A Diamond Expert’s Top Secret Money-Saving Tips-

Including why you should buy used engagement rings and preowned wedding rings

How to understand the caliber of the Diamond certificate you are getting?

Why are manufactured diamonds a horrible investment?

Why can Brick and Mortar Jewelers not compete with online sellers?

A diamond center stone is where you should spend most of your budget.

What do retail jewelry appraisals mean to the value of the ring I bought?

Why will you lose money selling your engagement ring?

Best diamond shape to buy for resale value and saleability?

How and where should you shop for an engagement ring to save money?

How are diamonds sold to retail jewelers?

Throughout our content on  The Diamocycle Dispatch, we discuss the many places you should buy a used diamond engagement ring and how and where you should sell a  used diamond ring. We pride ourselves in keeping you in the know with the best diamond expertise to be a successful buyer and seller of preowned diamonds. For our complete guide on buying a used diamond, start here. https://www.diamocycle.com/a-guide-to-buying-a-used-diamond

We created this short guide to give you the top-secret tips almost no jeweler would tell you because it works against them selling you an expensive new diamond engagement ring. So, why would they? We feel every person shopping for engagement rings should have this knowledge to try and get a fair deal on a diamond ring for their loved one. 

How to understand the caliber of the Diamond certificate you getting?

So, if you are buying a loose diamond for an engagement ring, did you know that one lab will grade the same diamond in a different color and clarity based on the caliber of the lab? The following is a list of labs and their commonly understood standing in the diamond industry. We believe that the diamond grading is inaccurate below a third-tier lab. 

Top Tier: GIA

Second Tier: AGS, HRD, GCAL

Third Tier: IGI, PGS

Fourth Tier: GSI

Fifth Tier: EGL

Why are manufactured diamonds a horrible investment?

A manufactured diamond is chemically identical to an earth-mined diamond. They look the same. Think of a natural diamond like a Picasso Painting. A manufactured diamond is similar to a Picasso Forgery. While both works of art appear similar they were created by different artists. A natural diamond was made thousands of years ago by mother earth. Not in a lab this year by a factory worker. The forgery looks and feels like the real thing and costs a fraction of the price. So, what is the problem? If you’re buying a copy and are happy, that’s fine, but purchasing an original piece of art, you would not expect to pay the same amount. Also, manufactured diamonds every year are going down in production costs. More players are making them as the technology gets less expensive. Therefore, their value is ever decreasing. So, unlike a rare painting that goes up in value or tracks with inflation, a manufactured diamond is a depreciating asset no different from a home appliance purchase. As production decreases, they are getting less scarce and less valuable each year, leading to an ever-decreasing value. When you try to resale engagement rings, the price you receive will be less each year you own a man-made diamond ring. The price you receive for a natural diamond will likely be higher than what you would receive the previous year (short-term market forces notwithstanding). Therefore, manufactured diamonds carry financial risks, and we do not recommend you purchase them. 

Why can Brick and Mortar Jewelers not compete with online sellers?

You no longer need to buy and sell diamonds in your neighborhood.

The nature of an online business means lower operating costs. Online merchants do not pay rent, high employee labor costs, electricity, and utilities. Traditional brick-and-mortar jewelers have a higher price to do business. 

A diamond center stone is where you should spend most of your budget.

The simple reason is a diamond setting depreciates, and a diamond center stone appreciates. While a diamond center stone increases in value, you can never capture this appreciation if you pay an overinflated retail price. Most of the costs of the setting are in labor and marketing of a diamond setting. So when it is offered for re-sale, it can often be worth only the materials cost. This is a small amount of the overall retail price. For example, on a retail new wedding band purchase, with a  cost of $2000 for setting.  The materials could be $350.00 in the secondary market for small diamonds and scrap metal. So, second-hand wedding rings have a meager resale value. 

What do appraisals mean to the value of the ring I bought?

Most retail appraisals you receive from a jeweler after purchasing a diamond engagement ring are for the insurance value. The jeweler often inflates this value on the assessment for two reasons. The first is they assume you need insurance, and in if the ring is lost or stolen, it could be in the future, so the price due to inflation has gone up. So they put a future retail value on the appraisal. The next is that it makes the consumer feel they just purchased a bargain. Who does not want to feel good after making possibly the most significant single retail purchase of their life? Unfortunately, the price on this retail appraisal is not reflective of the price a consumer would buy and sell diamonds. 

Why will you lose money selling your engagement ring?

Diamonds go through multiple channels of sellers. A simple example of the wholesale price a jeweler pays for a loose diamond before they sell it to you is not the price they would receive if they need to sell this diamond for cash the next day. That price is approximately 60% of the price they just paid. So let’s assume you need to sell your diamond for cash today. Well, then you will get less from the same jeweler because they will need to pay you far less to sell it tomorrow and make money. The recipient could be the original dealer that sold it to them. When you purchase a diamond is a crucial consideration how to resale jewelry. Also, as we previously noted, used wedding rings depreciate because of the costs to manufacture them and the marketing channels to distribute them. So often, a seller can only hope to recoup something close to the materials value of the diamonds and precious metals. For our complete seller’s guide, start here. https://www.diamocycle.com/a-guide-to-selling-your-diamond

Best diamond shape to buy for resale value and saleability?

The most popular diamond shape for those buying and selling diamonds is round brilliant. Round brilliant is the most desirable. Demand drives resale value, so you are safest to purchase a round brilliant diamond for the best overall future saleability and price appreciation. 

How and where should you shop for a pre-owned engagement ring to save money?

Purchasing diamonds and wedding rings in a retail market is a sure bet on how to lose money. New jewelry has multiple channels of markup they cross to get to you. So, the obvious way to purchase diamond jewelry for less is to buy used diamonds, pre-owned diamond engagement rings, or preowned jewelry. You can then cut some of the depreciation costs incurred by the previous consumer. As diamonds and diamond settings last longer than our lifetime, there is no apparent reason to buy a new diamond ring. We recommend secure marketplaces for pre-owned diamonds and preowned wedding rings online that inspect the used diamonds before purchase and safeguard the buyer’s funds. Getting a pre-owned diamond ring is the expert’s choice for the savvy shopper buying used jewelry. 

How many sellers touch a new diamond before it gets to you? 

A diamond has gone through several distribution channels before it ever gets to the person who sells the diamond to your jeweler. Most likely at least 2 to 4 hands. There are 2 to 4 markups before it ever reaches the person who sells it to your jeweler. So that a minimum of 6 parties markup a new diamond before it is sold at a final retail price. This is one reason why if you have to sell a used diamond, you will lose money. Also, this is a solid argument to buy a used diamond or preowned engagement ring from second-hand jewelers online. We recommend you take a look at fine jewelry resale online. With diamond ring resale, you can avoid this multiple-party markup. 

If you are in the market for a used diamond or preowned engagement ring, please look at the Diamocycle marketplace. Here is the  Diamocycle Marketplace. You will find a good sale on engagement rings. Please read our Buyer’s Guide — Diamocycle. 

We help you buy luxury consignment jewelry and pre-owned diamond engagement rings at a significant discount to retail prices—a secure marketplace for buyers and sellers looking to purchase or diamond consignment at a  fair market price. Start selling here. Submit a Listing — Diamocycle. 

Our family legacy in the diamond and jewelry business was founded in 1857, over 165 years ago.