Wedding Woes

Old Jewelry

@artbyallie - you're our resident jewelry expert, correct? Anyone else with any experience with this kind of thing?

My sister and I inherited our mom's jewelry and none of it is our style. She had these two emerald rings that are both ugly and super expensive (seriously I had no idea how expensive emeralds are!).

How would you recommend I go about trying to sell them? Ebay? Try to sell just the stones? I know I can't expect to get close to the appraisal, but I'd like to get something more than the gold weight for them, but I would rather sell them than have them continue to collect dust in my safe for the rest of my life.

Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever

Re: Old Jewelry

  • Would you ever think of putting them into a setting you do like?  Or reinventing the jewelry to more your style?

  • Can you reset them? I'm in a similar boat, I have a beautiful emerald ring from my grandmother and the setting just isn't my style. Eventually I'm going to get it reset into something that is. 
  • Can you reset them? I'm in a similar boat, I have a beautiful emerald ring from my grandmother and the setting just isn't my style. Eventually I'm going to get it reset into something that is. 
    I would take it to a small specialized jeweller and see about resetting it. My father used to have a friend who did this all the time and that was the majority of his business. He's retired now, but he did beautiful work. 
  • We talked about re-setting them but neither of us like emeralds at all. It's not just the rings themselves (which are ugly, sorry Ma. LOL) but we don't even like the stones.

    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • Can you reset them? I'm in a similar boat, I have a beautiful emerald ring from my grandmother and the setting just isn't my style. Eventually I'm going to get it reset into something that is. 
    I would take it to a small specialized jeweller and see about resetting it. My father used to have a friend who did this all the time and that was the majority of his business. He's retired now, but he did beautiful work. 
    Thanks! That's definitely what we'll do. It's not in the budget now, but I'd like to get it done in the next year or so because the stone is beautiful, but the setting is old (and loose, and not my style). 
  • We talked about re-setting them but neither of us like emeralds at all. It's not just the rings themselves (which are ugly, sorry Ma. LOL) but we don't even like the stones.

    So jealous!  I LOVE emeralds, lol.  It's my favorite gemstone.  And the good quality ones are ridiculously expensive.

    I'm hardly a jewelry expert, so keep that in mind with my advice!

    It wouldn't hurt to put it on Ebay and make sure to have a reserve and/or start the bidding close to what would be an acceptable price for you .  Definitely include a pic of the appraisal (with any identifying info blocked out).  However, I wouldn't think Ebay is the best place to get top dollar for valuable jewelry.

    Unfortunately, I'm not sure what is.  Maybe higher end antique stores that sell jewelry?  It wouldn't hurt to go to a pawn store, also bring the appraisal with you.  But they are only going to give you a fraction of what it is worth because they need to be able to resell it and make a profit.  Let them know you want to sell it, not pawn it.  Appraisal value is pretty much always higher than actual value, so keep that in mind also.   

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  • We talked about re-setting them but neither of us like emeralds at all. It's not just the rings themselves (which are ugly, sorry Ma. LOL) but we don't even like the stones.

    So jealous!  I LOVE emeralds, lol.  It's my favorite gemstone.  And the good quality ones are ridiculously expensive.

    I'm hardly a jewelry expert, so keep that in mind with my advice!

    It wouldn't hurt to put it on Ebay and make sure to have a reserve and/or start the bidding close to what would be an acceptable price for you .  Definitely include a pic of the appraisal (with any identifying info blocked out).  However, I wouldn't think Ebay is the best place to get top dollar for valuable jewelry.

    Unfortunately, I'm not sure what is.  Maybe higher end antique stores that sell jewelry?  It wouldn't hurt to go to a pawn store, also bring the appraisal with you.  But they are only going to give you a fraction of what it is worth because they need to be able to resell it and make a profit.  Let them know you want to sell it, not pawn it.  Appraisal value is pretty much always higher than actual value, so keep that in mind also.   

    Well have I got a deal for you!! :P

    LOL I wish I liked emeralds because I'd love to wear the rings. She wore this hideous ring that looked like a fence when I was a kid. When we got her jewelry, I was SO EXCITED about the fence and I wear it every day. It's so ugly that it's wonderful and I love it.

    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • We talked about re-setting them but neither of us like emeralds at all. It's not just the rings themselves (which are ugly, sorry Ma. LOL) but we don't even like the stones.

    So jealous!  I LOVE emeralds, lol.  It's my favorite gemstone.  And the good quality ones are ridiculously expensive.

    I'm hardly a jewelry expert, so keep that in mind with my advice!

    It wouldn't hurt to put it on Ebay and make sure to have a reserve and/or start the bidding close to what would be an acceptable price for you .  Definitely include a pic of the appraisal (with any identifying info blocked out).  However, I wouldn't think Ebay is the best place to get top dollar for valuable jewelry.

    Unfortunately, I'm not sure what is.  Maybe higher end antique stores that sell jewelry?  It wouldn't hurt to go to a pawn store, also bring the appraisal with you.  But they are only going to give you a fraction of what it is worth because they need to be able to resell it and make a profit.  Let them know you want to sell it, not pawn it.  Appraisal value is pretty much always higher than actual value, so keep that in mind also.   

    Well have I got a deal for you!! :P

    LOL I wish I liked emeralds because I'd love to wear the rings. She wore this hideous ring that looked like a fence when I was a kid. When we got her jewelry, I was SO EXCITED about the fence and I wear it every day. It's so ugly that it's wonderful and I love it.

    Pic??
    ________________________________


  • that's VERY cool, @shesocold, I would want that too! your nails are gorgeous too.

  • Thanks, Pam! I get so excited when people compliment my nails because I'm a former nail biter (and four years later, it's still super hard not to).

    I admit though that the pic is somewhat old and my poor nails are stumpy now from months of no-chip. But they'll get back there! :)

    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • Is your appraisal current? As in, like, no more than 5-10 years old? If not, and if they're worth a significant amount, it would be a good idea to pay for an updated appraisal. Make sure they're super clean and sparkly (the jeweler who appraises them will clean them too) and list on eBay for 25-50% of the appraisal value.

    Or use the gold and other stones if there are any to have something made, then sell the loose emeralds in the same manner. Since emeralds are popular right now, if they're decent quality you could probably get more like 50-60% of the value.
    image
  • Is your appraisal current? As in, like, no more than 5-10 years old? If not, and if they're worth a significant amount, it would be a good idea to pay for an updated appraisal. Make sure they're super clean and sparkly (the jeweler who appraises them will clean them too) and list on eBay for 25-50% of the appraisal value.

    Or use the gold and other stones if there are any to have something made, then sell the loose emeralds in the same manner. Since emeralds are popular right now, if they're decent quality you could probably get more like 50-60% of the value.


    Yes, the appraisal is about 3 years old. I do remember you saying something before about ebay and me being surprised that it was a good way to go.

    Thanks so much!

    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
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