and negotiate hard and about 10% for a diamond that you walk in and buy without negotiating.
Don’t ask, these people may be asking for about 50%, but it appears it is still 2-5 times too high.
samclem, do people always have to show a reciept when selling to you? Can people lie and say they bought it for more than they really did? Can you guys at the store tell how much the diamond was bought for, or do you base your buying price on how much you think it will sell for?
Sorry for the hijack. Always wondered how that stuff worked.
To somewhat counter Tris’ hijack, I don’t know about most of the diamonds being sold out there, but I do know that Canadian diamonds are being sold by companies other than DeBeers.
Plus, I don’t think the Aboriginals are suffering at the hands of their agreements.
Some info:
60 Minutes II:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/08/60II/main508384.shtml
Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2002/12/03/rtr812531.html
A piece that complains about the power of aboriginals in coming to agreements to start mines:
http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/pub/papers/2001/pdf/Wolfe(T-19).pdf
BHP owns the Ekati mine in NWT that opened in 1998
http://ekati.bhpbilliton.com/SalesMarketing.asp
De Beers also has a mine in Canada – Snap Lake.
Sounds like you have been reading The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson (excellent book, BTW), but I wouldn’t hold my breath. For industrial and certain other uses, there is still nothing harder or even nearly as hard as diamond. But boy am I glad I didn’t waste money on an engagement ring. Did two months in Europe instead.
ZipperJJ People only have to show us a driver’s license to sell to us.
We decide how much to pay based on a wholesale/retail price sheet that comes out weekly. It tells me that a .50 carat round diamond has a “sheet” price of $2700/carat. So, the stone has a sheet price of $1350. We sell our diamonds to the public for “sheet” price. Most typical stores sell at anywhere from a bit above sheet to double sheet.
A jeweler can buy a diamond from a wholesaler at anywhere from half of sheet to 70% of sheet.
We really don’t care what you paid. Only what the clarity, color and size of the diamond is. And whether it is cut well.
I am the one who started this with the original thread.
I am not trying to get it back for it’s dollar value.
I made the ring from diamonds I inherited from my mom and my grandmother. I am not trying to be petty, I just don’t think my wife deserves it after she has basically spat on it.
This thread is old enough to become a diamond itself, but I thought I’d try my question here anyway. The responses to the original question have been very informative and useful. My question is very similar.
My sister recently gave me our grandmother’s diamond engagement ring. That is what our uncle told my sister when he gave it to her, though it looks to me more like a wedding ring. Neither of us have children and, therefore, have no one to leave this ring to. She gave it to me because I’ve fallen on hard times. I want to sell it, but I’m not quite sure how to proceed.
The ring must be approximately 85 years old, since my grandparents were married sometime around 1928. It’s got 8 diamonds, though it originally had 9. My sister lost one of the diamonds. The ring is made up of the shank, with the primary stone, which looks to be about 1 carat, and 2 smaller diamonds, which might be about .25 carats, one on each side of the largest diamond. One of these are the missing diamond, so there’s actually just the largest diamond, and the (approx.) .25 carat diamond. This slides into the outer part of the ring. I’ve looked all over the internet for the name of this outer part of the ring, but can’t find it. (I’d found it easily a couple of weeks ago. Go figure.) Just naming that part would be helpful. It has 6 very small diamonds, 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. As I mentioned, the main shank slides in and out of this outer band. In other words, the ring has 2 separate parts. Both parts of the setting are 14 carat gold. The diamonds are held in place by claws.
So here are the questions. Would I do better trying to sell the diamonds and the band separately, or leave it intact? What would be the best way to have it appraised? Should I have the diamonds removed and send them to GIA? Do I need to be sure to watch a jeweler with my ring at all times, or are jewelers just naturally an honest bunch? I’m just not sure of the best way to go about this.
I don’t have any illusions about the value of this ring, though to my ignorant eye the diamonds look crystal clear, so I suppose that’s a good start (provided they’re even real.) But still, my grandparents were far more rich in spirit than they were monetarily. I apologize for the length of this. Any insight would be enormously appreciated.
This thread is ten years old. The years haven’t been kind to diamonds.
The diamond market is currently similar to the housing market. More sellers than buyers.
Don’t send your diamond to GIA. Probably you won’t recover the cost of the the cert, unless you have an incredible diamond.
Your 0.25 ct diamond you’ll get about $50 for currently.
I’m not sure how good you are at estimating diamond sizes, so your opinion that you have an approx. 1 ct diamond may be subject to correction.
You possibly have a stone that you’ll get offered $750-$1500 for currently. Depends on color/clarity/cut.
The gold in the bands possibly are worth $100-150, depending on weight. No need to keep the items intact.
Jeweler seldome buy from the public. When they do, you’ll get peeled.,
ginchinchili,
It depends on the ring. I too have a very old diamond ring. The stones being as old as they are aren’t registered and are hand cut and classed as antique. A hand cut diamond has a different sparkle because the cuts are uneven unlike today’s diamonds. Also the settings tend to be unique. I would leave it whole until you learn more.
If you want to sell it alot of jewelers might try and get you to let them go cheap…unless they are honest and have appreciation for old diamonds. I have a pin with 13 diamonds and 32 seed pearls. The diamonds are large. A jeweler offered me 2 - 300 for it. I said no (and still have it). Another jeweler said the stones and pearls were worth at least 2000 and being an antique maybe 3000. I found a similar pin at Rubylane.com for 1000 and it sold.
When it comes to old diamond jewelry it’s a matter of finding the right market. First get some good photos and do a little write up. Include the history of the ring. It can be a selling point as well. Check out Ruby Lane. It is a great research tool. Many of the sellers there are very helpful if you have questions. Also research vintage/antique diamond jewelry on line. I know when I researched my diamonds I found alot of helpful sites. The price range will amaze you. Like I said it depends on who is looking at it.
I actually sold a 2" tall cat made of cat hair from a hairless cat (he got patches in the Winter). It was held together with hairspray. To be honest I didn’t expect it to sell…it was kinda a joke. My cat and I made $70.00. Two people paid 35!!! They said it was the most unique piece of Sphynx related art they had ever seen… Like I said show it to the right people.
Good Luck!
I tried editing my message, but I waited too long. I just wanted to stress that most jewelers are honest. Unfortunately where I live 3 out of the 4 places I have dealt with have been somewhat dishonest and …I don’t know… they wanted my jewelry and did some things that I found were not in my best interest.
Where I used to live there were several family run stores who were wonderful to deal with. Some stores will let you put the ring for sale in their stores on consignment too. If you can find a jeweler that deals in antiques it may make a difference as well. Just be upfront about wanting info because you may sell the ring. Let them know you appreciate their time.