i was told that my old engagement ring is worth only $75?

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#16
JenW said:
I am not surprised. When you buy a diamond, plan on owning it forever.
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This is very good advice. All the diamonds that I bought, I had "keeping forever" in mind. This is why I have already been careful about not making hasty, impulsive purchases.

Of course, there is always a chance, no matter how slim, that either my heirs or I may decide to sell them. Therefore, I always make sure that the diamonds are top cut, high color no lower than I, high clarity no lower than eye-clean Si1, and graded by AGS or GIA, since top cut, high quality diamonds more likely keep their value and are easier to unload.

A better alternative to selling old diamonds is to repurpose them, so my heirs and I shall enjoy wearing the diamonds without wasting much money and all the efforts in locating and selecting the old diamonds.
 
#18
The only way you get real value is if you buy a diamond ring from a store where they will give you the value of the ring if you upgrade to a larger, more expensive diamond. I think you should keep your ring, and as mentioned above, have it reset into something else.
 
#19
xiangxiang0731 said:
This. Diamond is not investment. You buy it to enjoy the sparkle, not to resell.
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Yes, but there are times when you want to upgrade. In this case, what do you do with the old Diamond? Sell or keep in your jewelry box to collect dust? In some cases, people may not have sufficient funds to upgrade and have to sell the old Diamond to free up funds.
 
#20
TammySue said:
The only way you get real value is if you buy a diamond ring from a store where they will give you the value of the ring if you upgrade to a larger, more expensive diamond. I think you should keep your ring, and as mentioned above, have it reset into something else.
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You never really get real value when trading in diamonds. First, you have less bargaining power for the new Diamond. Second, the jeweler may have restrictions such as amount spent on upgrade and worst of all, restrictions on the Diamond inventory. Last thing you want is to upgrade to another poorly cut Diamond.

Almost all my diamonds have trade-in options, but the trade-in amount is what I paid for the old Diamond. After several years when the Diamond prices appreciate much, I may likely get more money selling the Diamond on my own than trading it in. Of course, my Diamond better be top cut graded by GIA or AGS in order to find a buyer.

Again, we come back to the same conclusion of keeping our diamonds and/or repurposing them. Only if the Diamond is top quality do we have an option of selling. Thus, we should be very selective and think hard before making the purchase in the first place.
 
#21
Christiflora said:
Yes, but there are times when you want to upgrade. In this case, what do you do with the old Diamond? Sell or keep in your jewelry box to collect dust? In some cases, people may not have sufficient funds to upgrade and have to sell the old Diamond to free up funds.
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errrhh... if you don't have sufficient funds, then don't upgrade. Diamonds are not life essentials.
 
#23
xiangxiang0731 said:
errrhh... if you don't have sufficient funds, then don't upgrade. Diamonds are not life essentials.
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This leads to topic better discussed in the Money Talks sub forum. Don' be surprised to see many people constantly wanting to upgrade their diamonds, and counting on reselling the current Diamond as a source of funding. The situation is no different than people buying new designer handbags with some funds coming from reselling old bags. Designer handbags are also not life essentials.:D
 
#24
Christiflora said:
Only if the Diamond is top quality do we have an option of selling. Thus, we should be very selective and think hard before making the purchase in the first place.
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Top quality and a bigger size are the only things that resell in the diamond market. It is really quite shocking when women discover this for the first time.

When I bought my diamond, I deliberately bought F color, xxx with a gia certification on it, over 1.5 carat... Hoping someday I can resell it if need be. and even so, right now if I tried to sell it to a retail jeweler I would not get what I paid.. . And I bought it wholesale from a friend who is a diamond trader in Hong Kong.!

I agree with what others have said, enjoy the sparkle but don't think of diamonds as an investment.
 
#25
Quality and size are everything in a diamond…….that, and reputable certification. "Investing" in a diamond is like playing the stock market……sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
 
#26
When my ex husband and I split I decided to sell my ring. All in all with upgrades over the years and adding to it I would say we paid about $17,000. I got amazing deals and it was over 4ctw. I sold it for $3700 and it about killed me! But it paid the mortgage for a few months and that was all I needed!
 
#28
A friend had an old solitaire engagement ring with an appraisal on it of $2,500 and that was an appraisal made back in the early 1980s. The diamond was a very good one, although I'm not sure of the size. She didn't wear it long as the wedding never happened. A few years ago she tried to sell the ring. All the jewelry stores she took it to offered her from $100 to $250 including the store where it was originally purchased. Very sad. The moral is get as much enjoyment as you can from your jewelry today because you won't be able to sell it for a fraction of the original cost and your heirs probably won't want it.
 
#29
Remember the supply of diamonds is controlled by the DeBeers cartel; diamonds are actually common and only seem rare because DeBeers monopolizes distribution. Therefore they are usually basically worthless at resale.

For this reason I plan on picking another stone for my engagement ring, and I'll never pay retail for diamonds.
 
#30
BigPurseSue said:
A friend had an old solitaire engagement ring with an appraisal on it of $2,500 and that was an appraisal made back in the early 1980s. The diamond was a very good one, although I'm not sure of the size. She didn't wear it long as the wedding never happened. A few years ago she tried to sell the ring. All the jewelry stores she took it to offered her from $100 to $250 including the store where it was originally purchased. Very sad. The moral is get as much enjoyment as you can from your jewelry today because you won't be able to sell it for a fraction of the original cost and your heirs probably won't want it.
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That is a very sad story but a very good moral.

I'm starting to look into jewelry and wow, I feel enlightened at the insane lack of value on diamonds.
 
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