One of my friends have a vintage diamond ring which inherited from her aunt and approximately 74 years old (worn out engraving inside says 20/08/47). It was appraised in 2011 at $1,675 CND and is now appraised at $2255 CND. She intends to sell the ring.
Do you folks have any idea of the best way to sell a ring like this?
By the way this is the ring.
Hello. With regard to appraisals and selling your friend’s ring:
Appraisals come in many forms and are generally written for a specific purpose (ie: insurance replacement value, retail sales, general estate appraisal and so on). The most common appraisal is for insurance replacement value. This estimates what it would cost to go out to the open market in your area and find a comparable ring to replace this one. This type of estimate has nothing to do with selling the ring as a private individual. I recommend taking the ring and any paperwork you have to 3 or 4 jewelers in your area and just ask them what they would pay to buy the ring. Be prepared for low-offer shock. Remember that retailers buy brand new from wholesale suppliers, so why would they pay you the full retail appraisal for your used ring when they can buy it new for cheaper. With 3 or 4 answers you’ll be able to see a true average of what the ring will bring selling it to a jeweler. Selling privately from one individual to another will take longer, requires more effort but in general will also bring more money.
Thank you very much for your reply & directions regarding getting a true re-sale value. If you don’t mind I have few more questions,
Wouldn’t this ring worth something to a collector as a vintage ring or is it not so old/too common?
Are there any specific online sales platforms or auctions for these kind of second hand jewellery?
She was planning to sell it online through Kijiji (as the ring is in Canada) but later on decided against it.
I cannot personally speculate as to the desirability of the ring to a potential collector as I am not one myself.
I am also not familiar with the Canadian online platform Kijiji you mentioned. From dealing with various other platforms from Shopify to eBay I do know there are generally fees involved which the seller must pay, further cutting into any potential profits.
My best recommendation still stems from my initial advice. Get a true average of what jewelers in your area are willing to pay. Expect it to be a low offer. Then try to sell the ring privately. Again, private sales take longer, are more involved and time consuming but generally pay better than the quick sell to a retailer.
Tim Scot
Kapoyk Gems
Thank you for taking time regarding this. Will see what kind of offers she come up from retailers.
I would try listing it on Loupe Troop, https://loupetroop.com/, and if you don’t have luck with that reach out to Jewels by Grace. She does consignments
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One of the ways we reccommend to our clients is ebay with paypal. Ideally your friend should include the photo of the new appraisal, and ask 75% of that amount, but expect to get about half of the full appraisal.
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No one cares about a vintage ring unless it is extremely unique or has a brand name. A jeweler is going to melt down the gold and check the value of the stones. Jewelers are going to low ball to an extreme.
As a jeweler, it is not how much we are going to pay you for the rings value, but how much can I make resetting the stones into something else. I need to at LEAST make my 50% mark-up, or it’s not worth the effort. I would only give you $700-800 CA for it. And that is assuming the stones are of somewhat good quality.
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Be prepared for “sticker shock” meaning jewelers will offer low like $500-$750.DeBeers has hyped the diamond as holding value, whose value? Buying at a retail price has no incentive for the jeweler to make a profit.
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Your friend can easily sell this diamond to a jeweler, but the problem is that she is going to be offered a price below wholesale, because the jeweler can buy all he/she want at wholesale from suppliers. It is possible to sell such a ring on line on Facebook at various jewelry groups or Instagram, etc. However, it would be helpful, if she decides to do this, that she have a reliable appraisal. This tells the retail buyer that the stone is genuine and that the metal is actually gold. You can get an appraisal that specifies a retail price and states that clearly. It will also state the clarity, color, cut and weight of the diamond and a buyer can compare that to other stones available on the internet, where lots of diamonds are sold these days. The prices there will probably be somewhat lower than a retail appraisal price, but the seller can look for comparable diamonds and rings on Blue Nile and other such sites and price the piece accordingly. She might want to have the stone tightened and the ring buffed up to look like new. With an appraisal at about $300 and a reconditioning bill of about $50-$100, being able to get closer to a retail price rather than half that might be a good investment. It may take a while to sell such a ring and your friend may be content to just sell it to the jeweler who bids highest rather than deal with a retail sale. -royjohn
Thank you @KristinaL10623 for mentioning those sites, she will definitely try those after going to jewelers for just to have an idea as Scot suggested earlier.
@royjohn, she don’t mind waiting if she gets at-least 75% of appraisal value. Hope they got the correct type of appraisal as it says “Retail replacement value” for insurance purposes. Yeah it needs some conditioning as it isn’t an extremely unique vintage ring.
Thank you @holsan01, @techaa for your suggestions & comments and @EricaO59400 for letting us know the jewelers side of story.
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Dana Reynolds of Master Cut Gems (https://www.mastercutgems.com/Index.php) and Patrick Kelley of Pak Designs (About Us – PAK Designs Inc.) may be able to help you sell your ring. Both deal with estate sales, and see the value behind vintage jewelry. Mr. Kelley will be likely easier to reach via his website, but definitely try reaching out to both.
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I’m afraid your friend does not have the right appraisal value for what she is trying to do. NRV, new replacement value and SHRV, second hand (estate pieces) replacement value are used for determining what it would cost to source an exact replacement if an item is lost or stolen. It is computed by valuing the components of a piece and then adding an assembly cost and profit margin for the jeweler. If a ring is lost, the insurance company employs a jeweler to find stones that match and to find or make a setting for them, to set the stones and finish out the ring. This is different—higher—than a retail re-sale value, which is what you would be able to sell a ring for in a retail market, such as a jewelry store. Your appraiser may be able to give you an idea of how much these two figures—insurance replacement vs retail re-sale—differ. Or you could take the specification of the diamonds and look for a ring with similar stones for sale locally or on the internet. Once you have arrived at this figure, you will expect to net some percentage of the retail re-sale value. A private buyer is going to expect some discount, since you are not a jewelry store, the ring is not new and you aren’t selling any exchange agreement or maintenance agreement with the stone. Retail jewelers often offer to upgrade at any time, giving you back whatever you paid on an item as long as you buy something of greater value when you trade in. They also offer free checks of the prongs yearly or buffing and polishing free on a regular basis. As a private seller, you’re not doing this. I think 70-80% of retail re-sale would be reasonable, but that’s just a guess by me. I think what you could get in a private sale would be much more than the below wholesale figure that a jeweler is going to offer. -royjohn
Oops, thought so. Thanks for the explanation Roy.
@rlynch, thanks for suggesting someone deals with vintage jewelry. Will definitely contact both of them.