Over four years ago, my husband inherited a collection of cut gemstones from from his uncle, who I had never met. Judging by the many original receipts (primarily from the last 1960 through the 70’s) and the fact that several of his stones were bequeathed to a gemological museum, he was a serious gem dealer. I’ve recently retired and have decided to take on selling these gems as a business. I’ve inventoried over a thousand of them. The learning curve has been tremendous, and I’m sure I’m in way over my head, but I’ve definitely become hooked!
Judging quality and then setting prices totally has me in the weed. Membership with IGS has been a great help, but still there’s plenty of room to miss the mark. I’ve been reading many of the posts and articles from this forum, and I appreciate the expertise coming from this community. So here’s my question. How common is a 300 carat Citrine? And what might it be worth?
Hi there dear Terry Sue.
so a 300ct gem is something unusual to say the least and with such a hi clarity it is a rather stunning find, Altho its size dose present its largest problem! As gems this large can not be worn in any way so it would only have a museum grade atriabuts to offer, selling to a collector could be an option but you would only get about $6 to $10 per ct (I am suspecting) in collectors value because of its large size that docent allow for much more that a show peace or as a pepper Wight, this is probably why it was bequeathed to a museum by your in law to begin with. ( sorry about both your and your husbands loss of a family member. ) However there might be an option to try sell it at Christie’s or other well known auction houses such as Christie’s that do unusual or large gems. I unfortunately however I regret to say that i bought that you will get to the $50 to $ 90 per ct make but anything is possible if made possible!.
its is however better to expect less and get more than to do it in the adverse and get disappointed.
Best regards Jarryed.
Thank you Jarryed for this very helpful input. I think I will try selling through an auction house. I really like that idea. Because it’s such a blingy oddity, it will be fascinating to watch what kind of interest it generates. I will re-post here with the results.
I also want to thank you for the beautiful optimism expressed in the phrase, “…anything is possible if made possible!”
P.S. To be clear, although a collection of gemstones was given to The Davinci Science Center in Pennsylvania by Uncle Jimmy, this particular Citrine was not. That’s how we acquired it.
Hello Terry Sue,
I agree with Jarryed as to the value. Very large quartz stones like these have less value per carat than smaller ones because the demand for them for jewelry is less. This stone is also not a particularly great color for citrine, either. It has some brown tone to the yellow and also the cut is quite windowed, so the whole middle of the stone has a washed out color. All of that says that it’s about a grade 5 or less out of 10. I don’t find any stones this large for sale now, but one of 100 carats of a much better color is going for about $13/ct. So somewhere between $10 and $20/ct, I’d guess. There are some faceters who like to cut very large stones, and this one would improve in color a lot if it was recut. However, that would be a big job, so the cost might be prohibitive, since the increase in price might not justify the $500 to $1000 fee to recut it. I would put it out on some of the facet rough and cut stone sites on Facebook and see if you get any interest before trying to interest an auction house in selling it, because of the commission costs involved. -royjohn
Thank you royjohn for contributing your thoughts about this very large citrine. You’ve given me some new directions to consider. Turning it over to someone for re-cutting had not occurred to me. I took a quick spin around the Facebook Marketplace, but I’m not sure I found what you suggest in terms of “facet rough and cut stone sites.” If you have some specific sites in mind to recommend that I should search for, I’d be happy to give it another look.
HI Terry Sue, Candice here from Bijoux De Valour. You are welcome to have a look at our profile on Facebook and see which groups we are on or you can send me a friend request and I will suggest some gemstone buying and selling groups to you if you like ?
The price of $500to a $1,000 dollars is a high estimation I think, I would suggest contacting Pioneer Gem Corp for a price estimate on re-cutting the stone… They are professionals at faceting stons of all sizes and I ave used them several times. They can be trusted to return your stone with the highest quality finish and do great work. They also buy collections! Good luck in your new hobby!
HiI Terry Sue,
For the appropriate groups, just go to Facebook and use the search function for words such as gem stones, gem rough, facet rough, faceted stones, etc. You might want to pick the ones with the largest membership. There are several of each and after you join, you can see how they operate and decide which to use/continue with. -royjohn
Your citrine is stunning and fabulous. I agree with those that said the price per carat usually goes down when gems are a size that is too large to wear. Unfortunately, I do not believe your citrine is extremely valuable. A citrine over 300cts with similar tone and saturation as yours, sold at Bonhams, a top auction house, on July 9, 2021 for $318.75. Maybe the price has gone up in two years, but probably not by alot.
Bonhams Gemstones and Exotic Gemstone Jewelry, July 2021, Los Angeles. Lot 4034
Here is a citrine for comparison. This one was auctioned about the same time at Bonhams in Los Angeles. A 484ct citrine with much more vivid yellow than your stone. (Of course, photos are often wrong.) It sold for only $1020. Just does not seem right that they are not more valuable, but auctions are often good indicators especially one as well known and respected and Bonhams
And as a caution, citrine are generally not that valuable even for high end jewelry. Before cutting, investigate carefully the prices you intend to get and research the buyers before cutting up the huge citrine. Right now, you have fabulous even if it’s dollar value is not that high. You could end up with less than you would have made just selling it as a large stone. Of course, it could be worth it, just do a lot of research before spending the money to cut it up. You can’t but the beauty back together.
Thank you, gkirkman, for your response. I’ve been looking at the Pioneer Gem Corp. website and I like what I see, a very respectable track record. As a newbie, it’s very helpful to read their descriptions of what they have to offer. I don’t see myself having my large citrine cut into smaller stones, but many of the stones in my collection have large windows, and I’ve wondered about having some of them re-cut. I appreciate having a lead as to where that could be done. Again, Thank you.
Molly, I so appreciate these Bonham links. Thank you for providing them. I understand that this large citrine does not have the most dazzling tone and saturation, but the size is what makes it stand out. The cool thing is, I have some other citrines to compare colors, and I can see the difference. I’m still inclined to go the auction route for this stone that is bigger than some bars of soap, and let the chips fall where they might.
Hi Dion, I appreciate the tip. Is this the right person? Jason Delk This link doesn’t give me much information except that he prefers to work with Oregon Sunstone, and his contact info. I’ll reach out to him soon, if not for the citrine but for one of the other large windowed stones I have. Thank you
I have a couple of very large cut quartz stone like this… My original intent when I bought them was to use them as a pommel for a dagger. There should be a collector’s market for large stones. I also have an aquamarine that is 100 Ct and is light clear blue… no cracks visible to the naked eye… do you have any idea of how much a large aquamarine is worth?..would think not that much, as large beryls from brazil are fairly common…
