Valuing Diamonds etc

trepasers

Hello

Friend of mine was just wondering is there any where in Galway that will value diamonds etc.

Fey!

Wherever they bought them would be a good place to start. A lot of jewellers will no longer take in pieces for valuation that they didn't sell themselves.

trepasers

yes see the thing is they didnt buy the piece in Ireland

biko

Try these from www.jewelleryvaluationsireland.ie/jewellers/

ladhrann

Fey! wrote: »

Wherever they bought them would be a good place to start. A lot of jewellers will no longer take in pieces for valuation that they didn't sell themselves.

You'd want to be careful about that. There are different types of valuation, one based on the replacement value and the other on the sale value. So it depends if your mate wants a piece of paper for an item to be added to an insurance policy or an indication of what it can be sold for. Two entirely different figures.

Lapin

Send me the diamonds in the post and I'll give you a price for them.

Fey!

The link Biko posted is very good. He lectures in gemmology in NUIG.

He has a rep on Abbeygate Street. It's the Watch and Jewellery repair centre, which is opposite Buen Appetito on the first floor. He's excellent for repairs, too.


@ladhrann; generally a valuation is gnerally regarded as a valuation for insurance purposes, which is how much it would cost to replace the piece is it was lost or destroyed. I've never come across a valuation for sale.

Park Royal

Auction houses will tell you quick enough.......

thats of course they really are Diamonds....?

Seaneh

Diamonds don't really have a resale value. For example a diamond engagement ring would, generally only be worth whatever the gold/platinum is worth in weight.

Alanerin218

Seaneh wrote: »

Diamonds don't really have a resale value. For example a diamond engagement ring would, generally only be worth whatever the gold/platinum is worth in weight.

This is not true. You are basically saying diamonds are worthless. The value is the same as it was when ti was bought brand new (MINUS the retail markup)

The value is dependent on Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight. The only jewelry that is ever sold on gold weight alone is jewelry with Diamond CHIPS in them and not actually cut and faceted stones. Any good Jeweler should be able to give you an extensive report on the value, but they normally charge for this depending on the value of the piece.

Buglim

Alanerin218 wrote: »

This is not true. You are basically saying diamonds are worthless. The value is the same as it was when ti was bought brand new (MINUS the retail markup)

The value is dependent on Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight. The only jewelry that is ever sold on gold weight alone is jewelry with Diamond CHIPS in them and not actually cut and faceted stones. Any good Jeweler should be able to give you an extensive report on the value, but they normally charge for this depending on the value of the piece.

Sorry but I'm afraid what Seaneh is saying is very true. My mother was a very well known antique jewellery trader. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires etc, they are all worth literally 1/10 of value paid and unless you are well knows in the trade you would probably find them very difficult to sell even for this money (values are based in insurance and not resale).
Unless the piece comes from a famous house or designer, the gold keeping it in place will usually be worth more than the diamond (Sorry ladies but even the full carat is worth less than a gold band)

ladhrann

Alanerin218 wrote: »

This is not true. You are basically saying diamonds are worthless. The value is the same as it was when ti was bought brand new (MINUS the retail markup)

The value is dependent on Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight. The only jewelry that is ever sold on gold weight alone is jewelry with Diamond CHIPS in them and not actually cut and faceted stones. Any good Jeweler should be able to give you an extensive report on the value, but they normally charge for this depending on the value of the piece.

Effectively both posters are correct. The value of a diamond (or other stone) is based on cut, clarity, colour and karat. The mark-up and lack of knowledge of consumers in Ireland means that there is almost no relation between what is paid for it and its resale value.

I have seen an awful lot of engagement rings for sale with valuation certs of E1000+, with auction estimates of E100.

Also I would suggest extreme caution in assuming that the insured value of an item is what will be received by an individual in the event of loss. The insurance company will likely link the award to the price of sourcing an equivalent stone on the open market i.e. at auction.

Fey!

Sorry for all of the quotation, but there is a huge amount of rubbish posted in this thread.

Seaneh wrote: »

Diamonds don't really have a resale value. For example a diamond engagement ring would, generally only be worth whatever the gold/platinum is worth in weight.

Saying that a diamond set ring is only worth the weight of the metal is rubbish. This notion often comes from people going to cash your gold outlets who have no interest in the stones in rings and generally know nothing about them. What you are saying is that 2 similar rings with 2 different sizes/qualities of diamond shuold be the same price as the diamonds are worthless; if the diamonds were worthless, why would there be a price difference?

When it comes to resale you have a few options, which include selling privately, selling at auction, or selling to a shop.

When you sell privately the buyer will generally be looking to spend less than they would in a shop for the same item.

When you sell at auction you are dependent on at least two people at the auction wanting the piece, otherwise you won't have a bidding "war" for it. You also have to factor in the auction houses fees, which are usually between 17% and 20% of the hammer price.

Finally there is selling to a shop, who have to factor in their costs when they buy in, which includes taxes and overheads. If the piece is fairly new, the jeweller will also be selling it as second hand, which will be sold cheaper than new goods.

Alanerin218 wrote: »

This is not true. You are basically saying diamonds are worthless. The value is the same as it was when ti was bought brand new (MINUS the retail markup)

The value is dependent on Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight. The only jewelry that is ever sold on gold weight alone is jewelry with Diamond CHIPS in them and not actually cut and faceted stones. Any good Jeweler should be able to give you an extensive report on the value, but they normally charge for this depending on the value of the piece.

What you say about the 4 C's is correct, but what people regard as diamond "chips" are usually full cut diamonds weighing between 0.005ct and 0.03 ct. These have gotten quite expensive recently due to the use f them in pave settings, and because a lot of jewellery coming out of China use a lot of them; the Chinese are now the biggest users of these size stones.

The report on the diamond will be charged for as doing the report is a professional service. If it is a valuation for insurance then the jeweller usually charges a fee plus a percentage (often €50 + 1%). If it's a stone going to a lab for certification it is usually around €200 per stone plus the cost of removing the stone from the mount and resetting it afterward; a certificate can only be dne on a loose stone.

Buglim wrote: »

Sorry but I'm afraid what Seaneh is saying is very true. My mother was a very well known antique jewellery trader. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires etc, they are all worth literally 1/10 of value paid and unless you are well knows in the trade you would probably find them very difficult to sell even for this money (values are based in insurance and not resale).
Unless the piece comes from a famous house or designer, the gold keeping it in place will usually be worth more than the diamond (Sorry ladies but even the full carat is worth less than a gold band)

I'll refer here to what I said above about how you are going to sell the piece; what you can expect to get will vary according to how you go to sell the piece.

As I said earlier in the thread, valuations are usually for insurance replacement; they deal with how much it would cost to make the same piece of jewellery in the same quality. In insurance the guideline is that the insured party should not make a loss, but at the same time should not make a gain, so they the same as they had. Valuations will also include taxes, so pieces from outside the EU should have a receipt from customs to show that they aren't smuggled, and therefore illegal, goods.

Saying that a 1ct diamond would be worth less than the band it's in is absolute rubbish, even if the stone is a relatively low quality.

ladhrann wrote: »

Effectively both posters are correct. The value of a diamond (or other stone) is based on cut, clarity, colour and karat. The mark-up and lack of knowledge of consumers in Ireland means that there is almost no relation between what is paid for it and its resale value.

I have seen an awful lot of engagement rings for sale with valuation certs of E1000+, with auction estimates of E100.

Also I would suggest extreme caution in assuming that the insured value of an item is what will be received by an individual in the event of loss. The insurance company will likely link the award to the price of sourcing an equivalent stone on the open market i.e. at auction.

Shops have markups, which is how they pay their bills and make some money, which is what they're there to do. To reference a different industry, if you buy a new car, would you expect the garage to buy back the car from you for the same amount you paid at some stage down the road?

Auction estimates are exactly that; estimates. As I said already, the price fetched at auction will depend on how many people are bidding for the piece, if any.

We tell all of our customers nto to buy jewellery for investment; buy it because you like it and will get pleasure from it.

Getting what you paid for your jewellery back will depend on a number of factors, which includes how long you have it, the quality of it, and exchange rates (commodities are usually traded in dollars, which includes precious metals and precious stones).

El_Dangeroso

Thanks for settling that Fey!

(BTW I love your shop, best place to buy gorgeous unique bits of jewellery at a fair price and your service is very good too.)

inisboffin

Fey I know you can't 'advertise' per se, but is your shop near an arch perhaps? Near a blue pub? Or near a joke shop?


Oh wait..or in a mill?

soundbyte

inisboffin wrote: »

Fey I know you can't 'advertise' per se, but is your shop near an arch perhaps? Near a blue pub? Or near a joke shop?


Oh wait..or in a mill?

Beside Buskers, great little shop and great service

Fey!

Such kind descriptions; I never realised we got so many boardsies in!!! Thanks.