As a rule, a diamond resells for less than it was bought for. Here is why, explained by a diamond dealer.
Diamonds are bought and sold on an international market where prices move constantly. Over the past ten years, prices for commercial diamonds have mostly fallen, notably with the arrival of lab-grown diamonds. Only exceptionally rare stones hold their value, and even rise from year to year: blue and pink stones, exceptional coloured diamonds.
When you bought, you paid 20% VAT. You do not get it back when you resell.
The jeweller added a percentage of profit on the stone.
Today, the price of diamonds is probably lower than on the day you bought. And you can always find a little cheaper.
A diamond dealer has to buy below the market price. Nobody wants to keep an ordinary stone in a safe for months, in a market where prices fall and stock is plentiful.
I buy diamonds of more than 1 carat, and most often more than 2 carats. These are often old-cut stones, rarer than modern-cut diamonds.
A certificate more than 10 years old raises questions. Laboratories are stricter today than before: the colour and clarity graded back then can be lowered if the stone is analysed again.
A natural diamond always keeps some value, even if it resells for much less than it cost. A lab-grown diamond has practically no resale value: only the gold of the setting keeps any.
Bring your diamond and its certificate, by appointment, in Paris or Antwerp, Monday to Friday. I am not looking first to buy: I give you the most objective opinion I can on your stone, then we see together what you want to do.
Want a first opinion already? Send me a copy of the certificate and a photo of the stone. The photo must be sharp and zoomed in, so the shape and characteristics of the stone are clearly visible. A photo taken from two metres away, with a small stone on a table, is useless.
But a photo or a video says very little. What really counts is the certificate and the stone itself, present on the day of the appointment. It is under the loupe, with a diamond dealer's eye, that one understands the stone and can assess it.
Yes. A natural diamond always keeps some value, but it generally resells for less than the purchase price, for the reasons explained above.
Because you have to deduct the 20% VAT paid at purchase, the jeweller's margin, any fall in the market since, and the margin of the dealer who buys it back.
Practically not. It has almost no resale value. Only the gold of the setting keeps any.
Mainly diamonds of more than 1 carat, most often more than 2 carats, often old-cut.
You can send me the certificate and a very sharp, zoomed-in photo for a first opinion. The precise valuation is always made on the stone itself, by appointment.
Leave me a message or ask to be called back, personal reply within 24h.
