how to sell my 1+ c 1988 engagement ring Options

[jscox]

How do I get the most money for my engagement ring? My ex is holding the papers on my ring "hostage" and I have a jeweler who I trust to sell it on consignment. He probably wil give me a certification fairly cheap if not free. Or do I try and sell it on Ebay? It was originally purchased for aproximately $3000 from Fortunoffs in New York in 1988. It's a 1+ carat round set in a high4 pronged 14K y gold setting with small "chip" diamonds along the sides. Very good quality but I need to get the specifics, one minor "bubble" as far as I know. What's your advice? Thanks.

[denverappraiser]

Selling can be difficult. If you have a jeweler you are comfortable working with this almost always goes better than the ebay approach. If you don’t know what you have, start by getting it appraised by someone other than the jeweler where you’ll be consigning it. If possible, find an appraiser that doesn’t buy or sell diamonds or jewelry who can give you an unbiased opinion of what you’ve got and what you can expect. The jeweler will probably recommend that the center stone be removed and that it be sent to one of the major labs for grading. This is because customers regularly require a report from one of the well known labs before they will buy it and most people are much more interested in unmounted diamonds that they can then set into their own designs. If your stone is over a carat, this will be essential in order to get top dollar or even close to it. For smaller stones it will depend on the store. Some are good at selling in-house graded stones while others simply won’t do it.

The store will, of course, want to be paid for their services. This fee will vary depending on the store and what they will be doing to market your stone but you can expect them to want about 25% of the final sales price with you paying the lab fees ($100-$200). If they just buy the stone, they will want to pay a smaller price and get a bigger markup because it’s tying up their money.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA

[hermann]

Not to self-promote, but I would recommend posting the ring on this website, in the Classifieds section of the forum. I hear people occasionally get good results this way. And, it's free.

When you post it, try to include as much information as possible, particularly photographs of the ring and copies of any appraisal reports as recommended by Neil. The more objective information you're able to provide a potential buyer, the more likely you will sell it.

Good luck!