Help me find a stone

[Christinak]

Hello
So I am trying to change a ring I had made. I don't like the colour or shape of the stone and my ultimate goal is to sell the piece but I can't get anyone interested in buying it as is.

So I am unmounting the current stone, changing the head to have claw prongs in the corners and need an 8x8mm to max 8.2x8.2mm cushion to go into the setting.

My sunk costs so far are .£1200 for the setting and £400 for the yellow sapphire (I am going to sell the sapphire). As I want to sell I don't want to make a huge investment in the stone as I am unlikely to get the money back .

There are two aqua's on Africa gems website and also one at wards here in the UK. Would be good to get your thoughts on these. I guess these are in the ballpark of the budget I would want to commit (max £600) . So if anyone can find anything else suitable please list it!

https://www.africagems.com/aquamarine-cushion-gemstone-10903119.html

https://www.africagems.com/aquamarine-cushion-gemstone-11903520.html

https://www.wardgemstones.com/aquamarine-8-1x8-cushion-1-98ct.html

And here is the current ring and desired end look .

Thank you for any and all help

 

[Bron357]

Hi, the ring as it currently is is beautiful.
You say you have spent £1600, what resale price are you hoping to achieve? Changing the gem out may not help.
It may be that your asking price is more than the pre loved market wants to pay.
I don’t think spending extra money taking the sapphire out, buying a new gem and having that reset will necessarily improve the saleability of your lovely ring.
And none of those aquas seem special to me and somewhat too expensive (and avoid the last one, it has a huge window). If you like blue, check out Gemfix.com. There is a lovely cushion blue zircon of the right dimensions. Zircon is far more dispersive (sparkly) than aquamarine.

 

[Christinak]

Hi @Bron357
Thanks so much for your help
I am a bit lost as to what to do with this ring. Basically I found out the hard way that I don't suit yellow gold. And on top of that my local jewellers who might buy the ring from me have both given feedback they would prefer a cushion shaped stone with a better contrast.
And so far i haven't been able to sell on loupetroop even at a loss.
I can get the stone removed and prongs built and a new stone set for £190 plus the cost of the stone .I was hoping to sell the sapphire to offset the cost of the new stone .
Oh I just don't know what to do!

 

[icy_jade]

Will you be ok with white gold? How about rhodium plating it?

It looks like it’s bezel setting now and I’m not sure if you can remove the stone without destroying the setting.

 

[suzanne2]

I tracked down your listing on Loupe Troop and thought I'd post one of your pictures to show the profile. It's a gorgeous ring!

 

[Christinak]

Hi @icy_jade
Thank you for your suggestion. To be honest I am keen to sell this ring to buy other jewellery as this is sitting in the safe and I don't think plating it would make me want to wear it any more than as current. I had it made as a right hand ring and have also concluded the only thing that looks good on my right hand are eternity style rings .
All round it's not been a very good set of buying decisions!
Maybe I will list on eBay as is and see what happens.
@Bron357 do you have a view on resale value I should be aiming for?
Thanks @suzanne2 - it is lovely, just not me - the risks of custom!
Thanks for your help
Tina

 

[chrono]

If you are planning to sell it, I don't feel it is a good idea to put down more money towards any alternation since it is adding to the sunk cost.

 

[FlashyFlamingo]

It is a beautiful ring! You may want to try listing on eBay with a reserve. A few years ago I had a pendant from my ex that I couldn’t give away on Diamond Bistro. I listed as an auction with reserve on eBay and it sold for a few hundred more than I expected. Make sure you post the beat glamour shots and a YouTube video with it sparkling out in the sun.

 

[qubitasaurus]

I wouldn't buy a new stone just to sell the piece. If you are intending to sell it to your jeweler then essentially: they can source the stone cheaper than you, and they will be able to set it kind of for 'free' (ok some personal labor, but the 190 pounds you pay will include things such as sales tax (also some portion of every sale will have to be set aside to cover running costs such as advertising). Ergo when you pay £190 for the labor, the jeweler will not buy the product back from you for £190 more. If they did they would take a loss.).

So if you sink $x in to make it more appealing, then from your jeweler's perspective you will increase the value of the item by $ p * x where p < 1 (sadly p << 1 in general).

There are special circumstances where this may not apply (i.e. they wont buy from you at all at present, but they may if you change the stone). But in this scenario you should go back to them once you have the 'plan for the modifications you are going to make' and ask them how much they may be willing to pay for the finished product. Mostly I think you are going to make a considerable loss though. For instance if you sink another £500 pounds into a new stone and £190 into the labour then will your jewelery pay more than £1300 to buy back the end product from you? Otherwise I think you have better chances selling your current ring on loupetroop for £600. I personally think you are going to have a hard time selling a semi-precious coloured stone ring of average colour on loupetroop for more than £1000 -- so I would be stongly inclined not to make these modifications purely for the purpose of re-selling privately on loupetroop.

I would go the ebay route, or if you can't sell at all consign it for the price of the semi-mount (the person who you consign with should be able to tell you the reasonable price range) Make the yellow sapphire free. If the sapphire is bezel set it may very well be damaged when you unset it as your jeweler will be trying to protect the bezel (and it is hard to save both the setting and the stone from damage at the same time).

The setting is pretty though, if the majority of the cash is in the setting at present then I would also be inclined to put it back in the jewelry box and wait till I could source a stone I wanted to wear it with -- this approach will involve the least loss.

 

[seaurchin]

I agree with just lowering the price. Secondhand jewelry usually sells for far less than we paid for it new, unfortunately. So sinking more money into it is likely to make you come out even further behind.

It is a pretty ring. Maybe you could also mention that it looks like a fancy colored diamond. Good luck!

 

[fenestrate]

Hi @Bron357
And on top of that my local jewellers who might buy the ring from me have both given feedback they would prefer a cushion shaped stone with a better contrast.

The jeweler sounds very strange! Why not make you an offer which takes into account the modifications they wish to make? Rather than have you invest another third of what you have already laid out for a non guaranteed return?

I would concur with the ebay route. I see the ring is rubover set which will be a nightmare to remove without damaging the ring or even risking the stone. I don’t know how well the work to remove the stone and create prongs will be executed, and does the fee include VAT? I would just sell as is, and perhaps be stoic about your minimum price in the realisation it may take longer to shift but will be less financially hard to swallow when it finally does sell.

You have 1600 in the ring - I would suggest 800 or best offer, and realistically expect 500 to 650; or auction with reserve as previously suggested. We’ve all been there with purchases we regret so try not to worry about it and just chalk it up to experience.

 

[qubitasaurus]

Actually you might be able to list it on a website like I do now I don't. It looks like an engagement ring. As long as you clearly stated the center was a sapphire you may reach someone who was buying it for the finished product -- whereas most of us in this thread are divvying up the parts and pricing them seperately (which is leading to lower estimates especially as there is moderate risk of damage in the unsetting process).

 

[Christinak]

Thank you everyone for your help. I am going to consider what to do with this ring - will update you once I know