suggestions please

[g2man]

I have a diamond engagement ring that is .91ct/E/VS1 and a very nice cut. My ex-fiance while she had it used to get so many compliments about her ring. Well since she is "ex", I have the ring and it''s been sitting in my safe deposit box for the last 4 years.

Now I am finally thinking of making use of it again. I bought it from a mall jeweler so I did pay top price for it of about $5K for the diamond alone in ''98. The store has a trade-in policy that you must spend 2x your cost to get the trade-in value. The manager said they would work with me, meaning the 2x cost was not set in stone.

What kind of bothered me was that the manager said you cannot even buy a .91 today for $5K...remember this is a mall jeweler. So that tells me that she is saying the price of diamonds has gone up in the last 6 years, but my trade-in value is locked in at original cost. I''m beginning to think I''m going to get screwed on this trade-in deal.

Right after I broke up with the ex-fiance in 2000, I took the ring to a broker and he offered me $2K for it. He said it was a beautiful stone but he could only pay $2K for it which is understandable cause he needs to make money when he sells it. I wasn''t willing to take $2K for it so I put it in a safe deposit box.

I''d keep the diamond since I really like it but it has bad karma. My next option is take the trade-in deal at the mall. I don''t mind spending another $3K or so, meaning I could get a $8K diamond at mall prices. I''ve looked online at whiteflash and you can get a H&A 1ct E/F VS1/VS2 for about that price. I know that mall store carries H&A diamonds, not sure whose ones, but would that make sense?

The hard part is getting rid of the old diamond and getting reasonable value for it. I could donate it to a charity auction and take the FMV as a tax deduction but that would only be like selling it for about $3K.

Any suggestions? TIA.

 

[quaeritur]

I'm sorry about your predicament... you can do a search on here for past suggestions on how to sell a diamond. You are more thank likely going to take a loss, no matter which route you choose.

I can tell you that I just purchased a diamond from WhiteFlash (0.91 E SI1) from their expert selection for under $4000, so Mr. Maul Guy is definitely not being totally candid with you...

 

[Dancing Fire]

g2man
keep the old stone,don't throw any more good money at mall jeweler,you got 3k to spend ? that should buy a nice stone from one of the vendors here on p.s. or maybe work with a vendor here to take your old stone as trade in.is the stone certified ?

 

[CaptAubrey]

sounds simple to me. first try to decide how much you feel like spending without taking the trade-in into account. figure out what you could get for that much. then compare it to what you would get using the trade-in. pick whichever option looks better.




it's kind of like having a 50% off coupon you can only spend at a place that's priced higher than everywhere else.

 

[MelanieC]

This is a tough one, but I would say be very careful of what you are getting if you trade it in for another mall stone. Mall Jewelers tend to have very high prices for a lot of horrible stones. I know you got your last one there, and an E/VS1 is awesome. Also if they have H&A's that is cool. What mall store has H&A's? I know there are some higher end stores in some malls (Like Robbins Diamonds in Philadelphia & NJ- The Robbins 8th & Walnut stores. Cartier has a store in the King of Prussia Mall outside Philadelphia and I am sure that there are a few other good ones out there.

Just be careful what you get. Make sure it's a good cert - IGI's are pretty bad. I saw an IGI diamond today that said H/I and the diamond was so yellow it looked like pee!

Now if you an get a H&A Ideal cut from a decent store- then spending 3000 more to get a nice size diamond might be good! Let us know.

 

[g2man]

Another option is to buy the diamond I want online, then give the diamond I have to her as a pendant later on.

You guys believe in this bad karma stuff? Should I just get rid of the old rock?

 

[quaeritur]

----------------
On 7/29/2004 8:16:10 PM g2man wrote:

Another option is to buy the diamond I want online, then give the diamond I have to her as a pendant later on.

You guys believe in this bad karma stuff? Should I just get rid of the old rock?----------------

Didn't someone once suggest that having the stone re-cut could exorcise it?

You could have it recut into an EightStar, or maybe another branded cut like Venus by Infinity (would Paul do this?), and then give her an AWESOME pendant that lights up the room!

 

[Gale]

You know, she does not have to know the pedigree of that existing stone. OK, that sounds very, very cheesy. However, you have already mentioned purchasing a different stone for her engagement ring, and then setting the existing stone in a pendant. To me that sounds practical and sensible. Why should you suffer a loss for the old ering stone? Make it into a pendant, as you mentioned, just don't give it to your beloved for a special occasion like your anniversary, her birthday and so on. I hope I don't sound callous here, but, that's a lot of money to throw away, when you don't have to.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I might be alone here, but what women wouldn't be happy with the beautiful diamond you describe, regardless of its origin? You mention bad "karma" which I take to mean there is little good sentiment attached to this ring (vs. if it was your Mom's of Grandma's); then why not take the diamond out of the "ring" and present the unmounted diamond to your girl and have her choose the setting of her desire. Since she had "no say" in the choosing of the center stone suggest to her that the "sky's the limit" for semi-mounts.
Barring that--recuts, pendants and right hand rings are certainly viable options.

Good luck on your decision and search.

cheers

Sharon