SELL YOUR GEMSTONES FOR THE HIGHEST PRICE

Understanding Gemstones: Precious vs. Semi Precious

• Diamonds
• Rubies
• Sapphires
• Emeralds

Gemstone Grading

Is There Money In Selling Gemstones?

There is absolutely money to be made when you sell a gemstone. This is increasingly true as mined gems become increasingly rare and consumer tastes for newly mined diamonds have grown more negative over time.

As a result, many gemstone buyers turn to the resale market, driving up the prices of pre-owned gems. Precious gemstones like sapphires, emeralds and rubies also remain perennially popular and so can go for a lot of money when resold. Other gemstones can come in and out of fashion, driving their values up and down, as fashions and tastes change over time.

What Are The World's Most Valuable Gemstones?

How Much Can I Sell My Gemstone For?

As mentioned before, there are different factors that can play into how much a gemstone will sell for on the secondary market. Certainly those factors - color, size, clarity, and translucency, will play a major role. But there are other factors as well.

For example, how rare is the gemstone and what sort of setting does it have? Is the gem rare or is it commonly found? How are cultural tastes or even political winds affecting the overall market? Is the jewelry branded by a prestigious name like Tiffany?

One helpful action you can take before selling a stone is to have any of the original documentation that was issued during the original purchase of the piece. For example, this may include grading certificates, insurance appraisals, or certificates of provenance. You may be lacking all of these documents. If so, you might want to get it reappraised for insurance and find out from them what the current resale value may be.

Which Gemstones Can I Sell?

In general, you can sell any gemstones you like. However, some will be more valuable than others, and some places may only be interested in certain kinds of gems. But if one place isn’t willing to buy your stone, another store may be. Here are some of the most popular gemstones that people can sell:

Rubies

Rubies, those beautiful and deep red gems are always popular and the most valuable rubies can sell for as much as a million dollars per carat. With rubies, color is the most important factor when it comes to valuation. But while the depth of color is important, clarity also plays a major factor. The more transparent the stone, the more valuable it will be.

Emeralds

Emeralds are another one of the most popular gemstones in the buyer’s market. Like rubies, color is the most important factor in valuation when you go to selling a sapphire is its color. What you may not expect is that sapphires with a medium blue hue are actually more valuable those those of a dark navy color! Like rubies but unlike emeralds, inclusions are not great for the value of sapphires and so clarity is much more important here.

Alexandrite

Alexandrite’s value largely derives from its rarity in the market. But it also has a unique color-changing quality to it. Alexandrite is a form of chrysoberyl that is the third hardest of all gems, scoring an 8.5 on the hardness scale. Light and viewing angle can affect the colors that reflect, so it may look various shades of red, green and orange-yellow to the eye. When selling an alexandrite stone, color, rarity and source are all major factors.

While there are many other gemstones you can sell including onyx, topaz, tanzanite and bloodstone, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and alexandrite remain as some of the most popular and the likeliest to fetch you great value on the seller’s market.

Where Can I Sell A Gemstone?

Local Jewelers Near You & Consignment Stores

One option for selling gemstones is to offer them to a local retailer near you or on consignment. The retailer will pay you a percentage of the sales price when your gemstones sell. Unfortunately, you may only get a fraction of the price you would from selling by other means. Plus, consignment sales can take quite a long time.

Sell Gemstones at Auction

If the gemstone you are selling is large and of fine quality, especially if it is in a signed piece by a well-known brand, selling your gemstone at auction may be the best way to get a great price price for your item. In addition to global auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s there are smaller houses like Bonhams, Heritage Auctions and local auction houses.

However, this process may only work for the highest end gemstones. Plus, it can take a painfully long time before you see your cash. So if your gemstone isn’t upper echelon or you’d like to see your investment pay off within a few weeks, this is probably not the right venue for you.

Selling Gemstones Through Classified Ads

You can also advertise your gemstone for sale on a local classified ad, either in print or online, through a newspaper or a site like Craigslist. Although this is a way some people sell gemstones and jewelry, it requires some extra caution:

• Never list personal information such as an address or phone number. 
• When you have agreed to a sale, don't invite the potential buyer to your home. 
• Meet them in a public location with someone else. 
• Do not accept checks or money orders, even certified checks: these can be faked. 
• Only accept cash and take it immediately to the bank and deposit it.