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Thread: Antique Diamond Ring- where to Sell?

  1. #1
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    Antique Diamond Ring- where to Sell?

    My wife’s received a supposedly Antique diamond ring from her late step grandmother and although it is a lovely ring, it’s not the sort of thing she’d wear and she could do with the money due to an impending House purchase.
    I know there are a few jewellers on here and people in the trade.
    I’ve popped it into the Jewllers who advised it would be worth getting a valuation on the item for the insurance but they charge around £23 to per £1000 it’s worth.
    They didn’t give me an estimate after that

    How is the best way to sell this for the best price and where in London would offer to buy this sort of jewellery?
    Can provide pics if it helps



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  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hobby Hunter View Post
    My wife’s received a supposedly Antique diamond ring from her late step grandmother and although it is a lovely ring, it’s not the sort of thing she’d wear and she could do with the money due to an impending House purchase.
    I know there are a few jewellers on here and people in the trade.
    I’ve popped it into the Jewllers who advised it would be worth getting a valuation on the item for the insurance but they charge around £23 to per £1000 it’s worth.
    They didn’t give me an estimate after that

    How is the best way to sell this for the best price and where in London would offer to buy this sort of jewellery?
    Can provide pics if it helps



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    I would provide pics. Lots of people work in the trade in here

  3. #3
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    Will post pics in abot

  4. #4
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    Watch for scale
    Advised this is 18ct carved setting 5 stones








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  5. #5
    Craftsman JFW's Avatar
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    I may be able to help. Can you.DM your email pls

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  6. #6
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    Anyone else can advise please?
    I’ll be heading into London so could do with some pointers

  7. #7
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    Must be someone able to point me in the direction? Theres been loads of Traders in the SC for jewellery




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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hobby Hunter View Post
    Must be someone able to point me in the direction? Theres been loads of Traders in the SC for jewellery


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    If this hadnt been put in watch talk you'd have had some help by now I'm sure.
    I was waiting for the pictures coming up but honestly even after seeing them I would just be guessing.

    If you want to sell, Fellows and sons auctioneers are a good bet. At least there it's not just traders bidding at it.

    The piece itself is pretty outdated so don't expect an easy sale. If you had a valuation or full specs on the diamonds then you'd have a fighting chance of someone giving you a price. As it is, somewhere between £500 and £5000 is as specific as I'd care to be.

    They appear to be old European cut diamonds and there are specialist dealers for those antique pieces, but I can't even be sure of that from a photo.

    Sorry.

  9. #9
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    p.s. don't pay 2.3% value on the valuation. Find a decent independent who charges fixed rates per piece and expect to pay £60 ish.
    That will tell you what it is and what to insure it for but NOT what it'll bring second hand, so only go that route if you're going to try for a private sale. If selling to the trade that valuation will mean nothing.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevkojak View Post
    If this hadnt been put in watch talk you'd have had some help by now I'm sure.
    I was waiting for the pictures coming up but honestly even after seeing them I would just be guessing.

    If you want to sell, Fellows and sons auctioneers are a good bet. At least there it's not just traders bidding at it.

    The piece itself is pretty outdated so don't expect an easy sale. If you had a valuation or full specs on the diamonds then you'd have a fighting chance of someone giving you a price. As it is, somewhere between £500 and £5000 is as specific as I'd care to be.

    They appear to be old European cut diamonds and there are specialist dealers for those antique pieces, but I can't even be sure of that from a photo.

    Sorry.
    Brilliant, thanks for the advice, I will look into Fellows, and I will see if a valuation can be gotten at a fixed rate.

    I chose the watch talk as I weren’t sure where and this was the busiest place.




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  11. #11
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    It is possible to have a single item appraised by a Member or a Fellow of the UK’s Institute of Registered Valuers for £50 in other parts of the country.

    Any jeweller can issue a valuation but many are not competent to do so. Historically many have inflated the value because that is what their client wishes to see, while they rub their hands at the thought of the replacement business it might generate if the item is ever lost. Insurers are increasingly demanding that IRV Valuers perform appraisals.

    Few would rush to assess stones mounted in a ring, in a photograph of unknown lighting / adjustment.

    If looking to sell a pre-owned ring, an insurance appraisal for New Replacement Valuation carried out by a third party will generally be dismissed by anyone contemplating an offer. It may not be money well-spent.

    H
    Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 24th October 2017 at 18:56.

  12. #12
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    Yeah, I know I would need to take it somewhere so they can see it to assess it.
    I was just after some pointers as Jewellery is a a bit daunting.
    Local pawn brokers have ridiculed a £4500 ring made in Cyprus with certs and offered under £500, that why I wanted to know who are good to use.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hobby Hunter View Post
    Yeah, I know I would need to take it somewhere so they can see it to assess it.
    I was just after some pointers as Jewellery is a a bit daunting.
    Local pawn brokers have ridiculed a £4500 ring made in Cyprus with certs and offered under £500, that why I wanted to know who are good to use.
    I wonder how much the Cypriot jeweller would offer to buy his own ring back. Have you asked?

    Where does the £4,500 figure come from?

  14. #14
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    No that was another ring the mother in law was given and split up. It was made and stones set in a peculiar way. When I went previously to the jewellery they may as well have to me to do one 🤣

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Haywood_Milton View Post
    I wonder how much the Cypriot jeweller would offer to buy his own ring back. Have you asked?

    Where does the £4,500 figure come from?

    I've had many older generation customers come into my shop to show off their new bargain from an overseas jewellers for me to give my opinion on whether "it was a bargain". 99% of the time they leave didsapointed when I show them an item of equal or better quality for 1/4 of the price they paid.

    Why people think they get better deals abroad is beyond me.

  16. #16
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    It’s not a deal a such, the ring was made out there and the cost charged was £4500
    They were living out there so it kinda make sense they’d buy out there, not looking for a deal thinking it’s better than uk prices.
    Anyway this all relates to local pawn broker experience

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Hobby Hunter View Post
    It’s not a deal a such, the ring was made out there and the cost charged was £4500
    They were living out there so it kinda make sense they’d buy out there, not looking for a deal thinking it’s better than uk prices.
    Anyway this all relates to local pawn broker experience
    But, how do you know she wasn't ripped off in Cyprus? Who's to say the pawnbroker wasn't offering a fair price? if she paid £4500 and was offered £500 its reasonable to say she paid too much for it.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by alexaff View Post
    But, how do you know she wasn't ripped off in Cyprus? Who's to say the pawnbroker wasn't offering a fair price? if she paid £4500 and was offered £500 its reasonable to say she paid too much for it.
    This!

    While we cannot know if it is the case with the OP's jeweller, the phenomenon is very common --- whether the item has been bought abroad or indeed at Goldsmiths, Beaverbrooks, H. Samuels, David M. Robinson, Ernest Jones, Leslie Davis or any other "trusted" jeweller not afraid of a massive mark-up.

    Unfortunately clients generally do not wish to believe they have bought badly and over-paid (though it was at the point of first purchase when they lost their money), finding it easier to believe that it is the pawnbroker who is not subsequently offering a fair price. After all, doesn't the posh jeweller send them a hamper at Christmas / send them 30% off vouchers / hold a sale in December / have such glossy presence / advertise in "Cheshire Second Wife?"

    "They've always given me good value." How do you know? Who pays for all that fluff?

    When the client is asked who has offered to give them more for their secondhand jewellery : "No-one."

    What did the original seller offer you back for it? - "they don't buy back their own stock / they have too much stock in at the moment / they don't deal in secondhand jewellery / ...but they say that I should expect at least £xyz from you for it!"

    I would point out for a fact that the gross profit margins on jewellery and watches realised by the companies above are much greater than that which we enjoy.

    While thinking of auction, it is worth noting the extent of fees which any seller effectively loses from what an end buyer actually pays:

    "We conducted a survey of eight UK auction houses in May 2015* and found that on average over 40.6% in fees etc was deducted by the auction house from the total actually paid, leaving less than 60% for the seller.

    * Xxxxxxx survey of auction fees published on proprietary websites or obtained by telephone
    enquiry on 19th – 20th May 2015 from Sotheby’s, Fellows & Sons, Bonhams, Phillips, Lyon &
    Turnbull, Dreweatts, Adam Partridge and Tennents, for items selling at hammer price of £1,000.
    Fees included buyer’s and seller’s commission, indemnity, advertising / illustration and VAT
    ."

    Haywood
    Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 25th October 2017 at 11:58.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by kevkojak View Post
    p.s. don't pay 2.3% value on the valuation. Find a decent independent who charges fixed rates per piece and expect to pay £60 ish.
    That will tell you what it is and what to insure it for but NOT what it'll bring second hand, so only go that route if you're going to try for a private sale. If selling to the trade that valuation will mean nothing.
    EXACTLY THIS ^^ Charging a &'age of value is frankly a conflict of interest. IE they will always slightly over value it or value it to the absolute limit they can to squeeze out more fees for them.

    If you want to sell, a good and honest valuer will tell you a figure you can expect to sell it for whether that is to a jeweller, in an auction or a sale between two private parties.

  20. #20
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    While thinking of auction, it is worth noting the extent of fees which any seller effectively loses from what an end buyer actually pays:

    "We conducted a survey of eight UK auction houses in May 2015* and found that on average over 40.6% in fees etc was deducted by the auction house from the total actually paid, leaving less than 60% for the seller.

    * Xxxxxxx survey of auction fees published on proprietary websites or obtained by telephone
    enquiry on 19th – 20th May 2015 from Sotheby’s, Fellows & Sons, Bonhams, Phillips, Lyon &
    Turnbull, Dreweatts, Adam Partridge and Tennents, for items selling at hammer price of £1,000.
    Fees included buyer’s and seller’s commission, indemnity, advertising / illustration and VAT."

    Haywood
    Well put, I live just along from Tennents and always bought bits from there but they are just gettting to expensive to buy from now. The bargins have long gone.

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