What happened to upgrade/trade-in diamonds?

[akoya]

there's always trade in policies so how does co deal with these diamonds?
polish them again, using back the same serial# n off to go again?
or they recut it smaller, with a new set of serial #?

thanks

 

[iota15]

I would think they clean it, check it for damage or alterations, maybe polish it, ensure it matches the old cert and put it back on the market.

It's not economical or reasonable to recut the diamond smaller. Diamonds are virtually indestructible - many of them may have long histories, or sit in a box for a long period of time before coming up for re-sale. Why recut a perfectly good stone.

I think most companies that offer upgrade policies require you to give back the original certificate, so they don't have to re-cert the stone as well, which is an additional cost they probably don't want to bear. This is a policy that helps the consumer, but probably doesn't give all that much margin for the company.

 

[iota15]

In case you were concerned about the bad juju of an upgrade stone - I wouldn't. It's just an object. Plus, I would imagine most people who upgrade are in, at the very least, financially successful marriages. haha.

 

[WinkHPD]

I would think they clean it, check it for damage or alterations, maybe polish it, ensure it matches the old cert and put it back on the market.

It's not economical or reasonable to recut the diamond smaller. Diamonds are virtually indestructible - many of them may have long histories, or sit in a box for a long period of time before coming up for re-sale. Why recut a perfectly good stone.

I think most companies that offer upgrade policies require you to give back the original certificate, so they don't have to re-cert the stone as well, which is an additional cost they probably don't want to bear. This is a policy that helps the consumer, but probably doesn't give all that much margin for the company.

It depends largely on the company doing the trading in. Some will simply put the stone back on the market.

Others are more interested in protecting future clients as well as themselves. They will send the diamond back to the laboratory that did the grading, be it AGS or GIA and have the diamond checked for damage and repapered. I actually do ask for the paper to be returned with the diamond, but do not require it. I do this because I do not want the paper falling into the wrong hands and being somehow misused.

Once, and fortunately only once, when I sent a 2ct plus diamond to be repapered, it was discovered that there was some fire scale on one facet. I needed to have it repolished. When I received the diamond back from AGS, I looked for the fire scale and was finally, once, able to find it. It was incredibly hard to see and I will admit that had I just put the diamond back on the market, that in most probabilities, neither myself, or my future client would ever have known it was there. (Fire scale was "added" to the diamond by the client's jeweler who did not properly protect the diamond while using a torch on the prongs.)

Getting away with something does NOT make it right! I think the actual weight loss in doing this was less than a point and the diamond actually went from a 2.xx8 to a 2.xx1 so on the report it was still rated as an AGS 0 cut diamond of 2.xx cts.

While the damage was extremely minimal, the future client deserved to get a diamond that was actually what it was purported to be, which is why I feel it is incredibly important to repaper every diamond that is traded in.

Yes, it is an extra expense, and yes it is almost always not needed, but most importantly, in my opinion, YES it is the right thing to do.

Wink

 

[Evert P Botha]

Most of these diamonds are sold to India and China for re-cutting and re-polishing and sold back to North America.

Speaking from experience in this field, many of these diamonds are sent for restoration (re-cut, repair & re-polish) are re-submitted to a laboratory for grading. As Wink mentioned, laboratories will make recommendation on steps that can be taken to increase the cut grade of the diamonds sent to them and through this process, depending on the weight and material, the diamond cutter can also improve the clarity, and sometimes, depending on the dice, a Customer can even see color gains (and we're not talking about sending diamonds to Easy Grading Lab here)- rather, based on the original color grade (report vs master set), especially on borderline colors.

 

[akoya]

In case you were concerned about the bad juju of an upgrade stone - I wouldn't. It's just an object. Plus, I would imagine most people who upgrade are in, at the very least, financially successful marriages. haha.

no
i am concerned because diamonds probably appreciate over the years? (or i'm wrong?)
and then imagine this customer upgraded the diamond, "returned" the old diamond back... n this old diamond is sold at current place @ current market price or only a bit lower (& its used) and then the seller probably earn more since they might have a clause requesting customer to upgrade by buying X % more expensive than their 1st diamond.
so consumers that bought the used diamonds seem to be the one at the losing end, esp if they r not send in for checks for damages etc. there's some with butter hands... n i'm one of them

 

[liaerfbv]

In case you were concerned about the bad juju of an upgrade stone - I wouldn't. It's just an object. Plus, I would imagine most people who upgrade are in, at the very least, financially successful marriages. haha.

no
i am concerned because diamonds probably appreciate over the years? (or i'm wrong?)
and then imagine this customer upgraded the diamond, "returned" the old diamond back... n this old diamond is sold at current place @ current market price or only a bit lower (& its used) and then the seller probably earn more since they might have a clause requesting customer to upgrade by buying X % more expensive than their 1st diamond.
so consumers that bought the used diamonds seem to be the one at the losing end, esp if they r not send in for checks for damages etc. there's some with butter hands... n i'm one of them

But if you're buying from a reputable vendor it shouldn't matter if you're buying a "used" diamond, because the vendor has checked for damage and either gotten recertified or checked against certificate as it stands. So I'm not seeing your issue.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

In case you were concerned about the bad juju of an upgrade stone - I wouldn't. It's just an object. Plus, I would imagine most people who upgrade are in, at the very least, financially successful marriages. haha.

no
i am concerned because diamonds probably appreciate over the years? (or i'm wrong?)
and then imagine this customer upgraded the diamond, "returned" the old diamond back... n this old diamond is sold at current place @ current market price or only a bit lower (& its used) and then the seller probably earn more since they might have a clause requesting customer to upgrade by buying X % more expensive than their 1st diamond.
so consumers that bought the used diamonds seem to be the one at the losing end, esp if they r not send in for checks for damages etc. there's some with butter hands... n i'm one of them

This is why it is important to know your jeweler. I buy from PriceScope vendors who offer generous upgrade policies with NO minimum required to upgrade other than the new diamond must cost more than the old one. They check the trade-in stones, have them regraded, and assuming no damage, put them right back on the market. Ideal cut diamonds certainly are not recut if there is no damage. They are resold at market price as they are in just as good condition as an equivalent one being sold for the first time. If you see an excellent cut H VS diamond that has a 5-10 year old grading report, then I'd certainly ask for an upgraded lab report before committing to the stone. If the report is a less than a year or two old, I would not think it was a trade-in. Ultimately all that matters is that the stone is as it is graded on the report, and you can have an independent appraiser verify that if you wish. Never buy from any source that does not allow an unconditional return policy of a week or more.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

In case you were concerned about the bad juju of an upgrade stone - I wouldn't. It's just an object. Plus, I would imagine most people who upgrade are in, at the very least, financially successful marriages. haha.

no
i am concerned because diamonds probably appreciate over the years? (or i'm wrong?)
and then imagine this customer upgraded the diamond, "returned" the old diamond back... n this old diamond is sold at current place @ current market price or only a bit lower (& its used) and then the seller probably earn more since they might have a clause requesting customer to upgrade by buying X % more expensive than their 1st diamond.
so consumers that bought the used diamonds seem to be the one at the losing end, esp if they r not send in for checks for damages etc. there's some with butter hands... n i'm one of them

Akoya,
If you are referring to trade-up policies that some vendors offer as part of their value proposition, these are essentially guarantees of store credit. Not all vendors have stipulations requiring you to buy a more expensive stone, although that is common. While the diamond market has historically gone up over the long term, it does not always go up. There have been times in the recent past where a market downturn has enabled customers of companies with liberal trade up guarantees to trade a lesser stone for a better stone. In a falling market a liberal trade up policy is a liability for the vendor and a boon for the consumer.

In cases where the market is more or less the same, the customer has the flexibility to buy a different quality and/or different size using the full cash value of the original stone, thereby not suffering any depreciation.

It is true that if you have held the stone a long time and the market has moved up substantially, the trade-up guarantee is not as beneficial. However, you are under no obligation to make the trade if you can sell it for more elsewhere.

Most companies that offer very liberal trade up policies are very customer oriented and will engage in a rational discussion with you about the value, and depending on the market and their needs may very well be willing to offer more than the purchase price. But they are legally obligated to offer you at least the purchase price or whatever the details of their program are. In other words, the vendor is locking himself in, the consumer has no such obligation.

I hope that helps you see the bigger picture.