For most individuals, selling a diamond that they no longer want is a frustrating and sometimes eye opening process.   If you’re like most people, you aren’t an expert in diamonds yourself and you don’t happen to own a jewelry store or diamond outlet so you are going to be relying on experts to assist.   You’ve got some idea what it’s ‘worth’ either based on what you paid or what some appraiser has told you and you just want to get your money out as quickly and efficiently as possible.  To do this, you must first know what you have and you must choose your market.

Start at the beginning.

Get it graded and appraised by an independent appraiser who is NOT going to be a bidder in the process and who is working for you, not the seller where you bought it. This is not the same set of questions as for an insurance replacement appraisal so make sure they know what you’re asking.  The correct answer to the wrong question is doing you no good at all.   For diamonds, the best grading info is a relatively recent GIA or AGS grading report but even if you already have one a big remaining question is about condition.   If you don’t have a GIA, start with your appraiser anyway, because there may be repair concerns that need to be addressed before it goes to the lab and there are certain buyers where you won’t be able to recover the cost of the lab fees with the price.  Without this basic information you really are flying blind. 

 

There’s a list of independent appraisers here.