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Estimates on a diamond? Rising value?

GeliL

Shiny_Rock
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Oct 30, 2018
Messages
276
Hi all,

I am a rather recently lurker of this forum and I just want to pop on here to gain some collective knowledge about a particular diamond that's in my possession. It's a family member's diamond and I am more of a coloured gem gal so I don't really know much about diamonds...I'd appreciate your help on evaluating it.

The diamond is purchased some years ago at a rather hefty price. Here are the specs:

Measurements: 6.54 - 6.56 x 3.96 mm
Carat Weight: 1.02 carat
Color Grade: D
Clarity Grade: IF
Excellent for Cut, Polish, Symmetry
Fluorescence: None

Depth: 60.5%
Table: 58%
Crown Angle: 33.5
Crown Height: 14.0
Pavilion Angle: 41.2
Pavilion Depth: 43.5
Star Length: 55
Lower Half: 75%
Girdle: Thin to Medium, Faceted, 3.0%
Culet: None

She's wondering if this diamond is worth more now than say, 5 years ago.

She wants to know if her diamond is worth keeping in terms of market value. I've done some research on my own for her, and it doesn't seem like the value has exactly risen much, granted the diamond was purchased at a high-end branded store so she might have overpaid. Is around 20,000 the highest a diamond like this would go normally?

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:

Chv

Rough_Rock
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Oct 27, 2018
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Has it been GIA graded?
 

kindred

Brilliant_Rock
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958
If it is part of a piece of jewelry from a high end brand it may be worth quite a bit more based on the name brand than it would as a loose stone.
 

GeliL

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Messages
276
If it is part of a piece of jewelry from a high end brand it may be worth quite a bit more based on the name brand than it would as a loose stone.

It is a higher end brand but still not close to anything like Cartier or Tiffany&co. It is currently in a solitaire setting with platinum. I think it was one of those "choose your diamond & your setting" deals?
 

Krisking

Shiny_Rock
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She's wondering if this diamond is worth more now than say, 5 years ago.

I think the short answer is no, unfortunately. Market values fluctuate up and down over time. A superideal 1 ct D IF is currently about $20K, and a more average cut is about $5-10K on the retail market. Expect to get about 70-85% of retail when selling pre-loved.
 

GeliL

Shiny_Rock
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Oct 30, 2018
Messages
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I think the short answer is no, unfortunately. Market values fluctuate up and down over time. A superideal 1 ct D IF is currently about $20K, and a more average cut is about $5-10K on the retail market. Expect to get about 70-85% of retail when selling pre-loved.

Yeah, that's what I think as well. Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think diamond has as much of an investment value as other kinds of gems. They seem to hold the value pretty well, but not if you want it for collection purposes at a 1ct size. Rarer stones like rubies, sapphires and jadeite seem to be better for investment.Or I might just think that because I love those more than diamonds.:tongue:
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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These days few people would pay $20,000 for a 1 carat diamond even if it is a D colour and IF. Generally people prefer to reduce colour and clarity to get a larger size diamond.
Add in that the very realistic “look a likes” (Moissanite) is less than $500 a carat and that now lab grown diamonds by De Beers are selling for $900 a carat AND a resurgence in favor of coloured gems, a $20,000 1 carat diamond isn’t on many people shopping list.
Coloured gems, if rare and desirable will hold their value better.
If you have a vintage unheated Kashmir sapphire or an unheated Burmese Ruby, well those prices are unlikely to ever go down. There is a definite scarcity and an increased desire for such gems. Kashmir sapphires, as such, haven’t been found for nearly 100 years and old Burmese rubies are rare and highly sought after as well.
That said, most gemstones us “ordinary” consumers buy aren’t “investment grade size and type”, the best we usually hope for is to not lose too much money if we decide to sell.
 

OoohShiny

Ideal_Rock
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ChristineRose

Brilliant_Rock
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I think the short answer is no, unfortunately. Market values fluctuate up and down over time. A superideal 1 ct D IF is currently about $20K, and a more average cut is about $5-10K on the retail market. Expect to get about 70-85% of retail when selling pre-loved.

Unfortunately it's even trickier. Selling pre-loved means selling on forums aimed at individuals like here on PS or I Do Now I Don't and some similar places. It's time consuming and somewhat risky.

The supply chain for diamonds is quite narrow. Diamonds come from mines, then from cutters, then from a handful of wholesalers, then retailers. Many of the really special diamonds are sold before anyone even knows they existed. A preloved stone will be sold to a wholesaler, who will send it back to the cutters where it will be evaluated and polished possibly recut to maximize its market value, then it enters the supply chain like everything else.

Pawn shops and jewelers do resell their stones in house. But if they have a glut of 1 carat stones then they have to sell some of them back to wholesalers and of course they need to make a profit, as does everyone else on the supply chain. And every jeweler has access to the memo system, aka the virtual inventory system. It's a very long list of diamonds owned by jewelers all over the world who are willing to ship a stone to another jeweler and split the profit.

The bottom line is that you will be lucky to get 30% of your purchase price, and if you purchased it from a chain like Kay's (as opposed to a discount dealer like Blue Nile) it will be more like 10%.
 

ringo865

Ideal_Rock
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For $20k I’d rather have a 2+ carat JSI stone than a 1ct DIF. But the money is already spent. Put it into a pendant and buy a new diamond for a ring. You won’t get $20k selling a used DIF diamond.
 

GeliL

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Messages
276
Wow! Thanks everyone for the really helpful replies! I think it might be better kept as another piece of jewelry or to be pass down to the family if they don't want to purchase new diamonds.

That said, I love shopping in the preloved bargain places myself, so I guess buying gems at the retail price isn't worth much investment to begin with.
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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While it may not be a financial investment, unlike most consumer “objects” it will last forever and no matter how many times you look at it, it’s beauty will never diminish and as a heirloom can it can be handed down generation after generation.
That is a significant “value”.
 

GeliL

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 30, 2018
Messages
276
I think the main thing is someone told her that the diamond is worth twice as much now? So she probably thinks that it's worth more.

Regardless, the money is spent and it is a pretty diamond. If she no longer wants the ring, it's probably better for her to set it into something like a necklace and appreciate the beauty of it than to sell it and expect some profit. We all love the bling after all.
 
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