Earring Beach Find: How to get value out of this?

[Brizors]

Diamonds aren't so rare as you think. The De Beers vaults in London, Luxembourg and South Africa are full of them. Millions and millions of carats of them, just sitting, waiting for the prices to rise so they can be sold at higher margins. De Beers used to control about 90% of the diamond market, and so regulated the supply that went to market. They withheld most of the diamonds that were mined. This constant "shortage" artificially inflated the prices, and made people THINK that diamonds are rare.

Since about the 1990's, control of the market has been slipping away from De Beers, and that has made diamonds more of a commodity, lowering prices so that many more people can afford them. Everyone has diamonds now. The real value stones are:

Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Emerald, Spinel, Tsavorite Garnet, Alexandrite and Jadeite Jade.

These are the ones you want to see attached to your finds.

Here is a brief but interesting history of the De Beers diamond cartel:

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Zimnisky/2013-06-06-A-Diamond-Market-No-Longer-Controlled-By-De-Beers.html

...and another:

https://www.diamondbanc.com/blog/does-de-beers-still-control-the-diamond-market/

Happy Hunting,

Dave Town

Very interesting and a good read, thank you for being informative. I had no idea those were the real stones to look for that had value. I actually have between 5 and 10 jade figurine things... I am sure most are fake, but 2 of them look real as in they look aged and more colors that are true. Maybe I can show them here, would you want to see them?

 

[ScubaDetective]

I am going to call ARA tomorrow. I can't believe a company that deals in so much gold could bounce a check for 185.00. The letter from Wells Fargo didn't have ARA named on it. I have spoke to the owner many times in the past.

I am having a very hard time believing this and I won't comment until I hear it from the horses mouth.

 

[Brizors]

I am going to call ARA tomorrow. I can't believe a company that deals in so much gold could bounce a check for 185.00. The letter from Wells Fargo didn't have ARA named on it. I have spoke to the owner many times in the past.

I am having a very hard time believing this and I won't comment until I hear it from the horses mouth.

Thank you for doing this for us! Please let us know here when you find out, I am curious to hear back.

Best wishes!

 

[itsaring!]

Well the good thing is my cash for gold place which most here say to steer clear of, is a very nice and respectful guy that has AMAZING reviews, that also happens to pay 85%-90%. So I dunno, wouldn't you say that he is a good idea.

He has good morals, I brought a heavy pure gold ring I found that had a name on it, he said to come back in a week and if I didn't find the owner then he will take it.

So what do you say, does he give a good % and is he a good guy or should I still steer clear?

That's not bad if that is a % you can accept. You can usually calculate close even if you subtract for stones to see if they are somewhat honest. The good thing about ARA at times was they melt the gold and turn it to 24k. Then weigh it. So the ring say marked 14K that may really be 15 or 16k you will get paid for the extra. Ive actually gotten more than I thought I would from ARA before.

 

[DIGGER27]

I am going to call ARA tomorrow. I can't believe a company that deals in so much gold could bounce a check for 185.00. The letter from Wells Fargo didn't have ARA named on it. I have spoke to the owner many times in the past.

I am having a very hard time believing this and I won't comment until I hear it from the horses mouth.

Hard to believe but you never know.
Things can and do go south quickly in a family business from time to time.
Their website did go down for several days a few weeks ago, that might not have anything to do with anything, though.

I took about $400 worth of gold at 100% melt into a local coinshop/jeweler/refinery the other day for quick money because it is close to Christmas and he paid me about 78% which was fine...walked out with money in my pocket in about 20 minutes so worth it for the convenience.

Let us know about this ARA thing.

 

[ScubaDetective]

Well, I left messages with both owners today and called over 8 times. I got a live person once. NOT GOOD. Never had this problem before.

I still haven't made up my mind yet. HOWEVER, I was ALWAYS able to get a live person every time I called before. This really is disheartening and strange.

Hopefully someone will call me back tomorrow.

 

[relichead]

My god this is quite depressing... I had no idea all of us jewelry consumers get reamed in the bum on every diamond and likely every other purchase. That really.. really sucks.

I can't believe diamonds.. even small P1 diamonds like the 7 in this earring are worth diddly squat, that just sounds so wrong to me, and makes me SO incredibly angry at the jewelry industry. I mean come on.. how can they NOT be worth something once bought and owned yet only worth something while in the jewelry makers hands..?

This is one of those things that needs to be stood up to and boycotted. It is so wrong on so many levels, the value should not change so drastically from the transfer of company/store owned to consumer owned. Just wrong, so wrong, on so many levels...


Anyways, I would like the diamonds, screw selling them, I want them because even though they mean jack #&@% to jewelry companies, they mean a lot to me due to how rare they are formed in nature. So the jewelry industry can screw off! Haha.. man I am so mad learning this... anyways, how can I separate the diamonds from the gold without the chemical method, and where is the best place to sell the gold, my local cash for gold does 85% gold value, I'd like higher if a place exists..?

jewelry stores make like 800% profit....my buddy spent weeks lookin for the perfect 1800.00 engagement ring....when it went sour he was sure to get 1000 for it....when the best offer he got was 75 bucks he litterally threw it in the river!

 

[ScubaDetective]

jewelry stores make like 800% profit....my buddy spent weeks lookin for the perfect 1800.00 engagement ring....when it went sour he was sure to get 1000 for it....when the best offer he got was 75 bucks he litterally threw it in the river!

Actually it is over a thousand percent profit. I found an 18K ring that was worth scrap 35.00. One of the jewelry stores I did business with a lot sold that very same company name. The owner looked it up for me. To buy one was 350.00. FACT

All the jewelry stores will buy scrap gold and tell you the small diamonds are not worth anything. There is an overabundance of them. With people getting high dollar for their gold they just say goodbye to the diamonds. Jewelry stores do not have to buy any small diamonds. They are everywhere.

If you are a seller, your diamonds are worth nothing. If you are buying they are worth a ton. Unfortunate but very true.

 

[Bklein]

I still owe my wife a decent wedding ring. I had been hoping my searches with my CTX would come through and find one she loves - but not so far. So if you find a ring valued at 15K but you can't get squat for it look me up and I will give you squat plus more - if she likes it(!). I'd never buy her any jewelry without checking with her first - bigger is not better as far as jewelry is concerned with her...

 

[Brizors]

Well, I left messages with both owners today and called over 8 times. I got a live person once. NOT GOOD. Never had this problem before.

I still haven't made up my mind yet. HOWEVER, I was ALWAYS able to get a live person every time I called before. This really is disheartening and strange.

Hopefully someone will call me back tomorrow.

That is very discerning.. makes me not want to use them right away. Let me know what else you come across with them!

I still owe my wife a decent wedding ring. I had been hoping my searches with my CTX would come through and find one she loves - but not so far. So if you find a ring valued at 15K but you can't get squat for it look me up and I will give you squat plus more - if she likes it(!). I'd never buy her any jewelry without checking with her first - bigger is not better as far as jewelry is concerned with her...

I will keep you in mind!