What we buy · Diamonds & Stones
Not Weight, and Not What It Cost
Stones are valued on quality, not weight, and the resale market bears very little relation to what the piece cost when it was bought.
Unhurried, itemized, and with a written record. Bring the co-executor, the attorney, or whoever else needs to see it.
2004
Buying precious metals in South Florida since
Itemized
Every item weighed and priced separately, in front of you
Written
A record the estate can put in the file
No pressure
Take the offer away. It will still be there
The expectation gap is real and painful
Families frequently know what a ring cost and expect something near it. Retail jewelry carries substantial margin, and the resale market does not return it. That gap is genuinely upsetting to hear about while sorting an estate, and it is far better heard clearly than discovered through three disappointing offers.
Laboratory-grown stones have made the gap wider and more confusing. Two stones can look identical, one having cost a great deal and the other comparatively little, and their resale positions are entirely different. An older appraisal will not have distinguished them because it predates the question.
What decides a stone's value
- Color, clarity, cut and carat — cut matters more than most expect.
- Any certificate, which materially affects saleability.
- Whether the stone is natural or laboratory grown.
- Colored stones, where treatment and origin dominate value.
- The setting, which is usually valued separately as metal.
Why the certificate matters
A certificated stone can be traded on its documented grading. An uncertificated one has to be assessed by whoever is buying it, which means the seller is relying on the buyer's assessment of the thing the buyer is purchasing.
Certificates are frequently filed with insurance papers rather than kept with the ring. Finding one before selling changes the position considerably, and obtaining one for a significant stone is usually worth the cost.
How we handle it
- 01Assess stones separately from the metal.
- 02Tell you where a certificate exists or is worth obtaining.
- 03Be straightforward about the gap between retail and resale.
- 04Point you to a specialist where a stone warrants it.
- 05Provide a written itemized record.
Look for the certificate before selling. A certificated stone sells more easily and for more than the same stone with no paperwork, and certificates are frequently filed with insurance documents rather than kept with the ring.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We are not a diamond house. On a significant stone we will tell you to get it independently graded and taken to a specialist, rather than making an offer you have nothing to compare against.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why is the offer so far below what it cost?
- Retail jewelry carries substantial margin and the resale market does not return it. It is a real and painful gap.
- Does a certificate matter?
- Considerably. Look for it — it is often filed with insurance papers.
- Are laboratory-grown stones different?
- Yes, materially, in the resale market.
- What about a significant stone?
- Get it independently graded and take it to a specialist.
For executors
Authority to Sell
Being named in a will is not the same as being appointed, and selling before appointment can create a genuine problem.
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Records & Accounting
An executor accounts to beneficiaries and to the court. A receipt that says "assorted jewelry" is not an account.
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Beneficiaries
Most estate arguments about jewelry are not about money. They are about somebody finding out afterwards.
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Timing
Executors frequently feel pressure to resolve things quickly. On jewelry, very little of that pressure is real.
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The Irreversible Decisions
Almost everything in an estate can be reconsidered. These five cannot, so they deserve the extra minute.
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More what we buy
Gold Jewelry
Most inherited gold jewelry is worth its metal content. A meaningful minority is worth considerably more, and telling them apart is the whole job.
Explore →
Sterling Flatware & Hollowware
The canteen nobody wants and nobody wants to throw away. Usually worth real money as metal, occasionally worth more as a set.
Explore →
Coins & Bullion
An inherited coin box usually contains bullion, which is worth its metal, and collectible coins, which are worth whatever a collector will pay.
Explore →
Next step
Run it both ways before you decide.
No credit check and no obligation. Tell us what you hold and what the money is for, and if selling is the better answer for your situation you will be told that first.