Diamond help? Rolled the dice on a pawn shop buy.

[insontis]

Dice are still in motion.

Spent $64 on a 10K box chain & pendant.

Total weight is only 1.4 grams. Am I crazy? Am I trying to pay back the pawn for the items I purchased from them under spot?

Maybe.. unknowingly.

I shouldn't have trouble making my money back selling the piece as jewelry, but will I be able to profit after eBay fees? That is the question.

I am placing my faith in a small colorless stone that lies in the center of the dainty pendant.

If you've read a few of my posts in regards to jewelry, you're probably aware I have a thing for dainty necklaces. This was no exception. When I went to the pawn shop today to electronically test a few of my gold items I ran into an employee preparing new inventory for the shelf. Among such was this necklace & pendant. Originally I turned down the piece as the price tag would leave me with almost next to no profit unless I found the right buyer. As the attendant was taking the necklace back, I asked, to be certain, "that is a CZ, right?" "Um, I believe it is a real diamond. Let me check." And so out came the tester. And on came the green light. And dry went my mouth. I asked to see the piece again. This time I examined the box chain link by link. Everything appeared to be in good shape. And with that bit of information there was no talking myself out of it. Purchased & walked out.

Now when I bought this I did not even weigh it. I knew the weight would be under 2 grams as the pendant is hardly anything and the box chain is very fine (probably under 1mm). I bought this only for resale as jewelry and solely based on the stone.

Down to brass tacks. I know the diamond is real. I know the clarity appears to be of good grade. I know the cut is fairly good. Color appears great. The size, which I guesstimated based on VERY LITTLE experience with diamonds and their sizes, I believe to be about a 1/3 carat by size. Now I know that is not huge by any means, but I do believe its value is the different between a near break even and a near 100%+ return on investment.

I will be taking it to my local jeweler's tomorrow to have it looked at, but I can't hardly wait to know if I let temptation get the best of me or if I made a great (lucky) educated guess. I didn't have a ruler with me at the time, but now measuring the stone is about 3.5mm in diameter. The weight of the pendant without the chain is 0.4-0.5 grams, but my scale only goes to nearest tenth.

What does everyone else think about the stone & it's potential resale value as a necklace? Was it a bonehead move or a worthwhile score? Would you have done it?

Thanks for your feedback as always.

 

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[billn1956]

I would have passed at that price.While you should get most if not all of your money back it is not a given that you will.If you do a bin on it at the price you want you will probaly be holding it for a good while waiting on some one who is looking for what you haveThen not knowing for sure what they are buying will make most not pay your price with the profit you hope to make. Maybe find one in an advertizment with the brand new price will help you to sell it.

 

[randazzo1]

Looks like about .30 carats based on the dime. Should be able to get 120 BIN.

 

[insontis]

I would have passed at that price.While you should get most if not all of your money back it is not a given that you will.If you do a bin on it at the price you want you will probaly be holding it for a good while waiting on some one who is looking for what you haveThen not knowing for sure what they are buying will make most not pay your price with the profit you hope to make. Maybe find one in an advertizment with the brand new price will help you to sell it.

Not the first response I wanted to see. :P After reading it though I finally decided to face the music and check eBay sold listings. They are all o v er the PLAC E. The ones I see currently for a similar necklace/pendant with 1/3 carat diamond are 14K. I found one that was JUST the pendant that went for $114.50 in auction. Another went for $150 BIN free shipping. Lastly, my personal favorite, user listed it at $400 OBO and got $350 for it. Right now my thoughts are: remove 10K chain -> add 14K chain -> set price high as the clouds-> wait for whoever is buying these other ones.

Here are the ended listings:

Only pendant $114 sold: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Dia...S_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&hash=item4616c46202

$350 sold: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Valentines-...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

$150 BIN sold: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-3-Carat-D...S_Fine_Necklaces_Pendants&hash=item35cf747483

These prices must be great compared to retail.. I guess..? Not sure why someone would shell out $350, but hey, if they want to..

 

[trdhrdr007]

Your 1st post states the diamond is 3.5mm. According to the following website that means it's .16 carat. I'd be 100% sure what it is before I sold
Milimeter to Carat Weight Conversion Chart

 

[insontis]

Your 1st post states the diamond is 3.5mm. According to the following website that means it's .16 carat. I'd be 100% sure what it is before I sold
Milimeter to Carat Weight Conversion Chart

I believe it is larger than that. Just took it to jeweler who stated it has 'some color' 'a feather' flaw and is a brilliant cut. He said it was a good size, but didn't say exactly aloud. He did say he'd pay $75 for just the stone. I will get a second opinion later and, hopefully, an accurate size description.

 

[jerseyben]

I believe it is larger than that. Just took it to jeweler who stated it has 'some color' 'a feather' flaw and is a brilliant cut. He said it was a good size, but didn't say exactly aloud. He did say he'd pay $75 for just the stone. I will get a second opinion later and, hopefully, an accurate size description.

IF it were mine, I would take the $75 for the stone and let the guy who sells jewelry for a living worry about it.

Otherwise you are selling a stone that may or may not be a real diamond of unknown CCC. Sure, you can put what you THINK it is in the listing but in the end, the risk there is pretty high. You are opening yourself up to a NAD claim.

 

[insontis]

IF it were mine, I would take the $75 for the stone and let the guy who sells jewelry for a living worry about it.

Otherwise you are selling a stone that may or may not be a real diamond of unknown CCC. Sure, you can put what you THINK it is in the listing but in the end, the risk there is pretty high. You are opening yourself up to a NAD claim.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "stone that may or may not be a real diamond". It was verified by an electronic tester in front of me at the pawnshop and a separate, highly qualified jeweler confirmed its authenticity. He stated that it was a brilliant Cut, was an SL1 Clarity and I know he had told me before that the only "worthwhile" diamonds he pays for are 1/4 Carat and that he would pay around $75 for them. I also know he isn't one to give you the "best deal" sort of speak. For all I know he was taking me for a ride trying to get me to hand over the stone cheap. I know he only pays around 65-70% of spot for gold. I don't exactly trust him and believe he could be talking down the diamond's true value, not overestimating - that is why I want a second opinion.

Theorizing what it could or couldn't be in open discussion is not the same as listing the item on eBay. I would be sure to have all facts verified before making a claim and posting a listing, though.

edit: I am not saying that the $75 offer is out of my mind, though. It would be an easy rebound/small profit from the sale and would still leave me with the chain. I'm just not convinced this is my best road as the similar pieces listed did not have papers to accompany the stones and did not make claims beyond (what I'm assuming is an estimated) carat weight. If I do decide to sell the pendant, whichever way, I have another pendant that I plan to match with the chain.

Now the mind vs money struggle begins..

 

[insontis]

Lol, on a good side note, I just checked the pendant for the it's gold content for the first time. It is 14K. Sooooo... guess I'll be shifting to a 14K chain after all.