Discouraged with options for great grandma’s stone. Input appreciated!

[boomcast]

Hi everyone! So after lurking around on these boards I have diven deep into several projects (well, starting them, anyway) and one that is evading me on how to handle/what to do is the my great grandmother’s wedding ring/diamond.

Intially I was thinking of having it placed in the Barbara pendant from Brian Gavin — I actually have this pendant already with a BG signature .32 stone and was thinking I could do a “flip” of sorts, maybe upgrade that stone and find a matching pair for some studs and then still have my cake and eat it too with the pendant.

The problem is the first step in this is I need an appraisal... and every jeweler I have talked to in my area thus far is saying an appraisal will be more than the diamond is worth and seems relatively unwilling to do it. Lots of talk about the clarity of the stone being not so great (looks fine to me for what it is? ) and that it has a small chip on one of the table’s facets.

I think the stone is very pretty, flashes light and color and if I didn’t have a ring size 3 sizes larger, would proudly and happily wear it. It seems to be a single cut stone, but I’m not 100% on that. I get that most of the value is sentimental, but a diamond is a diamond and I really don’t want the stone/setting (but primarily the stone) to “go to waste.”

So, with all that, any advice? BG said they need the appraisal for the stone and they would credit me the scrap metal price for the gold of the basket of my current Barbara pendant and I could reuse the chain. As I mentioned above, I was looking into either obtaining a match for my current BG signature diamond or possibly upgrading to a matched pair for studs.

Should I just leave this project be? It may be more cost efficient to get the studs separately, taking all this into account. Or maybe just having my great grandma’s stone set in a pendant by a local jeweler and getting the scrap metal price for the BG Barbara basket, then upgrading the diamond(s).

Any help is appreciated! Clearly I need it lol - I want to make sure I’m not overcomplicating things and am going about this the most economical way.

 

[boomcast]

Terrible car pictures because I just left yet ANOTHER jeweler who told me the stone/setting is worthless. Ugh.

 

[bludiva]

Could you have another jeweler put it into a pendant? Maybe a Stuller setting? I had a pendant made not too long ago for an heirloom stone and none of the jewelers I talked to about it asked for an appraisal. There is great sentimental value in that stone if nothing else and you should wear it if you want to.

 

[kgizo]

I second the suggestion for a stuller pendant. Or, would you wear it as a RHR? I’m not clear on what you want to do overall and if you are considering trading in your Barbara pendant for studs or if you want a Barbara, studs and this stone set.
I wouldn’t let the refusals for appraisal discourage you. There is an unfortunate bias that all vintage/antique stones are worthless. I inherited a trannie no jeweler wanted to deal with. When I moved to a bigger city I got it appraised and it is a 1.03 J SI1, which was much better than I was expecting based on the previous jeweler reactions. I live in Dallas and a major diamond dealer told me that they only take in old cut stones of 1ct or greater for trade-ins and when they do they are never even evaluated, they just send them out to be cut into MRBs. It made me so, so sad.

 

[boomcast]

Could you have another jeweler put it into a pendant? Maybe a Stuller setting? I had a pendant made not too long ago for an heirloom stone and none of the jewelers I talked to about it asked for an appraisal. There is great sentimental value in that stone if nothing else and you should wear it if you want to.

Thank you bludiva! I would prefer not to have two pendants if I can manage, although I suppose that might be the easiest solution and then I can work on my BG pendant to studs project separately and without the worry of any appraisal.

 

[boomcast]

I second the suggestion for a stuller pendant. Or, would you wear it as a RHR? I’m not clear on what you want to do overall and if you are considering trading in your Barbara pendant for studs or if you want a Barbara, studs and this stone set.
I wouldn’t let the refusals for appraisal discourage you. There is an unfortunate bias that all vintage/antique stones are worthless. I inherited a trannie no jeweler wanted to deal with. When I moved to a bigger city I got it appraised and it is a 1.03 J SI1, which was much better than I was expecting based on the previous jeweler reactions. I live in Dallas and a major diamond dealer told me that they only take in old cut stones of 1ct or greater for trade-ins and when they do they are never even evaluated, they just send them out to be cut into MRBs. It made me so, so sad.

Hi kgizo! Basically in the end I just want a pair of studs and a necklace. I’m thinking the suggestion you and bludiva had about a Stuller pendant might be best. I love my Barbara pendant but due to needing an appraisal to get it set into one, it might be best to just work on the BG studs independently. Probably more cost effective, too.

I’m in the Bay Area and thank God I have my wits about me... I also showed this one jeweler my BG Barbara pendant and he took a look at it through his loupe, asked me if it was a J SI2? I looked at him astonished, I said no it was a H VS2 AGS HAA and he kind of made a scoff noise, going “it’s fine.” Now maybe I’m just overly proud of my choice but a part of my brain thought you wouldn’t be so dismissive of my stone if I bought it from you, I bet.

The utter lack of consideration for my GG’s stone really got me down, I’ll be honest. A lot of the jewelers I went to took the time to exclaim how “tiny” it is (meanwhile Tiffany sells what is it, .10 DBTY pendants?) obsess over the small chip you can’t see without a loupe and essentially talk down to me about wanting to do anything with it. With one lady, I was like, are you suggesting I throw it away? She just shrugged.

 

[bludiva]

I wouldn't put too much stock in what the jewelers say, I had one tell me once that she thought I had a dirty diamond until her boss informed her it was a fancy light yellow and she thought I was so lucky. Same stone but it went from being yuck to awesome in her mind just based on a label. :roll