Hello friends – long time reader, first time poster.
I’m having an issue with determining the appraisal value and quality of the diamond in my engagement ring, and would be thankful for any advice you can provide.
It’s a long story, so please bear with me
My ring is 16 years old, and at the time of purchase, my now hubby went to a diamond seller and custom ring mak. At the time, I really didn’t want to pick out my own diamond, as I felt that he should go and choose it for me. I also didn’t feel comfortable telling him how much he should be spending on the diamond, so I pretty much left it to him to take care of. My understanding is that he didn’t shop around much but only went to the one jeweler.
Anyhow, he chose a diamond, I chose a very simple setting from the same jeweler, and when diamond was mounted in the setting, he went to pick it up at the jeweler by himself. He seems to recall being given some “paperwork” with the ring, but (and if you knew him, you would know that this isn’t surprising at all) he seems to have since lost all of it. (As a side note, we did not live together at the time. If we did, the paperwork would have been appropriately filed away and I would still definitely have it LOL).
Anyway, I did recently (and miraculously!) find a hand-written receipt from the jeweler for the diamond and ring and here is what it says:
Clarity – VVS2
Carat – 0.47
Colour – E
And, this isnt written on the receipt, but the cut of the diamond itself is round.
This receipt also says he put down a deposit of $575.00 and he seems to remember that he paid half up front, and the remaining half was paid when he picked up the ring. If he is remembering correctly, that would bring the total price for the ring to $1150.00 but this final total is not shown on the receipt. So… this receipt seems to have been given to him at the time of the deposit, and not the final pick up, when he would have paid the outstanding amount.
Not sure if this matters with respect to the price, but the ring itself is a plain platinum band that is a bit thicker than a typical e-ring width (according to my admittedly not-very-scientific measurements, its about 2mm wide).
A few other details that the hubby “seems to remember”:
- The jeweler told him the diamond was mined in Canada and had a “polar bear” inscription (but the inscription was not shown to my hubby)
- The jeweler told him that the appraisal was done by GemScan (but hubby doesn’t recall the appraisal value and of course, we have no paperwork to prove this)
To round-out this mess and make things even more interesting, the jeweler has since gone out of business, so its not like I can go back to them to get some kind of reappraisal or for any kind of trade-in.
So just to recap:
1. I (allegedly!) have a VVS2, E colour , 0.47 carat round diamond that may or may not be a Canadian-mined, Polar Bear inscribed diamond which is set in a platinum plain band ring which is about 2mm wide.
2. I do not have any official certificates/appraisal documentation for the diamond itself.
3. I have a hand written receipt provided at the time of the deposit for the ring, which only states the information provided in number 1 above (but that does not describe the diamond as a round cut – I can only rely on my eyeballs for that…)
4. I do not know whether the diamond is inscribed at this time
5. The ring may cost a total of $1150.00 in 1999
6. The diamond may or may not have been appraised by GemScan
7. The jeweler where the ring was custom made and from whom the diamond was purchased in 1999 has since gone out of business
What are the odds that I will ever be able to find out the quality and value of this diamond considering the above circumstances, and if that is even remotely possible, how would I go about doing so?
You may be wondering why I care all of a sudden after 16 years, and my only answer is that while this has definitely been bothering me for 16 years, I only recently decided to look into it and do something about it….which is not really an excuse, I know. Better late than never, is all I can say!
Thank you for any advice you can give!
NWPS99
I’m having an issue with determining the appraisal value and quality of the diamond in my engagement ring, and would be thankful for any advice you can provide.
It’s a long story, so please bear with me
My ring is 16 years old, and at the time of purchase, my now hubby went to a diamond seller and custom ring mak. At the time, I really didn’t want to pick out my own diamond, as I felt that he should go and choose it for me. I also didn’t feel comfortable telling him how much he should be spending on the diamond, so I pretty much left it to him to take care of. My understanding is that he didn’t shop around much but only went to the one jeweler.
Anyhow, he chose a diamond, I chose a very simple setting from the same jeweler, and when diamond was mounted in the setting, he went to pick it up at the jeweler by himself. He seems to recall being given some “paperwork” with the ring, but (and if you knew him, you would know that this isn’t surprising at all) he seems to have since lost all of it. (As a side note, we did not live together at the time. If we did, the paperwork would have been appropriately filed away and I would still definitely have it LOL).
Anyway, I did recently (and miraculously!) find a hand-written receipt from the jeweler for the diamond and ring and here is what it says:
Clarity – VVS2
Carat – 0.47
Colour – E
And, this isnt written on the receipt, but the cut of the diamond itself is round.
This receipt also says he put down a deposit of $575.00 and he seems to remember that he paid half up front, and the remaining half was paid when he picked up the ring. If he is remembering correctly, that would bring the total price for the ring to $1150.00 but this final total is not shown on the receipt. So… this receipt seems to have been given to him at the time of the deposit, and not the final pick up, when he would have paid the outstanding amount.
Not sure if this matters with respect to the price, but the ring itself is a plain platinum band that is a bit thicker than a typical e-ring width (according to my admittedly not-very-scientific measurements, its about 2mm wide).
A few other details that the hubby “seems to remember”:
- The jeweler told him the diamond was mined in Canada and had a “polar bear” inscription (but the inscription was not shown to my hubby)
- The jeweler told him that the appraisal was done by GemScan (but hubby doesn’t recall the appraisal value and of course, we have no paperwork to prove this)
To round-out this mess and make things even more interesting, the jeweler has since gone out of business, so its not like I can go back to them to get some kind of reappraisal or for any kind of trade-in.
So just to recap:
1. I (allegedly!) have a VVS2, E colour , 0.47 carat round diamond that may or may not be a Canadian-mined, Polar Bear inscribed diamond which is set in a platinum plain band ring which is about 2mm wide.
2. I do not have any official certificates/appraisal documentation for the diamond itself.
3. I have a hand written receipt provided at the time of the deposit for the ring, which only states the information provided in number 1 above (but that does not describe the diamond as a round cut – I can only rely on my eyeballs for that…)
4. I do not know whether the diamond is inscribed at this time
5. The ring may cost a total of $1150.00 in 1999
6. The diamond may or may not have been appraised by GemScan
7. The jeweler where the ring was custom made and from whom the diamond was purchased in 1999 has since gone out of business
What are the odds that I will ever be able to find out the quality and value of this diamond considering the above circumstances, and if that is even remotely possible, how would I go about doing so?
You may be wondering why I care all of a sudden after 16 years, and my only answer is that while this has definitely been bothering me for 16 years, I only recently decided to look into it and do something about it….which is not really an excuse, I know. Better late than never, is all I can say!
Thank you for any advice you can give!
NWPS99
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