Buying a diamond ring from a Coin & Jewelry store. Thoughts?

[iheartsparkly]

I'm interested in purchasing a 3 stone (~1 total cw) diamond ring for my right hand, size 4 ring finger at a bargain. I went to a nearby coin & jewelry store and spotted a few rings. The one that caught my eye was roughly $750, color "L", clarity "S2", cut ?? I think these were estimates and not associated with a GIA report. I understand that GIA started grading cuts officially in 2005, so there are probably a lot of secondhand diamonds floating out there with ungraded cuts, especially smaller gems. I know that cut is important, determines sparkle/fire. The diamonds in the ring I was looking at are probably 0.3-0.4 ct each. This is a gift to myself, not meant to be the biggest or most perfect diamond ring ever. My biggest concern in buying a secondhand ring is purchasing a diamond that has been treated/enhanced or vastly overpaying for the quality of the stone. Do I buy a loupe? Buy a hearts and arrow viewer? Buy the ring and have a GIA certified/grad jeweler look at it? Can they even properly assess the diamonds without taking them out of the setting? How should I go about trying to purchase a secondhand ring and knowing what I'm getting without feeling ripped off?

This situation would be different if I had a big budget and was trying to buy a substantially sized ring through a reputable website/store/vendor. Thank you for all input/advice.

 

[Queenie60]

Re: Buying a diamond ring from a Coin & Jewelry store. Thoug

It's difficult to say? I wouldn't buy a second hand ring from a pawn shop type store. You can go to some of the recommended vendors here on priceScope and find something pre loved. Also, go through the pre loved forum on this site. Just be careful purchasing from a second hand store unless you know that they have a great reputation. Good luck to you.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Buying a diamond ring from a Coin & Jewelry store. Thoug

First, I would get a cheap loupe from ebay or Amazon. You may be able to see clarity issues if they are significant enough. Do they have a return policy? If so, getting an appraisal might be a good option, however, just know appraisals typically are overly optimistic. I would be cautious, though, if they are saying SI2 clarity, because that probably means I1 or worse which would be a dealbreaker for me.

 

[ringo865]

Re: Buying a diamond ring from a Coin & Jewelry store. Thoug

I have bought jewelry from pawn stores. I have my own loupe that I use to ascertain the clarity of stones. I have not yet mastered the art visually calculating the perfect angles, but I have learned to tell badly performing stones from better performing ones. Only one stone I found was certified, and came set in a ring with all receipts. And generally I have gotten items for 35-50 percent of retail. Sometimes I'm not sure if what I got is natural or created or synthetic. But the shops I frequent have a 7 day return. I have brought one ruby ring to my local jeweler because the shop sold it as a garnet. I thought it was a ruby but might be lab. Took it to my jeweler who said it was ruby, natural heat only. I was like score!! I would have kept it anyway because it was so pretty and heavy gold setting with diamonds.


So it pays to have some working knowledge, your own loupe, a jeweler who has a microscope and a spectometer (or whatever that was).