Good price for a Harry Winston "slightly used" ring?

[Rubies-R-Me]

Hello!
This is my first time posting on these boards.. how nice to be chatting with others who love jewelry as much as I do!
I saw a second hand Harry Winston round diamond engagement ring that is 1.10 carats E Color VS1 Clarity. It's set in platinum with two .20 carat baguettes.. tw 1.4 carats.
Any idea what the approximate retail price at HW would be if I bought it new? It's signed and comes with it's GIA report and original box.
What would be a good price for this ring? A good price for me means that if I decide to resell it some day I won't lose much money on the sale and might even make some if I hold onto it for a while. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[mrssalvo]

I'd suggest calling HW and getting a quote with the specs you listed to see what one is going for new. There are general rules of thumb for second hand pricing but the designer name will add a little more value in the second hand market.

 

[minmin001]

need more spec. on the diamond from the gia report

 

[Rubies-R-Me]

Hello and thank you both for your responses.. I know I should just pick up the phone and call HW but I'm slightly embarassed and I don't want to waste a salesperson's time if I'm not going to buy a ring from them..
Here are the specs from the GIA report.
Shape - Round Brilliant
Measurements - 6.63 X 6.76
Weight - 1.11
Depth - 60.6%
Table - 67%
Girdle - Very thin to thick faceted
Culet - none
Polish - good
Symmetry - good
Clarity - VS1
Color - E
Fluorescence - none

 

[kelpie]

You don't want a ring with a 67% table and lousy symmetry. If you are going to buy a second hand ring from one of the big design houses, stick with tiffany as they seem to be the only ones that care about cut quality. Funny all the used Cartier rings I've seen have had terrible cuts too.

 

[denverappraiser]

A good price for me means that if I decide to resell it some day I won't lose much money on the sale and might even make some if I hold onto it for a while. Thanks in advance for any help!

Reselling diamonds can be tricky and it has as much to do with your skills as it does the merchandise. What you’re asking us to estimate is whether you are a better merchant than the person who is selling it ahead of you. Maybe so. The range is quite a bit and some people are a LOT better than others at this but we just don’t have the right information. The HW retail price for similar new merchandise doesn’t strike me as all that important given this, but I’m fairly certain they offer an appraisal service where they provide exactly this information if you call them up. As a general rule, buying and selling jewelry at a profit is pretty difficult and if you don’t know if you have the skills, you probably don’t. Buy it if you love it but don’t go into this deal expecting to ever see your money again.

 

[Rubies-R-Me]

Hello and thank you all for taking the time to respond. My thoughts about reselling jewelry is that in order to get most of your money back you have to buy a "branded" item with a specific retail value. Then if you are able to buy it used with a certain percentage off (at least 1/3 - 1/2 off and hopefully more) you eventually sell it and make most of your money back.. sort of like renting it. I only buy one or two pieces at a time and I only buy things that I love and would like to wear so if I never am able to resell it it's OK. That's why I was interested in a guesstimate of a retail price on this ring..
Thanks all! I learned something.. and that's always good. I thought that if I a diamond has E color and VS1 clarity that would be just about all that mattered.. I didn't realize that the proportions were that important as long as it got a grade of "good" or better.
What does a 67% table mean? Too shallow?

 

[denverappraiser]

67% is quite large. Popular these days is 56 to about 60.

Don't confuse the polish and symmetry grades with the cut grade. These are not the same. You don't have a cut grade and I suspect you're looking at Good or possibly even Fair if you were to get one (and yes, the 67% table is the clue to difficulties). The scale goes like this.

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor

'Poor' means defective and 'fair' means bad. For the most part they aren't present in the marketplace because people have them repaired. This means that 'good' is, for all practical purposes, the bottom of the scale.

If you're buying/selling as a percentage of the retail new replacement at a branded store then none of this matters. That's a matter of the HW paperwork and it becomes even more important to go straight to the source and get it in writing. I recommend against buying that way but not everyone takes my advice and if you're good at finding customers with this strategy, go for it.

 

[Rubies-R-Me]

Ahh.. I didn't realize that "good" was the bottom of the scale.. thanks for the info..
In the past few year I have bought and sold a few designer pieces on Ebay and have made some money in addition to the pleasure of wearing the items until I get tired of them. I only buy if the price is VERY low (which to me means 1/3 - 1/2 of the retail price.) I also only buy thing that I love and fit my finger so if in the end I get "stuck" with them it's not a big deal.
I have never bought a ring with a single diamond like the one I am posting about.. all of the other rings either had not stones or were paved. (sp?)

 

[kelpie]

"good" symmetry is generally not good enough for most round buyers. I do agree with your resell theory though. I have bought two used Tiffany erings and later resold for slightly more than I paid so I could get something bigger. The original owner is taking the hit, not you.

 

[Rubies-R-Me]

Yup.. glad you agree! It is fun to buy something at a great price.. wear it for a while and then resell it and make a few bucks or even just break even.. It's all good! I feel like branded jewelry while super fun to buy retail is like a car.. loses 1/2 of it's value as soon as you walk out of the store. Better to buy it second hand unless money is no object and when is that? LOL