Hi-
A customer of mine has a diamond solitaire ring she would like to
sell. I don’t work with diamonds, but would like to refer her to a
reputable buyer. Can anyone tell me whom I might refer her to? She
has a 3.19 ct round SI1 with a ‘J’ color rating. She has a GIA report
to go with it.
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Diana Hara
I have been away from the forum for a few days so I didn’t see this
post till now.
Selling a diamond back into the trade can be very frustrating. As you
might guess selling diamonds back to a wholesaler is always a shock
to the client. First, we all know the market is crap now. Second,
although it is large and large diamonds are harder to find, it is a
lower clarity and color. Both of those issues will affect price, and
it really depends on the make of the stone as well. If it is a really
good cut and faces up nicely then the color becomes less of an issue.
Great cut can brighten a lower color up so that it doesn’t look as
dark.
So now you take it to the jeweler or wholesaler and he offers you a
really bad price, probably about 65% of its wholesale value, if the
potential buyer has a client in mind or has need of the stone to
make a sale then you might do better. If he has to set on the stone
to wait to sell it then it is just a pile of money that can’t be used
until the stone is sold.
It is usually better to hold on to diamonds, they really are not
that good of investments in any short term. If your customer has had
the stone for a long time then the value will have gone up and they
will be happier. If they have only had it a few years, they will be
shocked at its cash value. Having no idea what this diamond looks
like and supposing that it has been cut within the last say 10 years
they might be lucky and get around $15,000 for the stone, BUT like I
said I haven’t seen it, it could be a low end SI1, be a really old
stone and poorly cut and have other issues, then it could go much
lower very fast; if it is a fantastic cut and all other things are
great, the buyer has someone waiting to buy it from him, then you
might get closer to $20,000.
It is just too hard to say. Write back where you are, in the
southeast of west or NY etc and I can give you a couple of names of
wholesalers who do buy stones from individuals.
Good luck,