Help to not get ripped off 1.37 Carat Diamond

[lmixon]

First, I appreciate any help in advance. When my wife died I ended up with some jewelry I needed to liquidate. Most was gold and gemstone pieces but there was one larger diamond solitaire.

I took them to a jewelry broker that had good online reviews and received about what I expected based on weight for the gold pieces. At the time they said they would need to consign the Diamond, and I signed a 25% commission consignment agreement with them.

A few days later they contacted me and said there was a small chip in the stone and that the "European Cut" wasn't marketable and that to sell it would need to be recut to "Round Brilliant" and have the chip fixed in the recutting. They said it could be done for $700.00 which would be held out of the proceeds. I agreed to this.

When the diamond was finished I was informed that it came out to 1.37 carats and the chip was gone. But they said to have it graded would be another $325.00 that I would need to pay up front. I didn't have the funds to do it, so they said they could still sell it anyway.

That was nearly a year ago. Basically it will cost me $700.00 to get my diamond back, I don't have any grading information, and when pressed they made me an offer of 3000.00 for the stone. I know my wife had it appraised years ago and it was around 10,000 but I don't have the appraisal available.

Not sure which way to go now. Any help would be DEEPLY appreciated.

 

[lmixon]

I did get a reply on the color / clarity. It was I or J color and and VS2 to SI1 clarity.

 

[04diamond<3]

Hi! Sorry for this awkward situation! That's got to be really hard. Unfortunately when selling diamonds, you never get what you paid for let alone what the appraisal said. Appraisals are just for insurance and they're always more than what retail costs. I would send it to GIA (I believe their current cost for grading is $200/carat), but at least you'd then have a GIA graded stone and you'd get for sure information on your stone. This will also help with selling it because everyone pays more for a GIA graded stone. Their website is www.gia.edu it will take a few weeks, but it'd definitely be worth it.

 

[TC1987]

Where is this jeweler? Someone in my family was ripped off by a guy in Boca Raton whose relatives have jewelry stores in California and Detroit or Chicago. That was in the late '90s.

Brian Gavin charged $350/ct to recut a diamond the last time I checked. Your may or may not have needed recut. It might have been possible to polish it out. Old European Cut is marketable. European Cut, with a low flat crown and a large table might not be, plus they lose a lot of weight getting recut to something modern with a 34-35degree / 15% crown and a decently compatible pavilion angle to go with that.

Get it back; send it to GIA yourself for grading is what I'd do. If you think your diamond was switched for a lesser diamond (that's what happened to my relatives) then report it to the police.

 

[denverappraiser]

Appraisals are just for insurance and they're always more than what retail costs

Appraisals are expert opinions on what something is and how it will be expected to interact in a particular marketplace. High retail is often the marketplace being described but it is most definitely NOT the only choice and insurance is definitely NOT the only purpose. Anyone who wants to can call themselves an appraiser and their expertise may or may not be useful to you but summarily dismissing them as useless because the report is called an appraisal is no more correct than summarily accepting it for the same reason. I"m not exactly unbiased here but I think a competent appraisal is exactly what's called for here although I'll toss out that an incompetent appraisal is worth less than nothing. There is a difference.

 

[denverappraiser]

You’re in a pickle. $700 to cut a 1.37 is pretty high but you already agreed to it so that seems like a done deal, as does the question of whether or not it needed cutting at all or even whether they did a good job. The question NOW is what is it. Surely they have an opinion on this since they’ve given a bid on it. Ask for as many details as they'll give you.

Is the $3000 bid net of the cutting fee or are they going to subtract $700 from the proceeds and pay you $2300?

Where are you?

Do you have any way to go ahead and pay them the $700 so you can shop it around? I presume they won’t release the stone without their money but can you pay them, look into your other options and go back and get the $3000 if it turns out to be your best offer?


$3000 net for a 1.37/SI1/J is not an unreasonable bid but there's a lot of unknown details here

 

[Christina...]

I think that DA gave you good advice and I don't have anything else to offer, except that I'm sorry that this has happened to you. It seems to me that all of this (the cutting the report etc) should have been discussed with you at the same time there commission for selling the stone was. $700 for a re-cut is ridiculous!

 

[John P]

I would send it to GIA (I believe their current cost for grading is $200/carat)

For 1.37 carats a GIA diamond dossier is currently $81. A full report costs $100. The fees are available on their website.

Appraisals are just for insurance and they're always more than what retail costs

Appraisals are expert opinions on what something is and how it will be expected to interact in a particular marketplace. High retail is often the marketplace being described but it is most definitely NOT the only choice and insurance is definitely NOT the only purpose. Anyone who wants to can call themselves an appraiser and their expertise may or may not be useful to you but summarily dismissing them as useless because the report is called an appraisal is no more correct than summarily accepting it for the same reason. I"m not exactly unbiased here but I think a competent appraisal is exactly what's called for here although I'll toss out that an incompetent appraisal is worth less than nothing. There is a difference.

Absolutely true. In fact an appraiser could be of help in this situation. If there is a reputable and qualified independent appraiser in your area find out what he/she would charge to meet you at the store and assess the color, clarity and make of your diamond. The right appraiser could also tell you how the $3000 offer stacks up to what you might expect if you were to pay the $700 repair-fee, walk away and move it elsewhere.

This situation reminds me of one that happened close to home: A friend of my wife scrapped her solitaire and consigned her divorce-diamond to a jewelry store. At the time she took a bracelet against the eventual payoff. After a year she wanted to try moving the diamond elsewhere. The store asked her to pay for the bracelet (logical) as well as a $400 un-mounting fee, since they had placed it in a setting. Alternately, they offered her $2000 to keep the bracelet, walk away and leave the diamond... My wife called me and I arranged to meet her at the store that week. Once I examined the diamond it was clear she could do better than the store had offered. She ate the un-mounting fee, since it was in the fine print of the consignment agreement (read those agreements!) but I put her in touch with a local buyer who did well by her.

 

[Bosie]

The entire episode with the jeweler really stinks, I think they have taken advantage of you given your knowledge of diamonds. I think at this point I would take the $3000 and run, cut all ties to this jeweler, and be done with the entire thing and get peace of mind. Sorry about your loss.