Diamond rings are the hardest jewelry to value by eye and the easiest to be underpaid for. The gap between a fair offer and a poor one usually comes down to one thing: whether anybody actually graded the stone, or just weighed the gold around it.
How a diamond ring is valued
Carat weight is the starting point but not the whole story. Price per carat rises in steps rather than smoothly, so a stone just over a round weight such as 1.00ct is worth disproportionately more than one just under it. A tenth of a carat either side of that line can move the figure noticeably.
Cut governs how the stone returns light, and it has more effect on value than most people expect. Two diamonds of identical weight and color can differ substantially in price because one was cut well and the other was cut to preserve weight.
Color is graded from D, meaning colorless, down through the alphabet as a faint tint becomes visible.
Clarity describes the inclusions inside the stone, from flawless down to inclusions you can see without magnification. Where an inclusion sits matters as well as how large it is.
The setting is valued separately, on metal weight and purity, along with any side stones.
If you have a certificate
Send it with the ring. A GIA or IGI report means the stone has already been independently graded, which makes the valuation faster and the offer easier to justify. If there is no certificate, our specialists grade the stone here and talk you through what they found.
Most of the diamond rings that reach us are engagement rings, and older pieces set with old-cut stones are covered under antique and vintage rings, where the cut is judged on its own terms rather than against a modern chart.
If you would like to understand what drives the figure before you send anything, we set it out in how much a diamond ring is worth, including why retail price and resale value are two different numbers.
What we buy
Diamond engagement rings, eternity and anniversary bands, halo and cluster designs, solitaires, cocktail rings and multi stone pieces, set in gold, platinum or palladium.
We also buy rings with damaged settings, missing side stones, or a center stone that has worked loose. A ring in poor condition is still worth what it contains, and a loose stone is safer with us than rattling around in a drawer.
Lab grown diamonds are bought too, though they are valued on a different basis from natural stones and are worth considerably less. If you are not sure which you have, we will tell you.
How to sell yours
1. Start online. Tell us about the ring and send it in. We pay the shipping.
2. We grade it. The diamond by a gemstone specialist, the setting by weight and purity.
3. You get an offer. No obligation. Decline and the ring comes back to you at our cost.
4. You get paid as soon as you accept, with a 24 hour service if you need it quickly.