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Rough, small or low quality diamond jewelry, worth anything?

Area57

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
73
Forgive my newness, but I'm trying to learn as much about jewelry and gems as I can so I can start collecting.

Some jewelry stores sell pieces by independent designers. I think they make all the pieces themselves. I'm sure it's not just limited to small, indie designers, but the point is I saw some of their pieces used rough, small, or low quality diamonds, but they dramatically affected the price.

Example, I think they are called stack rings. Multiple thin rings that you can wear one of, or five in a stack and it looks pretty cool. Well, if you bought just a gold band, or a gold band with designs on it, it would be oh, say $150-$200. But once they added diamonds the prices really started to climb. Some of these were tiny, like pinhead sized, I would have to guess, .02-.05 carats a piece and if the ring had six or seven of them it would cost not 150-200, but more like 5-600. Is this normal? They also used some that were rough or not faceted in the traditional manner.

I guess I want to learn, not only diamond pricing, but jewelry pricing as well, so I don't make poor purchases. Each piece I get I would like to be a wise decision, and I don't want to get ripped off as a new guy. I don't expect anything I should get to be an investment. It doesn't seem like things sell for anywhere near what you buy them for, but hey, the better deals I get, the more I can get!
 

Rhea

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
6,408
Re: Rough, small or low quality diamond jewelry, worth anyth

Jewellery made by smaller independent designers is often about aesthetics. It's like art, the sky is the limit as far as pricing and 500 - 600 can be normal or you may find a designer who sells similar designs for half that or less. I don't know that 500 - 600 is a rip off, it's about buying what you love. My sister likes pieces which are completely different from my taste - give the woman a large piece of cut glass set in sterling or one of those raw diamonds and she's pleased as punch. She hates the look of a traditionally faceted diamond. For her, buying one would be a rip off because she'd never wear it.

Like anything else, it pays to shop around, you'll find prices widely vary, but if it's what you desire and will wear then it's not a rip off. She has a favourite Etsy seller and I that seller has a lot of rings around the 200 - 300 mark, but I can't remember their name at the moment.
 

distracts

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
6,131
Re: Rough, small or low quality diamond jewelry, worth anyth

Like Rhea said, with any sort of designer it's about what people are willing to pay. You can find rings like that selling for well over $500 from some designers - likewise, you can find them on ebay from India for much less. A lot of the price depends more on the cachet of the designer than the basic materials + labor value.
 
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