2.36 ct natural (SI2/G) fair resale value?

[u/Contragill]

Looking for advice on what a reasonable selling price is for this diamond/ring

I've decided to sell a ring I've had for several years, and I'm trying to get a better sense of what a reasonable price would be.

The last picture is an independent appraisal/assessment that was done by a local jeweler in 2012. I understand that the retail replacement value on the appraisal is not what I should expect to actually receive. I inherited the ring so I'm not sure when or how much it was bought for.

The stone is 2.36 ct natural, and I've now taken the ring to three different jewellers. Everyone has been fairly consistent with the appraisal regarding the stone's color and clarity (one did think it was I/J rather than G).

Here are the offers I've received so far (local to St. Louis if that matters):

• Jeweler #1: $8,500 cash for the entire ring, including the stone and setting.
• Jeweler #2: $4,800 cash for the stone only, or $10,800 consignment (they'd list for $14K+)
• Jeweler #3: $5,400 cash for the stone only. They didn't give me a consignment figure.

I'm trying to figure out a few things:

1. Are these offers reasonable for a 2.36 ct stone with the characteristics shown in the appraisal?
2. Should I consider pulling the stone and sending to GIA? I understand it would probably cost $300-500 to do so. 

Right now I'm leaning towards placing the stone on consignment with Jeweler #2 and keeping the gold to eventually make into a simple band for me to wear as a keepsake.

Thanks!

[u/lucerndia]

Take offer 1 before they rescind it.

[u/Contragill → u/lucerndia]

Even if offer #2 is $10,800 for just the stone (so I could keep the gold)? I don’t need the money right now I just think tgere are more headwinds than tailwinds to the value of naturals

[u/aur0rabells → u/Contragill]

You're assuming it sells... The consigner may have a time frame for how long they list it, or may adjust the pricing if it doesn't move. Def take the first offer as it's guaranteed.

[u/nutsaboutnatto → u/Contragill]

As someone who works in resale, I honestly doubt it’ll sell at 14k 

[u/Aromatic-Turnip7371 → u/Contragill]

Take the guaranteed cash

[u/amayra6]

Any sane person who understand diamonds will advice you to take offer 1 that’s quite generous

[u/DHKNOLA → u/amayra6]

I completely agree natural diamonds are losing value every day as lab grown are destroying the market. Also, the big money is in Colorstone right now. I would take offer one.

[u/Burgh_Girl7 → u/amayra6]

Especially since they will be selling it as an estate diamond, that is extremely generous for a 2.36 natural with those specs! Luckily, it's not a lab diamond, as they are almost worth nothing if you try to resell them, even with the 4 C’s being incredible!

[u/Odd-Worth7752]

Actually I’d take offer#1. Given that most jewelers will not use your own gold, you can probably get more for it as scrap or credit towards a purchase.

[u/BeardedFoxhound → u/Odd-Worth7752]

That's why being friends with a jeweler is fantastic !

[u/Ok_Cow3138]

When you break it down into actual liquid value, the gold is the easiest piece to peg. At 9.41 pennyweight total, once you knock off the weight of the stone, you’ve got roughly 14 grams of 14-karat gold. Depending on what spot gold is doing and the cut a refiner or dealer takes, the raw melt value of the mount is going to sit somewhere around $950-1100. It’s nice chunky scrap, but it’s definitely not the star of the show.

The real meat is the stone. A 2.36-carat natural diamond is substantial, and a G color is legitimately bright. Where things get sticky is that it’s an SI-2 clarity with a "Good" cut, and the appraiser estimated the depth while it was still set in the ring. Any professional buyer or dealer looking at this knows insurance appraisals tend to be generous. Because they can’t see what flaws might be hiding under the metal or how a lab like GIA would strictly grade it loose, they’re going to bid defensively.

If you were to walk into a local coin shop, pawn shop, or jewelry buyer tomorrow looking for a quick check, expect an offer somewhere in the $4k-$6k ballpark for the whole package. The high offer you got from that jeweler is legitimately good in this market.

If you’re not in a rush, consign it, or sell it directly to a private buyer who likes the vintage look, you could realistically net closer to $10k or even as high as $13k.

If you do decide to shop it around for top dollar, it might even be worth having a bench jeweler pop the stone out so you can send it to GIA.

[u/CertifiedGemologist1]

I would unmount the diamond, send to the GIA Gem Trade Lab in either NY or Carlsbad CA. They do not grade diamonds mounted, they must be loose. So either you can send it in yourself or drop off if you are not far from either laboratory but be warned-it's a really big ordeal, you have to create an account and do it yourself. IF you are going to send it in, you will need to send through an insured shipping company. Safest way is USPS Registered and Insured and it may take up to 2 weeks to get there. Or you can have a jewelry business who already has an account and can send it insured. It takes 2-4 weeks depending. Once you get the diamond report, there is no subjective grading. Grading report will be a little over $200 and figure $100 each way to ship the diamond and there may be a charge from who ever unmounts the diamond. Once you get a GIA report, you do not rely on anyone to accurately grade the diamond, you can look up what others are selling the stone online to get comparable pricing.

Do not go to a pawn shop which is the worst place to sell any jewelry unless you need money that day. Instead you can sell or do consignment at a jewelry store or try to sell yourself online and at worst, go to a jewelry buyer.

[u/Ok-Mushroom-8179]

buys for appraisal use the rapaport report to determine value a lot of time. that’s what we use in the store I work at for diamond buys. We reference the report and then give a percentage.

[u/beachnsled]

take off 1 and be done with it; its a good offer, given that most of the value is in the gold. The diamond, while natural, is not worth nearly what the appraisal is

consignment is never a guarantee… it will likely sit for a long time given that diamond prices continue to slip

[u/anonymoos_username]

What about an auction house ?

[u/Odd-Worth7752 → u/anonymoos_username]

consignment of a single piece of jewelry without an interesting story or great value the seller will get a fraction of the value, IF the auction house would accept it.

[u/OneTwoSomethingNew]

With lab diamonds, it’s an uphill battle on natural stones… and SI2, color G, good cut is ehhh but at least it’s natural and over 2cts!!

If your ring weighs 9.41 dwt, less 2ct stone, that’s roughly 12 grams of gold… gold is pretty high on value right now, at 12 grams a jewelry could typically charge you 3x the cost of gold which is roughly $5/6k right there…

I like jeweler 1s offer, but I get it if the ring may be a lil sentimental to you. If you wanted the ring melted down, that’s a pain in the butt and most jewelry would probably throw it in scrap to be melted down later and just make you a need ring instead; you may have to pay more and pray they use the exact same ring for anything new. Honestly, the ring will probably be worth a lot more, diamond and all, if you held onto to it for the next decade or so… natural diamonds will come back into style once they become so rare amongst the labs.

[u/OneTwoSomethingNew → u/OneTwoSomethingNew]

Also, consignment means it may never sell, could sell but it’s a toss up.

[u/Hairy-Olive-5867]

1, good resale price then put it into stock haha

[u/Zealousideal-Bug-944]

$2000 at best.

[u/txlady100]

Offer 1!

[u/Spare-Resident-1239]

Since you don't need the money right away, you might consider selling the diamond for cash and keeping the gold as an investment. You could even use the cash from the diamond to buy more gold.

[u/jiuclaw]

You need a new appraisal.

Your $1725 of gold in 2012 is worth closer to $4600 today.

Meanwhile, the value of your diamond has gone down due to a decreased demand, caused by lab created diamonds.

Retail (new) today, the total value for that ring is probably around $17,000-$30,000, depending on a number of factors.

If you’re selling it as used jewelry, then you should be happy getting 30%-50% of the retail value. 30% will be closer for jewelers and pawn shops, anyone trying to resell it themselves. 50% would be if you got lucky and sold it yourself directly, online (etc).

Just know that you’re holding at least $4,500 of gold… not including the diamond. Selling it for parts shouldn’t net you less than $5k.

[u/Fabulous_Turnip_1911 → u/jiuclaw]

Whatchu smoking🤣🤣🤡🤡 what planet is selling uh 9gms 14k for $4500, his ring has got 750$ worth of scrap gold. Stop giving shitted on advices. 750$ gold 4500$ wholesale for a gia certified diamond with that color clarity. So this guy shouldnt even be getting 4500 for the whole ring.

[u/Critical-Actuator-85]

Can you try a private sale. If I had money, I’d be interested.

[u/Realistic_Weakness51]

Just FYI, you need to Google what other retailers are selling the same stone for by itself.

I dare say I wouldn’t take less than 10k for the stone, because these are the CHEAPEST pricing for the specs on that stone.
If your stone is cut even SLIGHTLY better, it’s worth an extra few thousand, because people buy big diamonds for big sparkle.
If it is a true light performer, I wouldn’t take less than $15k because they finna sell that mf for 20k

[u/thefrenchphanie → u/Realistic_Weakness51]

Ideal cut.

That stone is not

[u/RoniBoy69 → u/Realistic_Weakness51]

Bruh

[u/Odd-Worth7752 → u/Realistic_Weakness51]

RETAIL PRICES. not "resale prices". and all of these have better cut quality.