Help buying an antique bangle

[Jodie]

Hi all,

Old poster here (cannot for the life of me remember my previous login details). I'm looking to buy a diamond bangle and happened to stumble across a beautiful one on instagram (of all places). The seller is located in NY and I'm in Australia and I've no idea how to go about a transaction like this. The seller has sent me pictures and describes it as an art deco platinum and diamond bangle set with 74 Old European cut diamonds for a total of approximately 7 cts of diamonds. The diamonds are about H to I color and VS clarity.

How on earth do I go about a transaction like this? I'm not able to travel to NY to view it and would like an expert opinion. Is there such a thing as a escrow agent for jewellery I could use? Any tips would be so appreciated. I'm sure I can get it appraised and verified (just a matter of finding someone I can trust) but I also want to make sure that if it passes the appraiser and then is sent to me and I don't like it, I can return it (within a limited timeframe of course).

TIA!

 

[arkieb1]

I'm an Aussie, if it doesn't come with any paperwork and you are unsure of the stones then I'd send it to someone like David Atlas who knows what he is doing when it comes to valuing antique jewellery, that way you can determine if the colour and clarity of the stones are correct as vendors often claim stones are whiter and cleaner than they actually are unless it's one of the vendors we recommend here. And maybe David could act as some sort of intermediary for payment as well. To get it to Australia you will need to ship and insure for the full amount this means that you need the correct paperwork or you will pay 15% instead of 10%.

I assume David could also help fill in the correct AUSTFA agreement/declaration forms.