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

Brizors · Dec 3, 2016

I posted this in the what's the value section with no replies.

So I found a 10k gold earring with 7 small P1 rated diamonds in them. It says P1 on the inside of the earring this is how I know they are actually diamonds and probably worth something.

Problem is if I take it to my local cash for gold place which gives me 85% of gold value. I will not get anything for the diamonds, and that really sucks.

I am wondering what the best way to go about this is in terms of getting a dollar value out of the gold AND the 7 P1 diamonds? The earring reads VA 10K and then 2 star symbols and a pliers symbol or a ring symbol I'm not sure. On the rod that clasps it reads P1 10K.

Here are some pics of the earring:

Irons · Dec 3, 2016

Nice find! One thing about this hobby is you learn the true value of jewelry.

Diamonds are not worth squat unless they are really big and really perfect. Even then they are not worth much. Diamonds are only expensive when you have to buy one, otherwise they are just sparkly gravel. Same with all of the other pretty stones.

99% of diamond rings, earrings and pendants are worth the metal holding the stones. I did sell a single diamond earring on ebay for a few bucks over melt once.
That may be an option.

DaviDs · Dec 3, 2016

Diamonds like that I have bought wholesale for $4-8 each. They are traded daily, like gold, in NYC and Chicago's diamond district. As said previously, a lot depends on the size and clarity.

Great find though, I'd save them for a project, throw them on eBay, or advertise through your local gem and mineral society. Someone might buy them for use in their own project. =)

BTW, smelters often take the gold and send you back the stones. Get the melt and save em till u can get a good price or use them yourself.

Brizors · Dec 4, 2016

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..?

itsaring! · Dec 4, 2016

Brizors said:
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 owned and only worth something when bought while it is 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 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 do to 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..?

ARA pays 98% on gold and will bid on the diamonds. Smaller diamonds don't bring much at all. I kept one earring loaded with diamonds. May make it into a wedding band and try to sell it that way?

Brizors · Dec 4, 2016

itsaring! said:
ARA pays 98% on gold and will bid on the diamonds. Smaller diamonds don't bring much at all. I kept one earring loaded with diamonds. May make it into a wedding band and try to sell it that way?

Oh my god... that earring is GORGEOUS and LAODED with diamonds, who cares if they are small that thing has so many diamonds in it... It would be crazy to let it go for anything under $100, and I bet whoever bought it spent $500... You bet I would keep the diamonds if I was quoted any less than $100.. How do you get the diamonds out though??

Also what is ARA and how/where do I sign up so I can use the service? I typed in ARA and I got everything from American Renters Association to Automotive Recyclers Association.

Irons · Dec 4, 2016

I gave this one to my wife instead of scrapping it. It was worth the 9 grams of 14k nothing more. I tried a few jewelers and they did not even want it to re sell because they have a huge pile of their own diamonds to get rid of.

Hard to move your own overpriced stuff if you are offering less expensive used jewelry right next to it.

itsaring! · Dec 4, 2016

Brizors said:
Oh my god... that earring is GORGEOUS and LAODED with diamonds, who cares if they are small that thing has so many diamonds in it... It would be crazy to let it go for anything under $100, and I bet whoever bought it spent $500... You bet I would keep the diamonds if I was quoted any less than $100.. How do you get the diamonds out though??

Also what is ARA and how/where do I sign up so I can use the service? I typed in ARA and I got everything from American Renters Association to Automotive Recyclers Association.

Type in ARAGOLD.com. When you fill out the form you tell them you metal detect. Its not as hard as it looks. Also where I was hunting someone likely paid around $3000 for the earrings :shock:

Some women could care less about the value after bought. It matters you spent $15000. Not that it scraps for $500 :lol:

itsaring! · Dec 4, 2016

Forgot to add. You can probably saw it right beside the first diamond. Once the first one comes out, they should all follow. I had a small bowl with a snap on lid with diamonds in it. Apparently my sister visiting decided to help clean and threw the broke glass in the trash :shock:

Brizors · Dec 4, 2016

itsaring! said:
Type in ARAGOLD.com. When you fill out the form you tell them you metal detect. Its not as hard as it looks. Also where I was hunting someone likely paid around $3000 for the earrings Some women could care less about the value after bought. It matters you spent $15000. Not that it scraps for $500

I just can't beleive these diminishing precious metals/diamond values. It really does make me sick to my stomach. Screw everything about the jewelry industry.. :dash2:

itsaring! said:
Forgot to add. You can probably saw it right beside the first diamond. Once the first one comes out, they should all follow. I had a small bowl with a snap on lid with diamonds in it. Apparently my sister visiting decided to help clean and threw the broke glass in the trash

I'm not sure what you are referring to here, removing the diamonds? If so, how do I start?

itsaring! · Dec 4, 2016

Brizors said:
I'm not sure what you are referring to here, removing the diamonds? If so, how do I start?

The diamonds set that way are in a groove. When they mould the gold they bend part of it out and slide the diamonds in until the last one fits tight and then they squeeze the gold back closed. You can either bend out part of the track the diamonds are in and slide one out after the other. Or cut one end off through the gold. You can actually break one end off but you risk cracking the diamond at the end from any pressure applied. Some refineries like one I walked into in Orlando simply use pliers and hand you the stones back. Takes them seconds. The ones who use chemicals to dissolve the gold don't want to risk damaging stones they really don't want. Imagine breaking a stone scrapping $100 in gold with a stone someone thought was worth a bunch. Sadly the diamond market is flooded. That's why you see the round pendants with diamonds loose inside behind a glass. My friend bought his wife one. That's one way gold scrappers move small diamonds. Also diamonds look even smaller after you remove them from jewelry. Youll be amazed how they shrink :shock:

DaviDs · Dec 4, 2016

Brizors said:
.. how can they NOT be worth something once bought and owned yet only worth something while in the jewelry makers hands..?

I do lapidary and silversmith'g as a hobby. If I staged (7) stones like a production line, it would still take me 40-60 minutes to facet each diamond.

When u consider the pricey equipment, disposable tooling/powders, the cost of raw or rough stones, And my time even at min wage, it's like $50 each stone to make. So ts fun but definitely not something I can do for a living and complete with the poor Asian and African countries that usually produce these.

My point is the artisan that makes the piece should get a fair compensation. But not the over-inflated price that high end jewelers command.

Cfmct · Dec 4, 2016

Irons said:
Nice find! One thing about this hobby is you learn the true value of jewelry.

Diamonds are not worth squat unless they are really big and really perfect. Even then they are not worth much. Diamonds are only expensive when you have to buy one, otherwise they are just sparkly gravel. Same with all of the other pretty stones.

99% of diamond rings, earrings and pendants are worth the metal holding the stones. I did sell a single diamond earring on ebay for a few bucks over melt once.
That may be an option.

Exactly... I will say my guy gives me at least some chump change for those small stones...

KinTN · Dec 4, 2016

The way to get the most from it is to sell it privately. eBay is probably the easiest. Good write-ups bring more money too.
Very nice find.

vegasplayer · Dec 4, 2016

jewelry is a waste of money
check my auctions on fee-bay
seller hailtothekinggold
high end stuff can't sell for jack! :mad:

georgeinsc · Dec 4, 2016

From what I have read Diamonds are not rare. The Marked is controlled so that limited quantities are available at any given time. DeBeers is one of those controlling the market.

Keep the demand High thru advertising that makes people thing they are rare and then limit the supply and the Price is outrageously high.

Mud-puppy · Dec 4, 2016

Its a nice find though...sooner or later...FIRE OPAL! Or some other stone more rare than a diamond...The generic Diamond value is all about Marketing! Theres some really cool gems found in the wild here in the States you can go hunt for...

Various places in the Carolinas, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, California. Lots of places advertise for folks to come and camp and have a go in the search for a neat raw gem or fossil. In fact, thats exactly what me and the Missus are considering, Shes a rockhound, and I'm a detectorist/gold bug. We think it would be very cool to travel around from State to State in a stupid little van and hunt for stuff...
Mud

zeemang · Dec 4, 2016

Small diamonds are not worth squat, maybe just bust them out and bedazzle something you like before selling the gold as scrap.

DaviDs · Dec 4, 2016

Mud-puppy said:
Its a nice find though...sooner or later...FIRE OPAL! Or some other stone more rare than a diamond...The generic Diamond value is all about Marketing! Theres some really cool gems found in the wild here in the States you can go hunt for...

Various places in the Carolinas, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, California. Lots of places advertise for folks to come and camp and have a go in the search for a neat raw gem or fossil. In fact, thats exactly what me and the Missus are considering, Shes a rockhound, and I'm a detectorist/gold bug. We think it would be very cool to travel around from State to State in a stupid little van and hunt for stuff...
Mud

Pretty cool, that is what my grandmother did. She lived in Copper Harbor (mi) and then traveled coast to coast collecting specimens. Kinda neat because some of the rocks are from quarries that are now exhausted.

Good stuff

NectarDetector · Dec 4, 2016

Mud-puppy said:
Its a nice find though...sooner or later...FIRE OPAL! Or some other stone more rare than a diamond...The generic Diamond value is all about Marketing! Theres some really cool gems found in the wild here in the States you can go hunt for...

Various places in the Carolinas, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, California. Lots of places advertise for folks to come and camp and have a go in the search for a neat raw gem or fossil. In fact, thats exactly what me and the Missus are considering, Shes a rockhound, and I'm a detectorist/gold bug. We think it would be very cool to travel around from State to State in a stupid little van and hunt for stuff...
Mud

When you come dig diamonds in Arkansas, let me know, I'll meet you there!

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

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