Help me decide if this Aqua/Sapph/Diam ring is good buy

[SparkleRx]

Hi all,

I have heard a lot about Craig''s list but have never even been on it or used it until about 30 minutes ago. I found a ring that seems pretty nice and it is in the same town as me (nice, so I could see it in person first). It is only a few hundred bucks and I need help deciding if it is a good deal.

It is a 2ct cushion cut aquamarine with dark blue sapphire halo and diamond band. The pictures are fuzzy, so I can''t make a decision by that. That is the only info given but I want to contact the seller.

My question is, what info do I need for aquamarine stone and for sapphire halo stones? All I really am semi-educated on are diamonds (cut, clarity, color) but don''t know what kind of certs or info I need on aqua or sapphire.

I haven''t spoken with the seller yet, but I am betting he/she doesn''t have any certs or info on the stones or the info would have been posted. So do I just go by looks if I see it in person? I have a loupe but have no clue what I am looking for. Could I take it into a local jeweler? But that might be as expensive as the ring price (it is only a few hundred bucks). Also, I don''t have a trusted jeweler out here - I just can''t find one.

I did some searching and 2 ct aquas seem to be really low priced, so maybe this ring isn''t as good a deal as I may be thinking (I usually search for diamonds which are thousands of dollars, not hundreds of dollars! So I am not used to seeing a price without a comma in it)

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[neatfreak]

There is WIDE variability in aqua pricing. I think this is one of those times when if it's cheap and you love it, just go for it. An appraisal will likely be $100 or so.

One easy way to tell the quality of the whole piece (most likely, not for sure though) is if the sapphires are dark dark dark navy, then it's probably a mall quality ring. If the sapphires are nice and vibrant it's more likely it's a nicer ring. But at the same time there are synthetics too...nothing is for sure.

 

[oldminer]

You won''t be in a position to know that the stone is aquamarine, blue topaz, synthetic spinel or even glass. Additionally, you won''t know for sure if the sapphires are natural, man-made, treated, diffused, synthetic spinel, doublets, or glass. Can you tell if the colorless stones are diamond, cubic zirconia, YAG, moissanite, colorless topaz, colorless sapphire, or glass?

On top of all this, how will you determine the metal is gold, silver, platinum, whatever?

For a few hundred bucks, you are tempting fate.

I suggest you go to a gold buyer with the seller of the ring and let the gold buyer make them an offer for the metal. Once this part is cleared up, then you might want to take a chance on the rest being worth something to you. There is very little liquidity in such purchases, so you better like it enough to wear it.

 

[swingirl]

Some questions I ask for Craigslist ads are

Where did they get the piece?

Do they have a receipt?

How long have they had it?

Many times people don''t even know what they are selling and pick a random price. For a couple hundred dollars a seller may not want to go to a jewelry store with you to have the metal checked. And if they thought it was worth more they probably get an appraisal.