How do you sell a found diamond ring?

A friend of mine found a diamond ring in a parking lot and has
exhausted all avenues of finding the owner. How do you go about
selling something asvaluable as this? I have never dealt with this
situation before. He took it to a jeweler and was told it was worth
$10,000. Since he lives several states away I haven’t even seen it.
I would pass on any advice you would give. Thanking you sincerely.

I’m guessing that the price the store gave is retail. Your friend
can expect to get maybe 1/3rd of that value at best. The best bet is
an auction house or a diamond broker.

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

he could take it to that jeweler and see if s/he wants to buy it,
but your friend isn’t going to get $10K for it. to a jeweler it is
only worth parts.

I sold an engagement ring for some friends of mine, who after
breaking up could not trust each other. they paid $8K for it, I
estimated the cost of the diamonds and gold for me to be about $2K,
and that is what a jeweler nearby paid for it.

john

I would suggest that sense you are in the USA you have your friend
send the ring to the GIA or a qualified GIA appraiser and get a
certified appraisal ofthe value. Yes it will cost him a few $'s but
well worth the expense. That way he will know the real wholesale
value og the stone not the pond shopvalue of the stone. They will
need to ask for the wholesale value not the retail value or
insurance value…

My suggestion.

A friend of mine found a diamond ring in a parking lot and has
exhausted all avenues of finding the owner. How do you go about
selling something asvaluable as this? I have never dealt with this
situation before. He took it to a jeweler and was told it was
worth $10,000. Since he lives several states away I haven't even
seen it. 

Well it’s finders keepers here in Australia. just as long as you
turn the found item into the Police. If no one collects it in a given
time frame it’s yours.

He can take it to a pawn broker, sell it for the metal value, or
give it to a jeweller to be re-modeled.

The jeweller would have said it would have been worth $10,000 to
make it new, not the actual value, which would be a lot less.

Regards Charles A.

Another option is an auction company such as Skinner in the Boston
area.

Years ago we had a 5 kt. old mine cut diamond from my mother. We
took it to several jewelers and it was appraised for replacement
value at $10K by all. It was set in platinum and appraised for sale
at $5K by Skinner at auction and that was the amount for which it
sold. Keep in mind that auction houses charge a fee for handling the
sale in this case was about 20%. Skinner has an auction twice a year
for fine jewelry. I probably would contact the auction folks for
comparison with the value of the parts. Good luck.

MA

Perhaps the Diamond itself has been inscribed. Has it been checked?
I agree GIA to determine actual value of the stone, size, color and
clarity.

Terrie

Vernon,
GIA doesn’t do appraisals.

Teresa, I totally agree with you on this note.

If the stone has a “3x” in it’s GIA description, it’ll be worth that
much more $$…‘3X’ means “Exceptional Cut, Quality, Symmetry”. There
are a lot of variables in checking out a ‘found stone’.

Even look under a claw/prong if the Laser inscription has been
partially covered by accident. It’ll be worth your time investigating
how it was made… big time $$$!!! Gerry Lewy

To further this note on GIA, & it’s reporting of a stone. even
unseen. I was working as a setter, we shared an office, he had a
client in Toronto who wanted a 5.00 carat stone. My friend showed him
a “GIA, Pre-Cert” meaning a Pre-Certificate for loose stones. That
stone was still sitting in Belgium.

The client actually bought the stone ‘unseen’, just based on viewing
the ‘cert’. How important are these reports? The sale spoke for
itself. When the stone finally arrived, he had it re-appraised again
just to make sure it was the same stone from the GIA report.

Three months ago, I sold a 2.25 carat diamond ‘unseen’, just from
the GIA-Cert. Gerry Lewy.

Terrie,

GIA does not do appraisals or evaluations, only certifications of
quality, (color, clarity, etc.), not value.

Jerry from Kodiak (currently in Bangkok)

You bring it to the police station where it was found. It’s not the
finder’s property.