engagement ring... I need a rough appraisal

[Bill_LumbergTPS]

OK so I know some of you have had to deal with some pretty wacky Mother in Laws but I think I have one that take the cake. Supposed to be a beautiful experience and she''s making it as difficult as she can.

So Mother in Law (we''ll call her MIL) has an antique ring(great grandmothers) that my girlfriend wants. I love it too. So I take it to a gemologist she says a fair price to sell this ring is $4000 (she thought I was the seller). The ring is engraved and has a 1.20 carat round transitional cut rock sitting on top. The rock is chipped (slightly visible with the naked eye). So anyways MIL had it appraised for $9650 in 1990. She finally tells me she wants to sell it cause my girlfriend is the person who should have it...blah...blah blah. So she offers to sell it to me for $7000!!! (she wants me to pay as much as possible). Um, NO

(she has to make everything about money) I just talked to the gemologist and it was 4K.

appraised value does not = market value (sales value). Am I correct in thinking this?

what should I offer? I''m thinking $3500 cash.

 

[caratgirl]

I would say zero! A chip makes the stone susceptible to further damage, plus not having it look attractive. Does your GF know about the chip? If not, then she would be quite upset to know that she ended up with a chipped engagement ring, IMO. Go for am unencumbered stone, from another source.

 

[Mara]

HaHa what a funny story. I feel for you.

Pass on the ring and the stone and the greedy MIL!!

Get your girlfriend something that is hers all her own. That would be my first piece of advice. BUT...if she REALLY wants that ring--get the stone taken out and choose a stone of your own to put in there.

You can't even really estimate the value of this stone as it really depends on the cut and make, color and clarity of the stone. If it's chipped, that's a huge negative for me. Who wants a visibly chipped stone for an engagement ring? Plus it would be a weak spot for further chips to happen.

You've got a tough decision to make. Personally I don't work well under pressure from the family, so just the fact that this was causing so much drama would cause me to turn immediately and go seek my OWN stone and ring for my future wife..leaving the drama causers to stew in their own juices AND no richer with any of my hard-earned $$!

 

[Hest88]

Wait a minute...so you have to buy your GF's great-grandmother's ring in order to pass it on to her? Her mother won't just *give* it to her? That's sure is one greedy MIL.

 

[Adrienne]

Yeah, I think you should pass on that diamond.

It's not really a family heirloom if you have to buy it - it loses it's sentimental value at that point and just becomes a commodity.

Take your girlfriend ring shopping. If, after seeing what is out there, she still wants this ring then go ahead and pay for it - but certainly not more then your appraisal came back for, and likely less (it seems that appraisals always run higher then the actual value of the ring)

But you can do better... (and I wouldn't want to give the MIL any satisfaction)

 

[Hest88]

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On 6/5/2003 5:26:55 PM Adrienne wrote:

(and I wouldn't want to give the MIL any satisfaction)
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Yep, that's my feeling as well. Odds are, the ring will eventually come to your GF anyway, but without the MILs emotional blackmail.

You probably won't be able to get a ring like that for $3500, though, but there are some nice vintage rings out there.