Resale Value of Synthetic Diamonds

[Rock of Luv]

Like the title suggest what is the open market value of a man made blue diamond? Are they viewed the same as irradiated blue diamonds? If you take a man made diamond and pay to have it graded by GIA does it increase its value over an EGL grading? Your thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

[EEFranklin]

As with any diamond, gemstone or precious metal jewelry, the open market value really depends on who you are selling it to, but in general, we have found our man made diamonds retain their value comparably to, if not better than, other untreated diamonds. Since the blue, yellow and white man made diamonds are naturally-grown colors and are permanent, they retain their value better than post-growth irradiated or HPHT color treated diamonds.

If EGL and GIA both give the same grading for the same diamond, any difference in value because of the different labs should be minor. We have noticed though that EGL grades synthetic diamonds more strictly than GIA. We recently had two diamonds that EGL gave both ''VVS2'' clarity and GIA gave both ''IF'', which could cause a difference in valuation, depending on which report you look at.

I haven''t come across any customers that had issues insuring their man made diamonds, if that is your concern. As an aside, we strongly believe in the value of our diamonds, so they include a lifetime 100% trade-up and a buy-back as well. About once a month or so someone will trade-up their diamond for a larger or different one, paying just the difference in price.

 

[denverappraiser]

Selling diamonds is tough no matter what you have but synthetics are especially bad because the markets like ebay and craigslist are so full of frauds that the legitimate customers are frightened away. That said, no, I don’t think GIA paperwork will make it any more saleable than EGL paper. As Eric mentioned above, some of the manufacturers and/or dealers may have a buy-back program that can be very helpful.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver