How/Where to sell my Sapphire?

[Morrie]

Hello, I have a 5.53ct Sapphire - "Cornflower Blue", eye-clean, cushion cut - untreated. I have 2 lab reports, one from Lotus Labs and the other is from GIA. I am not in the industry, a friend who is, helped me purchase the stone. I'm located in Upstate, NY and haven't been able to find any help in selling the stone. I generally come across 2 types of people, the first type validate the value of the stone, but lack the clientele to move it, and the second type either don't understand what they are looking at, or they think I'm a fool and offer a price that's truly, insulting. Is there any one who can help me sell it, or knows someone who can help me sell it? If I'm on the wrong forum for this question, I apologize, and am open to suggestions on where to take this question.

Thanks, Morrie

 

[PinkAndBlueBling]

You can't post it on this forum. If you want to see if anyone is interested, ask the mods to delete this and then make a new post to the Preloved PS Jewels forum. You'll need to post there with photos and a price. Put it on Loupetroop. Just know that no one is going to offer what you probably want, which would be a retail price from a jeweler about $15-20,000+, depending on clarity, origin, etc. It's hard to tell much from your photo. A lot of us really won't pay full mark-up because we purchase from cutters or specific gemstone vendors with excellent prices and products.

 

[Rfisher]

How long have you owned it?
Is it set in jewelry?
Your friend in the jewelry industry that helped you buy it, isn’t interested nor has contacts to sell it thru?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Hello, I have a 5.53ct Sapphire - "Cornflower Blue", eye-clean, cushion cut - untreated. I have 2 lab reports, one from Lotus Labs and the other is from GIA. I am not in the industry, a friend who is, helped me purchase the stone. I'm located in Upstate, NY and haven't been able to find any help in selling the stone. I generally come across 2 types of people, the first type validate the value of the stone, but lack the clientele to move it, and the second type either don't understand what they are looking at, or they think I'm a fool and offer a price that's truly, insulting. Is there any one who can help me sell it, or knows someone who can help me sell it? If I'm on the wrong forum for this question, I apologize, and am open to suggestions on where to take this question.

Thanks, Morrie

would you like to keep it ?
the colour is lovelly
im sure there are a gizzilion people here who can give you good honest advice about who to set it through

 

[qubitasaurus]

Probably consign it with jewels by grace. You'll lose a bunch of money on thr commission, but I don't think you'll be able to sell that stone for the amount you're probably looking for on your own.

 

[VividRed]

Loupetroop
Preloved section of this forum
National Gemstone
Auction house?


Depending on where you bought it, and at what price, you might struggle to recover the money you spent. The idea that buying gems can be an investment is a myth except for the rarest and most exceptional stones that break records at auctions. A 5+ carat unheated Burmese ruby of top color bought 30 years ago when the price was significantly lower could net you a significant profit today.

it has to do with rarity and general desirability (i.e. demand). Desirability - broadly speaking - depends on a number of factors. In blue sapphire, a silky vivid blue color combined with Kashmir origin are the most desirable features. Such stones, in significant size, can and do increase in price over time. Rarity can play a role, but not always. It’s complicated, and marketing is a powerful force to consider.

Price appreciation is important of you are interested in selling your stone at some point. The fact that you bought it at retail price (or close to it, don’t let anyone fool you about this) means that you paid several markups and nobody is willing to pay for that premium when buying from a private individual. The retail premium you paid is anywhere between 30 and 100% over wholesale price, and can be higher when you buy from premium jewelers. So you would need a price appreciation of at least 30% to be able to sell at the new wholesale price. I own a few unheated burmese rubies and I know for a fact that I cannot sell them at the price I paid, not in this decade anyway. I bought them for my pleasure though, and do not intend to sell them, so I don’t face that problem.

There is also another real challenge. Gemstones have very low turnover. Some vendors have the same gems in their inventories since years and the likelihood of selling them in any year is low.

I don’t mean to discourage you, but these are facts. The prices you’ve been offered might seen offensive to you - but they may be what the “quick sale market value” of your sapphire really is. I don’t know what you’ve been offered, certainly the value is in the thousands but probably not double digit.

If you want some serious and honest advice by a professional, try reaching out to Robert Genis, he knows his stuff

About us :: National Gemstone

Who we are & what we do

www.preciousgemstones.com

Best of luck!

 

[Bron357]

Yes, there is Loupe Troop where someone might be looking for a nice sapphire for an engagement or other ring they want to create.
Not knowing what price you paid, as @VividRed said, resale of gemstones very rarely results in break even let alone profit. Even if you buy from a “gem broker” there have been many hands along the way that have taken a profit.
The lab reports are top, the fact that it’s unheated is great but the photo here looks a bit purple grey blue. Not a desirable colour. It also seems to lack vividness - maybe the lighting?
If you do want to try selling yourself, take some nice photos outside in natural light both shade and sunshine so people can properly see it’s colour and tone.

 

[VividRed]

May I ask how much you paid?

 

[Indylady]

@chrono - very thoughtful post and well said.

Just an aside - I sometimes find myself shocked to see just how low gemstone turnover can be - there are a few gems that I have stalked for years, but never cared enough to buy and I guess no one else did either.

 

[2Neezers]

You could try messaging Inken at Enhoerning on Instagram. I asked once and she said she does occasionally, very selectively, purchase stones.

 

[LilAlex]

I agree with others. Looks pretty, in this 2D view. Nice outline and proportions with a little asymmetry. Looks like a small table and I infer a high crown and deep pavilion like most of these non-precisions cuts. Seems quite clean from what little I see.

Color is the wildcard -- looks undersaturated and slightly gray but still appealing. Note that a tiny tweak of the saturation slider could halve or double the true value so no one can say much from even a hundred photos and videos. If this was a "phone photo" of a blue stone, the real-world saturation is definitely even less than I am seeing here.

Not an aspirational stone but if it had been a relative's in my family, I would proudly wear it every day forever and probably not look for another.

Super-hard for riff-raff like (most of) us to move it. Too high for eBay or similar -- even LT since no one knows you. Most of the vendors that talk to retail clients are at best consigners of period/estate jewelry, not of stones. They would need to have it in hand with the reports, confirm it is the same stone (precise dimensions, carat-weight, facet pattern), and make an offer. It would be a low-ball, even if you could get their attention. Just looking at it, it would not be a high-priority stone for a broker, imo. I think your best best would be someone with whom you have a relationship, who could show you some objective data about the market ("book prices" for this size, origin, and quality) and offer you a fraction of a true "retail" price.

You did not say how or why you got it but if you bought it to "flip" it, you would have better luck with almost anything other than colored stones -- unless you are based in, like, Sri Lanka and really know what you are doing.

 

[whitewave]

I wonder if Lang’s Antiques would buy it?

 

[icy_jade]

The color isn’t impressive from the pic you posted. Does it look anything like the two stones on top in real life (that are certified cornflower?

Lab grading is one thing but lax color grading is prevalent in many labs so ultimately it’s the stone color that really determines pricing imo. Nevertheless if it’s unheated and you have certs from GIA and Lotus, so you should reliably be able to get over 10k in the US market imo. Probably not what you may have paid for it unless you got the stone years ago when prices were lower. Agree you can try Loupetroop first, if not then Lang’s or one of the other consignment stores (whichever can give you a better price/lower consignment %). Good luck!

 

[JackTrick]

I wonder if Lang’s Antiques would buy it?

I believe Lang’s does not traffic in loose stones.