It depends on what you are talking about, I worked at the coalface of a particular Gem trading business for a while. No diamonds, but I got a small take on the industry, if you can get 30-40% of what you payed, be thankfull. Very, very thankful. Why? because if you knew the markup, you would never have gotten married/bought a fine jewelry ring. Fine jewelry usually means handcrafted, (that is what your talking about, right?) on the second hand market, most will go for the re-smelting/refurbishing/resetting if necessary costs. Diamonds are forever? Like hell they are. You can get your peice appraised, but seriously, by the time your done you will know even my estimations are optimistic. Think about this for a second-who would want to buy a second hand-WEDDING ring? The answer, is nobody, unless it's dirt cheap, and the fiance doesn't know. I hope I am wrong, but good luck, and best wishes.
Sorry to hear about this vette. RN is spot on with the cosignment. My Wife is in the jewelry business, and she said absolutely check into cosignment. DO NOT sell it for pennies on the dollar as others suggest. She said it would be best to contact the store you purchased it from, and try to work out a deal with them. Her store does this at times in these situations, and she said the person looking at the ring will like the fact that the original store it came from is cosinging it. Hang in there vette.
Thanks all for your replies! Acronym I hear what you are saying, and I don't really expect to get full price out of the deal. My soon-to-be ex will get the $$ anyway, as far as I am concerned I gave her the ring and it is hers to do as she wishes. I always laugh to myself when people talk about how this kind of thing is a good investment. It is only a good investment if you can get it wholesale. I paid full price at the time, and considered it an investment in the future, but you only get so much mileage out of such a purchase, and once the honeymoon is over, hopefully you and your spouse are compatible in many other ways. You are right about the "used" part as well. There is a stigma attached to such a thing, like a bad omen to start out a relationship. If a couple is practical, however, they could end up with twice the ring they could otherwise afford. It is definitely an eye-catching ring which many people we met have gone out of their way to compliment. Now that I think about it, such a purchase gives you some instant credibility with your wife's friends and acquaintances...Hmm, something to consider.
LEAPup thanks for the reply, I have been in contact with the jeweler; we visited them fairly regularly when we lived in Las Vegas, and they seem like very good people. I'm not sure how business has been there since Vegas got hit pretty hard over the past few years (we left in '07). In the meantime, I am going to follow up with RN's advice, hopefully this weekend. For all the complaining ET gets, I find there are some very helpful and intelligent people that still prowl around here, and I thank you all again!