# Ring Valuation



## sally2007 (4 Jan 2007)

Hi,

Myself and my husband bought a sapphire and diamond ring on honeymoon in Bangkok - we paid €2,400 for it and got the certificate with it. It was from a very reputable gem factory, have checked their website out - it wasn't just a dodgy looking guy on the side of the street!!

Brought it into Crystal Jewellers in Blanchardstown SC to be valued and there was a young guy behind the counter, he looked at it for about 1 minute, asked me where I'd bought it and then said it was worth about €750 - I was really mad with him and just walked straight out!!

I'm hoping he didn't know what he was talking about as I didn't think you could tell the quality of stones with the naked eye!!
Does anyone know where I could get a reliable valuation done??


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## brodiebabe (4 Jan 2007)

I bought a ring in to be valued in the same jewellers a few years ago.  Was also given a very low valuation.  Took it to Fields and it was valued more in line with what I paid.


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## sally2007 (4 Jan 2007)

Have tried Fields


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## Guest109 (4 Jan 2007)

all jewellery is very over priced no matter where you buy once you purchase and walk out of the shop your asset has plummeted,  just as a new car would when driven from the showroom


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## bacchus (5 Jan 2007)

ainya said:


> all jewellery is very over priced no matter where you buy once you purchase and walk out of the shop your asset has plummeted, just as a new car would when driven from the showroom


 

Totally disagree ...  Gems could raise and fall in value exactly in the same way shares do on the stock market.
I am not talking for instance about a 0.25carat I1 H type of diamond that are all over the place, but 1+carat VVS1 E or F.
Can't not compare jewellery and cars!!!

Coming back to the original question:
ESL Jewellery (Emma Stuart Liberty Jewellery) are makers and designers of all jewellery.
Phone: +353 (0) 1 679 1603
Fax: +353 (0) 1 679 1697
Email: eslpowerscourt@eircom.net

They do valuation, flat fee, while most (Weirs, Appleby, etc..) charges % of valuation.


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## ranger (5 Jan 2007)

Ainya,

Where do you get that assumption from ? Jewellry and cars are 2 different assets. I bought a Saphire ring (white gold) encrusted with diamonds abroad. When I got it valued here it was worth 4 times what I paid for it. Needless to say I was very happy (as was the wife). Also many years I bought a chain in the Middle East 3 gold rope chain. It cost me $200. Got it valued about 6 years ago and the value was €2,400. Reminds me I must get it revalued considering the price of gold has more than doubled in that time.  A $200 purchase for an asset probably worth in the region of €4000-5000. Not bad. Bought a car 3 years ago for €22k . Now worth about €14-15K if I'm lucky. Go figure

ranger


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## bankrupt (5 Jan 2007)

ranger said:


> Where do you get that assumption from ? Jewellry and cars are 2 different assets. I bought a Saphire ring (white gold) encrusted with diamonds abroad. When I got it valued here it was worth 4 times what I paid for it. Needless to say I was very happy (as was the wife). Also many years I bought a chain in the Middle East 3 gold rope chain. It cost me $200. Got it valued about 6 years ago and the value was €2,400. Reminds me I must get it revalued considering the price of gold has more than doubled in that time.  A $200 purchase for an asset probably worth in the region of €4000-5000. Not bad. Bought a car 3 years ago for €22k . Now worth about €14-15K if I'm lucky.



The interesting point is that you are comparing a replacement valuation with a sale valuation, I suspect if you asked the jeweller how much they would be prepared to pay you for your ring the amount would be much, much lower (if you could find a jeweller prepared to buy it at all).   Gold has intrinsic value, but the market for diamonds is largely artificial.


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## annR (5 Jan 2007)

True.  The ring valuation is what it would cost you to buy a replacement.  You won't realise the value of it by selling it.

So Sally2007, what did Fields value it at?


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## Digger (5 Jan 2007)

I 'm also interested in getting a valuation done in Fields. I bought the wife a solitare ring in USA a few years back and now only noticed a speck of black graphite or carbon (both same)  in the ring. so I'm anxious to see if I was done or not on the ring. Do fields charge a % or flat fee. I also want to value a diamond necklace ., Both by the way were certified IGI diamonds if that means anything.


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## bacchus (5 Jan 2007)

Digger said:


> I bought the wife a solitare ring in USA a few years back and now only noticed a speck of black graphite or carbon (both same) in the ring


 
There are flaws in the stone. The ************************* diamond are very rare and cost a lot. Most diamonds (99.99999%) do have flaws.  
If you can see the flaws in your wife'solitaire with naked eye (assuming you clean the ring before inspection !!) , you certainly bought an "I" clarity diamond... Nothing wrong, just not very good quality. Fine is you did not pay much for it, otherwise...

Other things to consider for value are of course weight (can be estimated - to get accurate measurements, need to be removed from the settings), color (easy to see if you have references) and cut (more difficult to see).


For estimated color, you need to train your eye...

Simple exercice: go to a shop and ask then to show you 3 or 4 different stones in different colors say  F, G, H, I  (not set in ring)

Take a piece of white paper (standard A4 for instance) and fold it in half to make a V shape.. Align the stones inside the V and will see straight away the difference in color (the white V is simply to facilite reflexion of light).


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## Digger (6 Jan 2007)

bacchus ,
              What comeback do I have if I bought the ring to an appraiser and they say the diamond is a H colour and "I" in clarity whereas the IGI certificate says otherwise. would I take the issue up with the store ,which was Macy's by the way or the certifying body. Bear in mind I purchased this about 4 years ago,  could I complain fairly next time I return to new york. ?


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## sally2007 (6 Jan 2007)

Fields will not do a valuation on jewellery that wasn't bought in one of their own stores.
Went into ESL in Powerscourt


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## sally2007 (6 Jan 2007)

Fields will not do a valuation on jewellery that wasn't bought in one of their own stores.
Went into ESL in Powerscourt and they were very helpful, charged a flat fee of €70 for the valuation and valued it at considerably more that what we paid for it!!

Thrilled!!


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## bacchus (7 Jan 2007)

Digger said:


> bacchus ,
> What comeback do I have if I bought the ring to an appraiser and they say the diamond is a H colour and "I" in clarity whereas the IGI certificate says otherwise. would I take the issue up with the store ,which was Macy's by the way or the certifying body. Bear in mind I purchased this about 4 years ago,  could I complain fairly next time I return to new york. ?



What they said does not matter as the only guaranteed way of knowning the spec of the diamonds is to buy them in seal bags from reputable dealers, and get then set afterwards.  Though, it is all based on trust as you have no guarantee that the diamond will not be "swapped" for an other during the process. This is why it is important to be able to "read" diamonds, so that you can read the "map of the flaws" before and after setting, ensuring the one you bought is the one mounted on the ring.
Though, i have seen diamonds with small flaws beign mounted so well that they appear ************************* as flaws (if well located) can be hidden being the gold and very very hard to see unless you know they exist...

Very OTT for many, but you could be dealing with lots of money...a 1 Carat (about 6.5mm diameter) F VVS2 is about €15k, a 2 C (about 8.2 mm) is about €40k, Dublin city center prices - Appleby !!! You get them for half of that in (almost) any other countries.. Never really understood why


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## Digger (7 Jan 2007)

Bacchus,
              The reason why I bought these diamonds, was because they came with a IGI certificate to say that what I was buying was what I was getting. I think one also pays a bit more for this reassurance. Surely that 
if the diamond doesn't match the specs on the certification card that I'm actually buying something different that is being advertisied. If so who can you trust?


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## bacchus (7 Jan 2007)

Digger said:


> The reason why I bought these diamonds, was because they came with a IGI certificate to say that what I was buying was what I was getting. I think one also pays a bit more for this reassurance. Surely that
> if the diamond doesn't match the specs on the certification card that I'm actually buying something different that is being advertisied. If so who can you trust?



The trust element i was bringing in was really in the context of the sealed box being opened to mount the stone, not that the stone in the sealed box did not match the cert.

IGI cert is as recognised as HRD cert, so i would doubt that you got something else than what's on the card.
What does it say on the card about inclusions?


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## Nermal (8 Jan 2007)

sally2007 said:


> Fields will not do a valuation on jewellery that wasn't bought in one of their own stores.
> Went into ESL in Powerscourt and they were very helpful, charged a flat fee of €70 for the valuation and valued it at considerably more that what we paid for it!!
> 
> Thrilled!!


 
Why are you thrilled? What difference does it make, since you will never be able to sell it for anything like the price you bought it? Basically, you just wasted €70.


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## soc (8 Jan 2007)

sally2007 said:


> Went into ESL in Powerscourt and they were very helpful, charged a flat fee of €70 for the valuation and valued it at considerably more that what we paid for it!!  Thrilled!!



Sounds like you just paid the guy €70 to tell you what you *wanted* to hear.


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## ragazza (9 Jan 2007)

Nermal said:


> Why are you thrilled? What difference does it make, since you will never be able to sell it for anything like the price you bought it? Basically, you just wasted €70.


 
Presumeably she isnt planning on selling a ring she bought on her honeymoon.
Presumeably she is thrilled, since the ring was valued at a lot more than she paid for it, so if she had bought it in Ireland instead of Bangkok, she would have had to spend a lot more than the 2400 she did spend, for the exact same specification, size and quality of ring!
Therefore, for a ring of that spec and quality, she has made a big saving.
I can see why she is thrilled.


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## muffin1973 (10 Jan 2007)

I can see why she's thrilled too!

Sally, we used ESL to value my engagement ring a few months ago that we'd bought in Antwerp and they also valued it at more than my husband paid for it, so we were very happy.  I'm not sure whether he would have been able to afford the same ring if we'd bought it here.

Having said that, the valuation cost has obviously gone up as we paid €50 to have it valued!

M


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## Nermal (10 Jan 2007)

ragazza said:


> Presumably she is thrilled, since the ring was valued at a lot more than she paid for it, so if she had bought it in Ireland instead of Bangkok, she would have had to spend a lot more than the 2400 she did spend, for the exact same specification, size and quality of ring!


 
That's not the value of the ring. The value of the ring is the amount it could be sold for, not the amount you would have to pay to buy a new one. If you want a real valuation, put it on Ebay. The 'saving' you got from buying in Bangkok won't seem so thrilling then.


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## Ravima (10 Jan 2007)

Whoever you use to value, make sure you get a proper written valuation detailing the weight, cut and clarity of stones as well as the setting type and the quality of the metal as well as the dimensions of the ring. 

I went to H Samuels in cork for valuations, was charged €85 for two rings and when I asked for it in writing, the girl got a sheet of notepaper and wrote in biro - three stone diamond ring €x. five stone ring €xx. Very amatuerish and not professional looking at all.


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## sally2007 (10 Jan 2007)

Nermal said:


> That's not the value of the ring. The value of the ring is the amount it could be sold for, not the amount you would have to pay to buy a new one. If you want a real valuation, put it on Ebay. The 'saving' you got from buying in Bangkok won't seem so thrilling then.


 
I don't really care what it would sell it for as I would never put it up for sale in the first place - it was a gift from my husband on honeymoon!
It's not like you would throw it on Ebay to earn a quick buck!

It's just nice to know that after spending a sizeable enough amount of money on a piece of jewellery in a foreign country where you do hear of scams going on, it's nice to know that it is the genuine article and in fact, worth a bit more than you originally paid for!


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## frasr (11 Jan 2007)

Sally2007, I'm planning on heading to Bangkok in a few weeks & have been thing of bying a special ring over there, can you let me know the place you got your ring?


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## bacchus (11 Jan 2007)

Nermal,
In your 2 posts in this thread, you seem to ignore the fact that most people get their jewellery valued for insurance purposes, rather than  resaling.

As for Ebay, would you trust buying a €10k gem there?? I and certainly many others would not... hence this €10k gem would end up snapped at €1k, considering the risk of it being anything else..than a real gem.


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## Mers1 (11 Jan 2007)

On the topic of rings, does anyone know of any jewellers that buy second hand rings.  I have a nine stone diamond ring that I would love to get rid of.

Thanks a million.


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## Mers1 (11 Jan 2007)

On the topic of rings, does anyone know of any jewellers that buy second hand rings. I have a nine stone diamond ring that I would love to get rid of.

Thanks a million.


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## Ravima (11 Jan 2007)

if you ar ein dublin, contact O'reillys on the quays. they are pawn brokers and jewellry auctioneers. You would probably get best price at auction. jewellers mark up is about 150%, hence for jeweller buys ringsfor €200 and sells for €500.

If you paid €500 for it and wanted to sell it to another jeweller, you could expect to get less than €200 from him. You should get more at autcion and both buyer and seller do better!


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## sally2007 (11 Jan 2007)

frasr said:


> Sally2007, I'm planning on heading to Bangkok in a few weeks & have been thing of bying a special ring over there, can you let me know the place you got your ring?


 
FRASR,

We got it in "Gems Gallery", 198/23-24 Rama 6 Road, Phayathai, Bangkok 10400. Tel 02-2710150

If you ask your hotel reception about it, they will generally ring ahead and somebody from the jewellery store will come and collect you, free of charge. Just make sure it is actually the place above that you're going to, there are a few dodgy places there too with similiar names!

Just make sure you bring your cheque book with you because if you go in their with a woman, you will spend money!! 
It's absolutely amazing and they have all price ranges - from €1k up to €200k+ As soon as you walk in, you will have an assistant beside you all the way.

Enjoy.......


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## sally2007 (11 Jan 2007)

frasr said:


> Sally2007, I'm planning on heading to Bangkok in a few weeks & have been thing of bying a special ring over there, can you let me know the place you got your ring?


 
FRASR

Also just to note, bargain on the prices.
We got 30% off what they asked and that wasn't with a huge amount of haggling - go in low and see how you get on!


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## frasr (22 Jan 2007)

thanks a million for that.


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## Panzraam (30 Jan 2007)

Very good article on why there is almost no market in second hand diamond rings!

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198202/diamond


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