2nd hand Diamond Ring Guide Price

tonic wine

My wife has fell in love with a diamond ring she saw on the window of a secondhand jewelary shop.

The diamond is 1.5ct, colour F and VS2 clarity.

Is there anyway i could find out how much it is actually worth before going into the shop to make an offer.

Any other advice about buying the ring would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

Sleepy

What a ring is worth, and what a jeweller will sell it for are two wildly different things.

They're unlikely to let you to take it elsewhere for an appraisal so if it's what she really wants, best bet is to haggle hard for it. The margin on jewellery is huge so don't be afraid to pitch a really low offer at them, it's certainly not unusual to get hundreds off the ticket price of a ring.

For example: a jeweller re-sizing my fiancée's ring gave me a ballpark valuation for it (I asked since we got hers from an antique store on eBay) which was multiples of what I'd paid but told me the shop next door would have had a price tag of 50% more than that valuation if they were selling it. So, from my experience, don't be afraid to bid them below 66% of the ring's ticket price (probably best done out of earshot of your fiancée!).

tonic wine

Sleepy wrote: »

The margin on jewellery is huge so don't be afraid to pitch a really low offer at them.
from my experience, don't be afraid to bid them below 66% of the ring's ticket price (probably best done out of earshot of your fiancée!).

Thanks for your reply. Being a 2nd hand ring, i know the shop doesn't give the person that owns the ring a penny until it has sold, so i would guess the margin on the ring would not be that much as the person will want to shift it on

Saying that, i'm hoping they just want to cash in on it, so i may make a cheeky offer, but i don't think id have the courage to pitch in at 66% asking price.

I know all they can say is no, but they may think i'm wasting there time if i go in with an extremely low offer. I was thinking offering 75%, but didn't know if that was even too low

Sleepy

Generally an antiques dealer will have bought the ring from the owner already surely?

As you said, what's the worst they can say if you lowball? Laugh at the offer? Watch you start walking out the door before counter-offering or asking you to "make a real offer" at which point you can still offer the 75%...

In general, if you're not embarrassed by an initial offer, you're offering too much, imho.

DiamondGuy

My advice would be to go in and ask the following questions:

Is stone certified or uncertified? If certified, by which body - GIA, IGi, HRD, EGL etc. If uncertified, who decided on the specifications?

Is the stone an old cut or modern round brilliant? Old cuts can cost up to 30% less.

If certified, ask for a copy of the certificate so you can study the specifications at home, the cert will outline cut, polish, symmetry, fluorescence- these factors can make a significant differences to the value of the stone.

Is the stone eye clean? Can you see visible inclusions? Ask can you look at the stone with a loupe (10 times magnification), you may be able to see the inclusions and their location with the loupe, then look for these inclusions without the loupe, if you can see them the stone is not eye clean and price drops significantly.

Ask to see the stone in natural light without the LED lights of a shop.

Take this information away with you study it, do some more research on the specifications and the values and return then with our offer.

Hope that helps.

tonic wine

DiamondGuy wrote: »

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Hope that helps.

Thank you very much, i'll do all this before making an offer.

Sleepy wrote: »

In general, if you're not embarrassed by an initial offer, you're offering too much, imho.

^^ I like that, i'll remember that one in future