Appraisals

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1. Why did we get a very low appraisal from our local jeweler?

There are several reasons why you might get a low appraisal from a local store:

1. There may be no demand for an item of that nature in the local market, and thus he gives it a low evaluation;
2. Second, you may have given him too much information. There are two things that you must never tell the local jeweler. You must never tell him that you "purchased it somewhere else", and second you must never tell them "what you paid for it." If you do either of these things, you have probably doomed your own appraisal.
3. Third, a local jeweler can't survive by doing $25 or $50 appraisals; therefore, many jewelers will use an appraisal as an opportunity to try to develop a new customer. If he can trick you into thinking that you got a bad deal, he may be able to generate a new customer. The best way to do this is by giving you a lousy appraisal. You can tell that this is being done when they start finding fault with a piece. Such faultfinding is never part of the appraisal process, but it is a part of the process of tricking you into buying from him the next time.

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2. How much confidence should we place in the appraisal that we get locally?

The value of a local appraisal is highly suspect and is of questionable value. Here are some of the problems that you will encounter. Is the local appraisal at retail cost; wholesale cost, or replacement cost? Also, you will find many local jewelers who don't care anything about doing the appraisal, so instead they will use this opportunity to try to convert you to become a customer of their store. They best way to do this is by giving you a lousy appraisal.

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3. Do we have to pay for an appraisal?

It should be possible to get an idea about the value of your item without paying anything for an appraisal. When you take it in to get it sized or to get it cleaned, it may be possible to talk casually with the jeweler about what that item would cost at the retail level. However, if your insurance company requires a written appraisal for insurance purposes, then a small fee for the appraisal would be in order.

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4. APPRAISAL VALUES. I did everything just like you said, and I got an appraisal that was much less than I expected. Why is this?

You will find it helpful to be aware that appraisal amounts or appraisals themselves are almost totally worthless. The only thing that they can help with a little is with getting insurance coverage. Other than that they are almost worthless. The reason for this is the inconsistencies that you will find in the appraisal process. For example, if you buy an item for $1,000 and send it out for ten (10) different appraisals, it will be perfectly common and perfectly normal to receive back ten appraisals for amount ranging form $300 to $6,000. This happens to our customers and us on a daily basis. The one thing that you will want to do is to buy jewelry based on what "you like" and not based on what you think might be "the appraisal value".

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5. APPRAISALS AND DIAMOND WEIGHTS. We purchased a ring from you that was listed as having a 1.25 carat center diamond as well as some side diamonds. However, when we got the appraisal back, he estimated that the center diamond was only 1 carat. We are not happy because we thought we had a 1.25 carat and now find that it is a only a 1 carat. What can be done about this?

The first thing that you want to observe is that the appraisal said that "they estimated the center diamond at 1 carat." There is no way that they can tell the weight of a diamond by looking at it. One must understand that "carat" is a weight, and the only way to get an accurate determination is to remove the diamond from the ring and "weigh it". The appraiser listed it as an estimated weight, because he has no idea what it weighs and was relying only on sight and on making a guess. So the first thing to realize is that you probably don't have a problem and minor variations of .03 carats or less are normal. If there is a major discrepancy, we will be happy to help you resolve it. Out of some 11,000 rings that we have sold, only one ever came back with a significant discrepancy, and when it was traced back, it was found that it came mislabeled from the factory. The supplier provided the larger diamond at no additional cost.

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6. Appraisals by retail jewelry stores. Last week I purchased an item from you, and I was getting ready to take it to the jewelry store to get it appraised. I told my girlfriend what I was getting ready to do, and she said, "You are crazy to take an item to a jewelry store for appraisal!" Does she know what she is talking about or not?

1. They are not qualified to do so, because they do not have the credentials needed to do appraisals.  A qualified appraiser must be a Graduate Gemologist, Certified Gemologist, Accredited Senior Gemologist, or Fellow of the Gemological Association.  In addition, their qualifications must be verified by the American Society of Appraisers or the International Society of Appraisers or the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers.  Local retail jewelers do not have these qualifications;
2. Local jewelers seldom have the expensive equipment needed determine the authenticity of gems.  It takes two expensive machines just to tell if a diamond is real or lab created, and retail jewelry stores do not have this equipment;
3. Local jewelers do not have experience in many areas, and as a result you get situations such as a local jeweler telling a customer that an Alexandrite is a lab made gem simply because they have not seen one before or had any experience with them;
4. About 50% of the people who go to a retail jeweler for an appraisal go there to find out what it is worth and to sell it to the jeweler.  He knows that 50% of the people are interested in selling the item to him, and therefore, he will always give it a very low appraisal, because in many cases he will then end up buying the item far below its fair retail value;
5. Retail jewelry stores cannot keep their doors open financially by taking in the nickels and dimes associated with appraisal work.  They must sell jewelry with thousands of dollars markup on each piece in order to survive.  Therefore, when you take an item to a local jeweler, you are not going to get an appraisal, but instead you are going to get a sales pitch to convince you that you should have purchased from him.  They best way to do this is to give you a very low appraisal or to find fault with the piece so that you will return it and come back and buy from him.

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7. I now understand that one cannot use a retail jeweler for purposes of an appraisal. But, where do I go, and how do I get an appraisal on a jewelry item?
Just sit down at your computer and key in: Independent Jewelry Appraisers in (your state).  You key this in or enter it in which ever Internet search engine you use; for example, Google, MSN, Yahoo, or any of the other topical search engines.  In a second or two, it will give you a list of 10 or 15 Independent Jewelry Appraisers in your state, and probably one of the will be within easy access of your home.  For example, let's say I live in Springdale, Arkansas.  I would go to Google and key in Independent Jewelry Appraisers in Arkansas.  Two seconds later, up comes an entry showing that there is an Independent Jewelry Appraiser in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just three minutes away.

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8. Are we assured of getting the exact quality and grade if we order a GIA certified diamond?

No. If you read the back of the GIA certificate, you will find that they do not guarantee the accuracy of their report. They are offering an opinion, but it is only an opinion, and the accuracy of such is not guaranteed.

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9. Why do some people not want GIA certified diamonds?

A diamond that has a GIA certificate will normally be more expensive than one without such a certificate. There is a lab fee to be paid for getting the certificate and since the diamond is off the market for a period of time, jewelers will increase the price to make up for this lost profit opportunity.

Therefore, many people opt for diamonds without GIA certificates, because they do not want the extra cost. It is perfectly safe to buy diamonds without a GIA certificate as long as one of two things happens: first, you have seen the diamond before purchasing it, and you like its appearance or second, you have the right to return it after you receive it. If either of these is possible, then there is nothing wrong with getting diamonds without GIA certificates. In fact over 95% of all diamonds are sold without GIA or other certificates.

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10. Why do EGL certified diamonds seem to cost less than GIA certified diamonds when the diamonds have the same grades?

It has been our experience to find that the EGL grading reports are not as exact and are not as stringent as the GIA reports. In fact, EGL grading often results in a diamond having a lower quality than reflected in the report. An EGL diamond may have an SI-1 rating, but the same diamond would carry an SI-2 GIA rating. Likewise the color can be one or two grades lower than GIA grades. In short, the EGL graded diamond often does not measure up to GIA standards.

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11. CERTIFIED DIAMONDS. My wife and I just returned from visiting our local jewelry store. We had gone to look for a diamond solitaire and had told the jewelry that we wanted a "Certified Diamond". He told us that he could get one, but that we were pretty much wasting our time with the whole idea of "Certified Diamonds". Does he know what he is talking about? And if, so, how can this be true?

"In today's market, the concept of a 'certified diamond with papers' has basically become meaningless. Therefore, your local jeweler is correct, and here are some of the reasons why this is true:

1. Today there are 6 or 8 different groups who are issuing lab reports in order to generate paperwork for Certified Diamonds. Some of these groups or labs are owned by the jewelry chains themselves; therefore, objectivity and accurateness are totally lacking. Many intentionally over rate their diamonds by two or more grades in order to give themselves an edge in the market place.
2. There is no consistency in the ratings between these various groups. If you send the same diamond out to four different rating services, it is very common for the same diamond to come back with four different grades.
3. It is also common for jewelry stores to switch paperwork and diamonds. Therefore, you have no assurance that the diamond you are buying has actually been rated. The paperwork may have actually come from another diamond.
4. Today it is possible to get paperwork and certification on diamonds that have been lab altered. The diamond may have been baked, treated with acid, or may have had holes drilled in it with lasers in order to remove visible inclusions. These worm holes are then filled with oil or some other substance to hide their presence. Diamonds of this nature have a very low value, but you can still get certified papers for them.
5. Finally, it is possible to go on the Internet and find sources where you can purchase blank certification papers. They will just mail you the blank paperwork, and you can fill it out and put down the grade or rating that you choose. This paperwork can then accompany the diamond and one can claim that it is a Certified Diamond with paperwork.

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12. GIA Certified Diamonds. I went to the local jeweler in my hometown and told him that I was interested in purchasing a GIA Certified Diamond. He said that he had a couple of them, but that by and large I was wasting my time in trying to buy a GIA Certified Diamond. Is this true, and if so why is this the case?

Yes, he is correct. Here are the problems you will encounter:

Problem #1: It is very common for jewelers to "switch" Certified Certificates from one diamond to the other. If they don't have a certificate on the diamond you like, they just go in the back room and bring out a certificate that belongs to another diamond. As long as the diamond is the same size, you have no way of knowing that this is going on. This happens very, very often according to a government investigation. I am personally aware of one switch where the value of the diamond was $50,000 less than what the jeweler was telling the customer.

Problem #2: Today it is possible to get a GIA certified certificate on diamonds that have been altered, drilled, baked, acid treated, etc. These diamonds are often drilled full of holes with a laser; treated with acid to remove carbon; then the holes are filled with molten glass or with oil. They are worth not much more than a cubic zirconia, but you can still get a GIA certificate on them. Therefore, how much is such a certification worth? Very little!

Problem #3: There are unscrupulous vendors on the Internet who will sell you blank GIA certificates. They will send them to you, and you can fill them out with whatever rating you chose and place them with your diamond.

Problem #4: If you turn over a GIA certificate and read the back, you will find that they say something to the effect that they do not guarantee the accuracy of the grades and ratings. They state that the findings and grades are simply the opinion of the person who is reviewing the diamond.

Problem #5: Most consumers do not understand all of the grades, dimensions, angles, colors, etc. that make up a grade. Therefore, it is common for the jeweler to take the GIA certificate and "interpret it" for the consumer. It is also extremely common for the jeweler to look at some very undesirable dimensions, undesirable angles, undesirable proportions and to explain to the consumer that this is "a very good cut" or a "premium cut" when in fact the cut may be very, very poor or even a flawed cut. The quality of the cut can effect the price by 90% so when the jeweler "interprets" the cut for the consumer, he may be overstating its price and overstating its value by thousands and thousands of dollars. I was just involved in one such incident where the jeweler was telling the customer that she was buying an $8,500 diamond when in fact it was worth only $3,500 because the cut was flawed. He interpreted the cut as "very good" when it was really a flawed cut.

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13. "EXACT" COLOR & CLARITY OF A DIAMOND. I went to one of the jewelry stores in my hometown and told the owner that I was interested in a diamond solitaire with VS-2 clarity and with G color. The local jeweler said that he would be glad to try to find something "close" to that. But I told him that I was not interested in something "close" that I wanted "exactly" a VS-2 with G color. He told me that there wasn't any such thing as an "exact" clarity or an "exact" color. Does he know what he is talking about? I could get an "exact" color and "exact" clarity if I got a Certified Diamond, couldn't I?

The local jeweler is right. There is no such thing as an "exact" color or an "exact" clarity. In an ideal world each diamond would wear a little name tag that would say, "Hello, my name is Christy, and I am a VS-2, G color." But diamonds do not come with such name tags, so someone has to look at the diamond and make an "estimate" of its color and clarity.

I will give you two examples illustrating why this entire area is only an estimate and is not an "exact" science.

Example One: If you take the same diamond and send it to five different gem labs and receive back a report from each showing that it is now a Certified Diamond, you will get back certificates with 3 to 4 different ratings, and this is on the exact same diamond.

Example Two: Some years ago there were two partners in a jewelry business, and they just received a new 1 ct diamond solitaire in their store. The first partner packaged it up and sent it off to the GIA lab, and in a few weeks it came back with a report Certifying that it was an SI-1 with H color. That partner then went on vacation. Shortly thereafter a customer came into the store wanting to purchase a GIA certified diamond. Not knowing that it had already been done, the second partner sent the diamond off to the GIA lab for an evaluation. Back came a report Certifying that it was an SI-1 with I color. When the customer learned that they had two conflicting Certificates, he refused to spend several thousand dollars until they resolve the question. Therefore, they sent it off a third time confident that they would then get back a report and Certificate confirming the accuracy of one of the prior reports. Back came the third report and third Certificate stating that it was a VS-2 with H color.

It is for this reason that many stores don't even attempt to give an exact clarity or an exact color. Instead they will state that the diamond is in the Colorless range (D, E, F) or in the Near Colorless Range (G, H, I), etc. With clarity they may report that it is a VS grade meaning VS-1 or VS-2, or an SI grade meaning SI-1 or SI-2. Others will state that the diamond is of VS/SI clarity meaning that it is on the border to two different grades. They may represent the color as G/H or I/J, etc.

The local jeweler was correct in stating that clarity grades and color grades are not "exact". They are instead only someone's opinion on a given day.

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14. If I purchase only a GIA certified diamond from a retail jewelry store, am I assured of getting exactly the stated quality?
The answer is No. This game is played by jewelry stores in every city and state in the country. Example: They have a very nice, high-quality diamond on hand. They send this diamond off to the GIA lab and get a certified report showing the high quality of this diamond. Now they lay this certified report aside and send a note to the GIA lab stating that they have lost the original certificate, and for $35 they get a replacement certificate. They do this four or five times and end up with 6 certificates. They then take each of these high quality certificates and place them with an average quality diamond and make $3,000 to $4,000 extra on each of the five replacement certificates. This gives them an extra profit of $20,000, and the customer ends up with only an average quality diamond even though he has paid for a high quality diamond and has received a phony certificate. This is an extremely common practice in the retail jewelry store trade.

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15. What is the price of a 1 ct. diamond solitaire?

Trying to answer this question is just like asking, "What is the price of a blue automobile?" Or, "What is the price of a home in Chicago?" There are hundreds of blue cars and thousands of homes, so it depends on which car or home you are talking about. The same is true with diamonds. Every diamond size comes in about 200 different prices. The price of a 1 ct solitaire will range from $200 to about $18,000 at the wholesale level, and it will include all 200 prices in between.

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16. Are GIA certified diamonds better?

Diamonds are diamonds, and the GIA certificate is only an attempt to be a little more accurate in determining the clarity and color. Without the certificate, the grade and color depends on the expert opinion of the jeweler. Of course, his opinion may be just as good as that of the jeweler who is giving an opinion for the GIA, because even the GIA certificate is only someone's opinion.

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17. What are the advantages of getting a round diamond instead of one of the other shapes?

Research has shown that about 70% of people upgrade, trade-in, or otherwise obtain a better or larger diamond later in life. It is in this regard that the round diamond has a major advantage. Round diamonds account for about 90% of diamond sales. Therefore, later on when you want to upgrade, you will be in a much better position if you own a round diamond, because that is where the strong market is located. You can usually make a nice profit on a round diamond after 10 or 15 years. But with other diamonds such as a heart-shaped diamond, it is not unusual for you to sell it for 50% less than you paid for it, because there is almost no market for such an item.

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18. Is clarity or color more important?

They are both important, but if you asked me to select only one, I would say that "color" is more important, but I would add one qualification. The diamond must first be clear and flawless to the human eye. It does no good for the diamond to have great white color if it also has a black flaw in the middle that is the size of a soccer ball. However, once the diamond is clean to the human eye, then color becomes the most important consideration.

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19. Diamond Grades & Ratings. "How much confidence should I place in the Grades and Ratings that I see on diamonds in different stores?"

The Grades and Ratings that you see on diamonds are virtually "worthless" and mean literally nothing. If you see the same grade or the same rating on two different diamonds in two different stores, you would think that you could then compare prices, but this is pure fiction, because there is no consistency in the grades or ratings. Five or six different groups assign grades and ratings, and there is no consistency in what these grades mean. There is even one service available now where you can send them a diamond, and tell them what grade you want to place on it, and for a fee, they will grade and label it with whatever you want on the papers. They don't even look at the diamond, they just take the fee and produce the papers with the grade you want on the diamond. Some jewelry chains have created their own rating services so that they can give their own diamonds high grades and high ratings without any interest in accuracy.

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20. One retail jeweler quoted me a price of $3,000 for a 1 ct solitaire with SI-1 clarity and G color, and you gave me a price of $4,800 for a diamond with the same specs. How can this be since you are supposed to be less expensive?

This can happen very easily, because "clarity" and "color" are only two of the things that affect the price of a diamond. By looking only at clarity and color, two major things have been ignored: "cut" and "lab treatments". A poorly cut diamond can reduce the price of that stone by half or three quarters. In addition, the market is flooded with diamonds that have been "doctored up" in the lab. They have had their color improved by putting them in 4000 degree ovens; or they have been treated with acid; or worse yet, they have had holes drilled in them with lasers and then had acid forced in the holes to remove imperfections. These lab treatments can cut the cost of the diamond by 50% or more. However, they also reduce the brilliance of the stone and often make the diamond valueless.

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21. Why are your prices so much lower than retail jewelry store prices?

Our prices are lower because our method of buying is totally different from local, retail jewelry stores.

For example, when a local jeweler gets low on an item, he calls his wholesale supplier and order 5 or 6 more of the given item. Our method of purchasing is totally different. We have a buyer who travels the world looking for great deals for the wholesale showroom. He may be in the Orient one day, then in South America, Russia, Europe, Canada, Chicago or New York. And when he finds a great price on merchandise, he gets that price cut by another 30%, 40%, or 50% by making a multi-million dollar purchase. While five or six new items arrive in the mail for the local jeweler, it is not uncommon for 20,000 new items to arrive in one week in the wholesale showroom.

Second, our prices are low because we have almost no overhead. We have no employees, no office or mall space, no rent, no utilities, no retirement plans, no health insurance, no advertising, etc.

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22. Our local jeweler said this ring couldn't be sized. Now what should I do?

The first thing to do is to "not believe" what he told you. For a jeweler to keep the doors open and to cover his entire overhead, he must make $500 or $1,000 on every sale. He can't make this kind of profit while doing a sizing job for $15. Therefore, many local jewelers have an unwritten policy that says that if they did not make $1,000 on the sale, they are not going to size the ring. The easiest way to get around this is to tell them that you did not "purchase it some other place" but instead, it was "sent to you as a gift". This little technique will often get them to size the ring for you. In other cases, you can simply send the ring to us for sizing.

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23. I have heard that retail jewelers often engage in a number of unethical practices. What kinds of tricks and scams have you seem them play over the years?

1. One of the most common is to misrepresent the clarity and color by one or two grades when trying to sell you a diamond. They view the retail customer as a one-time sale and will often do or say anything to make the sale.
2. Another common scam is to sell you diamonds at a much lower price because the diamonds have been lab altered with heat, acid, or by drilling. A lab treated diamond has little value, and therefore, it is no bargain when they sell you one at 50% less.
3. Related to #2 above is the fact that you can now find Lab Altered diamonds that have GIA grading reports with them. Therefore, you never want to assume that you are getting a good diamond just because it has a GIA report with it.
4. We have also seen instances where a retail jeweler will switch GIA papers from one diamond to another. The customer has no way of knowing, so they can and do get away with this. Again, getting a GIA report does not ensure quality.
5. Recently there have been many instances where jewelers will switch out a diamond and substitute another. This can take place when you take in a ring to be sized, to have a diamond set or mounted, or when you take in a ring to be cleaned. For example, a 3 ct diamond solitaire could easily be worth $40,000. If the jeweler switches this with one that is worth only $10,000, he has just made a quick $30,000 profit.  This happens all of the time.
6. Another common scam takes place when you take a piece in to have it appraised. Instead of giving you an honest appraisal, they will use this opportunity to try to get you to buy from them in the future. The best way to do this is to give you a bad appraisal or to start finding fault with the piece. Fault finding or criticizing a piece of jewelry is never a part of the appraisal process.
7. Another trick is for the jewelry store or the jewelry chain to set up its own grading system that is different from the GIA grading system. They do this to confuse the customer so that you really have no idea what grade of diamond you are buying. The trick grading schemes that I have seen are using Stars *, such as a 1 * diamond, **, ***, ****, or 5 *****. I once saw a 5 star diamond that the customer would think was a high quality diamond, but was in fact a low quality I-1 diamond. They had the 5 star diamond priced at $7,000, but it could be purchased anywhere for about $2,500. They also often use little diamond symbols in place of the star system. They give their gems a rating of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 diamonds. These grading systems are meaningless and should be avoided at all costs.
8. And perhaps the most common scam of all is to find a local jeweler who is a friend to everyone. They use their pleasant personality to befriend the whole community. Everyday, I encounter people who say well "I can trust Joe here in our hometown because I have known him for 25 years and our families have been friends the whole time." This is a false premise if you are looking for accurate information.
9. There is also a common scam that takes place when you buy diamonds at an auction. They put a beautiful 1 ct. diamond solitaire up for auction, and you buy it for $3,000 when everybody there, including you, knows that it is worth $7,000 or $8,000. After you win the bidding process, they box it up for you, or size it, or clean it, or do something else with it — anything just to get your eyes off of the diamond. When you get home, you find that you have a $1,000 diamond for which you paid $3,000 instead of the $7,000 diamond you were bidding on. They have simply switched them, and there is nothing you can do about it. When you are bidding on a piece of jewelry at an auction, bring it over and take another look at it before submitting your last winning bid. And once you submit that winning bid, never let it out of you hand. Keep it in your hand and go directly to the cashier to pay for it no matter how much hollering and screaming they do. If you are going to bid on a high price item, I would recommend taking an off duty police officer with you. That way when you insist on holding onto the piece, the officer can intervene on your behalf by allowing you to hold on to it while making payment.  Once they say "Sold", it is "yours", and you should never let anyone else hold on to your merchandise.
10. One final problem has to do with the fact that the diamond and gem market is flooded with synthetic gems. Each day thousands of diamonds are bought and sold when in fact they are not real diamonds. They are simply well made synthetic or lab created items that have no more value than a worthless CZ. Some studies have found that 60% of the "diamonds" in a pawn shop were simply lab created items.

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24. I bought a ring from you last week, and when I took it in to be sized, the local jeweler looked at it under a loupe and found that the ring had several bent prongs, three cracked diamonds, one broken prong, and two chipped diamonds. In addition, he said that he couldn't size the ring, because he was afraid that some diamonds might later fall out. What should I do?
The first thing to do is to recognize that you have been give a SALES PITCH to try to convince you that you should have purchased from him. None of the activity that you mentioned has anything to do with sizing a ring. When a ring is brought to our shop, it is placed in an envelop with your name on it and a note as to what size you need. Whenever a local jeweler takes out a lens and starts to critique a piece, you are being punished for not buying from him. The best way to handle it is to head off the situation before it starts. When I take a ring to a local jeweler, I tell them the following, "My mother sent me this ring as a gift just before she passed away, and I am so proud to have gotten it from her. She didn't know my size, so I am hoping that you can help by sizing it for me." This puts an end to the craziness before it starts and results in getting it sized. The rings can always be sized, the problem is that they just don't want to fool with it unless they made a $1,000 profit on the ring.

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25. I have read on the Internet that 95% of all diamonds are misrepresented at the retail level. That is to say, the color, clarity, and/or quality of the cut are misrepresented. I have read that this is even true with \"certified diamonds\", because it is common to switch certificates to confuse the consumer. So, if I buy a diamond from a retail store, how can I be assured that I am getting the quality of diamond that they are representing it to be?
At some point during the purchase process, they will provide you with an invoice or a receipt. Be sure to have them write down the clarity rating, the color rating, and the quality of cut on this paper. Then, before you make payment write the following on this piece of paper, and have them sign it: The purchaser/customer has the right to send this diamond off to the GIA lab at his expense and to get back a GIA grading report. If this GIA grading report does not rate this diamond at the same or a higher grade for color, clarity, and quality of cut, then our store will pay the cost of this grading report and will give the customer a full refund. Store Name:_______________________________________ Signature of Store Representative:_____________________ Do not be tricked into accepting what they say just because they hand you a certificate with a grading report already on it. They may have switched grading reports, or they may have used a grading lab that overrates the diamonds by several grades. For example, 90% of all certified diamonds are not what they are claimed to be and are not the grade that is written on the report.

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26. Do you think that it is possible to be too picky about ordering a diamond? What I mean is, do you think one can go overboard worrying about all of the different aspects of a diamond?

Here is an answer provided by one of our customers.

"We wanted a very nice 1 ct diamond solitaire. I found one at Southeastern for $4,800. It was an SI-1, G color. But my husband was not satisfied. He wanted it to be a VVS grade, and he wanted near perfect color with an "ideal cut." None of these things can be determined with the human eye, and it takes a microscope, a laboratory, and an hour or more to make these determinations. He ended up paying $14,000 for a VVS-1, E color, ideal cut diamond. The diamond looked great, but within 48 hours, I had done dishes, cooked, baked and handled flour, put on makeup, put on cold cream and body lotion, etc. and the diamond got coated with its fair share of all these things. In short, within 48 hours, you couldn't tell if the diamond was a VVS-1 or a cubic zirconia. We basically wasted $10,000 that could have been put to better use by buying a home. It took two weeks to make the purchase when it could have been done in two minutes."

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27. Should we get our purchase insured? If so, for what amount? And, when should we get it insured?

Loss, theft, breakage, etc. are a part of life, and you should have insurance to protect yourself against this unless you are willing and able to absorb this type of financial loss. If the item is fairly inexpensive and its loss will not be a hardship for you, then many people elect not to bother with insurance.

Normally an insurance company will only provide you with coverage for the amount that you paid for the item. In this case, your sales receipt may be all that is needed to get insurance. If you want insurance to cover replacement cost, you will want to coordinate that very carefully with the insurance company.

If the item is an expensive piece and if its loss would be a financial burden for you, then you should acquire insurance the day the item is purchased and not even wear it until it is covered, because you would be surprised to learn how many items are lost, destroyed, or stolen within the first few days.

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28. Our ring was lost before we had a chance to get insurance. What should we do now?

There are two or three things that may be of assistance to you. First, if you paid for your purchase with a credit card, you may want to check with that credit provider. Many of these credit cards automatically offer 60 or 90 days of insurance coverage when the purchase has been made using their card. Usually this coverage takes care of theft, breakage, or loss of the item.

Second, it is common for homeowner's insurance to cover jewelry items up to $1,000 without any paperwork or any additional riders. Therefore, this would be an excellent place to check for coverage. Third, we at Southeastern will replace small, inexpensive diamonds for the first 90 days at no charge. So feel free to send in an item for repair if you have lost a small diamond. If you have lost a significant diamond such as a quarter carat or a third of a carat or larger, we will not be able to replace it for free.

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29. How much jewelry do you have in the wholesale showroom?

Jewelry stores from about thirty states come to the wholesale showroom in Atlanta to make purchases for their local stores. This means that we have a very, very large amount of jewelry on hand. If everything was spread out and put in showcases, the jewelry in the wholesale showroom would probably fill one of two high school gyms. In a typical week, it is common for 5,000 to 20,000 new items to arrive.

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30. I have lost two small diamonds out of my ring in the last year. Is that normal? And, what causes this to happen?

It is quite common to have small diamonds come out of various settings. This applies to rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, etc. If you go to a very large jeweler, it is not uncommon to see a row of 5, 10, or 15 craftsmen sitting at work tables doing repairs and replacing lost diamonds. They do this 8 hours a day, year after year, because lost diamonds are a common occurrence.

Small diamonds are lost out of settings for a variety of reasons.

1. Temperature changes. When you walk outside or walk inside often the temperature changes by 30 to 60 degrees depending on the time of the year. These temperature changes result in the metal moving, and this movement often results in lost diamonds.
2. Second, prongs or other features can catch on fabric or clothing and can as a result, bend and result in lost gems.
3. It is also very common for diamonds to be lost simply as a result of hitting or striking something with the piece of jewelry.
4. Finally, it is common for a piece of jewelry to be dropped, and the also causes many gems to be lost or to fall out.

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31. Do you have Class Rings or Masonic Rings?

We have neither. Low Team National prices are brought about by volume purchases of hundreds or thousands of rings at one time. This cannot be done with Class Rings or Masonic Rings, and therefore, we have neither. In addition, our purchases are made in the worldwide market, and these things would be unheard of in many foreign countries where our purchases are made.

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32. What is the birthstone for the month of my birthday?

Month	Birthstone
January	Garnet
February	Amethyst
March	Aquamarine
April	Diamond
May	Emerald
June	Pearl
July	Ruby
August	Peridot
September	Sapphire
October	Opal
November	Citrine
December	Blue Topaz

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33. When I give you the Clarity Rating and the Color of a diamond, why can't I do comparison shopping between your diamonds and one that I have seen in a local store?

You could if those were the only two things affecting the price of the diamond, but they aren't. There are other things affecting price, and you haven't mention those. Let me give you an example: Let's say there are two Cadillacs. They are both dark green, and they are both this year's model. Can you now do a price comparison between these two Cadillacs and then wisely decide to purchase the lower priced one? Obviously not, because you haven't mentioned what model they are; you haven't mentioned which of the five engine options they have; you haven't discussed which of the 40 options each has; you haven't mentioned whether or not they have any miles on them, etc. etc. In other words, there are more than just color and year affecting the price of these two Cadillacs.

The same is true with diamonds. The price is affected by more than just Color, and Clarity Ratings. Price is also affected by the quality of the cut, and there are six or more different qualities of the cut. Price is also affected by any enhancements that have been performed on the diamond in the lab. Lab enhancements greatly reduce the quality and the price of the diamond. In addition, price is affected by the accuracy of the grading. A federal government study found that 80% to 90% of the color and clarity ratings were inaccurate at the retail level. Therefore, what you thought was a VS grade diamond may very well be an SI grade diamond. The diamond that you thought was G color may actually be J color. So when you try to do a price comparison, you are comparing two items that are not equal, and thus the comparison is meaningless.

With all of these variables, it is almost impossible to do comparison price shopping, because you have no assurance that what you are comparing are even similar items. A price comparison of dissimilar items is worthless.

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34. "Yehuda Diamonds" My local jeweler says that he can get me a Yehuda Diamond for 50% to 60% less than anyone else including you. What is a Yehuda Diamond, and is this a good deal?

A Yehuda diamond is one that has been worked on and treated in a laboratory to improve its appearance. Most of the time they will start with a very low grade diamond of almost industrial grade. This diamond may be yellow, may be loaded with large black spots, and/or have other major flaws.

Lab treatments may involve one or more of the following:

1. Worm-like holes are drilled in the diamond with a laser to reach the black areas;
2. The diamond is then placed in an acid bath and exposed to great pressure to force the acid into the black area;
3. The diamond is then washed or flushed and the remaining laser holes are filler with some type of molten glass or with oil. They are removing the carbon deposits and refilling them with something less noticeable;
4. The diamond may be exposed to radiation in order to change the color from yellow to a more clear color.
5. They are sometimes chemically painted to improve the color;
6. And finally, the treatment may include exposure to a very high heat for many hours or days.

The ability to purchase such an item at a 50% or 70% savings does not constitute a good value. You would be better off buying CZ which can now be purchased for $1 or $2 per carat even though CZ originally came out at $300 per carat and was praised as a great alternative to real diamonds.

Should you wish to purchase such an item, I will not be able to help you. We do not consider them to be good value for a customer and thus do not handle them.

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35. "I purchased a ring at one of the conventions, and when I got home I saw two rings exactly like it on your web site. One of them was less expensive and one was more expensive than the one I purchased. Why are there three different prices for exactly the same ring?

It is exactly the "same ring" only in appearance. Often we will have the "same ring" in two, three, and sometimes four different prices ranges depending on quality of the gems and similar considerations. That way if someone likes a given style ring, they can chose the quality that best fits into their budget.

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36. Why did I receive an item different from the one that I ordered? I ordered a specific item, but the one I received was similar but was not the one ordered?

When we are out of a given item, we will always try to reach you by phone. However, if we cannot reach you by phone, the we select and ship the item that is the closest to the item that you ordered.

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37. Diamond Stud Earrings. I ordered diamond stud earrings and specified that I needed them to be .72 carats each. The ones I received are .75 carats each. Why is this?

The diamond stud earrings that we have on hand change each day. Dozens come and dozens go out daily. Therefore, when you place an order for diamond stud earrings, we reserve the right to ship the items which are the closest we have to those which you ordered.

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38. Item turns my skin green. We purchased an item of jewelry from you a couple months ago, and every time that I wear it, my skin under it turns green. Why is this? What is wrong with this piece of jewelry?
We encounter this about once or twice per month. In addition, Gay and I have both experienced this personally. We have asked two or three dermatologists about this, and here is what we have found out. Body chemistry is constantly changing for all of us, and these changes frequently cause this situation to develop. One dermatologist said that his wife had worn a gold ring for twenty years. Then one morning she woke up, and her ring finger was all green under the ring. Now had the ring changed during the night? Obviously not. What had changed was his wife's body chemistry, and this change caused the reaction that he observed. We have seen this situation with yellow gold, white gold, platinum, stainless steel, and base metals. We have heard dozens of stories about a finger or wrist suddenly turning green, but certainly it was not the jewelry that changed overnight, but was instead body chemistry that changed and caused this. Both doctors told us that this can happen anytime and has nothing to do with an item of jewelry but instead is related to changes in body chemistry which can occur anytime.

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39. Why do you send all items in presentation boxes?

We have been instructed by our shipper to put everything in a protective, metal, presentation box for purposes of shipment. When we did not use presentation boxes, we had a 30% damage rate, and our shipper was going to cancel our right to insure them unless we used the protective presentation boxes.

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40. How soon do you ship after we place an Order?

As a general rule, we ship everyday, and many orders will be shipped the same day or the next day.

In any case, we ship all orders within three days of receiving the order. There may be an exception to this during those times (four times per year) when we are at a National Convention. During these times, we are often closed for four or five days, and then we ship all orders upon returning and re-opening. There will always be a "notice" on our web site if we are closed for a few days for one of these events.

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41. How can we see your jewelry items?

There are three ways to see our merchandise:

1. Our web site will generally have 200 or 300 items on it;
2. There are four National Conventions per year, and we will generally have 800 to 1,000 new items at each of these conventions;
3. You can do a special order or a special inquiry, and we will send you e-mail photos of items similar to that for which you are searching.

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42. Can we come to your wholesale showroom in Atlanta?

No. The wholesale showroom in Atlanta is open only to retail jewelry stores. To get into the wholesale showroom you must: be a licensed jewelry store and have your license with you; must fill out a 20-page credit application; post a $70,000 deposit; make an appointment to visit, and purchase $50,000 to $100,000 on each visit.

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43. Why don't you provide the same 3-year, free insurance coverage that retail jewelry stores provide?

A simple example will make this crystal clear. At a recent National convention, we sold a ½ carat diamond ring guard for $160. We paid $120 for it from the manufacture and sold it at wholesale for $160. There was a lady at the convention who had this exact, identical ring guard; however, she had purchased it from a retail jewelry store, and she paid $1,800 for it. At this point, it should be perfectly clear why they could afford to replace this for her once or twice during the next three years. They had over charged her almost $1,700. If they replace it twice, they have still made an extra $1,500 profit on this one item.

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44. When we return an item, what amount do you return or refund?

When an item is returned to us for credit, we refund the full amount that was paid to Southeastern Gems for the jewelry item. This does not include shipping, insurance, etc. because these amounts were paid to UPS, FedEx, the post office, etc., so only the amount paid for the jewelry item itself is refunded.

Under special circumstances, we will reimburse a customer for shipping charges when returning an item to us for repair. These reimbursed shipping charges are always limited to ground UPS charges and are limited to $12.

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45. The other day I sent you a note asking about the color, clarity, and grade of the diamonds in one of the rings on your web site. Why haven't I heard from someone?

The concept of color, clarity and grade of a diamond applies primarily to larger sized, single stone, diamond solitaires. For example, it is quite normal to provide such information on a single, solitaire diamond of 1 ct, 2 cts, 3 cts. etc. However, it is not normal and is in fact almost impossible to provide such information on a ring that is made up of 15, 20, or 30 smaller diamonds. Each of those 15 or 20 diamonds may be of a different clarity, different color, and a different grade, and therefore, it is nearly impossible to provide a report on the grade of diamonds in a ring made up of many smaller diamonds. If people like the look of a given ring, they normally just purchase it knowing up front that they can return it if they don't like it when it arrives. Another good idea is to attend some of our shows or conventions where you can see and handle the items prior to purchase.

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46. The other day I sent you an e-mail and gave you a detailed description of the ring I am looking for. I included the size, color, & clarity of the center diamond; included the exact dimensions of the accent stones; included the exact color and clarity of the side accent stones, and I ask what you price would be on this ring, and I never heard from anyone. Why is this?

The reason is that your description was far too detailed. We have over 1,000 rings of this nature, and we do not have the staff to measure and grade 1,000 rings in order to find one that matches the exact description of the one you mentioned. In addition, it would take two weeks or more to go through 1,000 rings and grade them all.

We would have responded immediately if you had given a simply, general description of not more than two or three sentences. For example: "I am looking for a ladies ring in yellow gold with a center emerald cut diamond of plus or minus 3/4 carat with some side or accent emerald cut diamonds."

All we needed was this one sentence description, and we would have sent you a half dozen e-mail photos to look at. We did not need three paragraphs of detailed descriptions.

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47. I bought an item from you a couple months ago, and I know that it is beyond the time that it can be returned. Can I just bring it to the next national convention and put it in the display box so that it can be resold?

Unfortunately the answer is "no". We tried this a couple years ago, and it did not work. Here are some of the problems associated with this:

1. People do not want to buy something that is "used";
2. What you do for one person, you have to do for others. This means that if we allowed this, soon we would have a show or convention featuring 80% to 90% of resale, used items;
3. Finally, our insurance does not cover merchandise that is not owned by us;

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48. Why don't you provide or supply "papers" when someone buys a diamond from you like the other stores do?

There are several reasons:

1. We are not a retail store, and this is a gimmick used primarily by retail stores to make you feel that you have obtained something extraordinary when in fact you have made a routine purchase. They use it to justify higher prices.
2. 99% of the customers of our Wholesale Showroom are retail stores, and accordingly they have not the slightest interest in any papers that we would provide. Instead, they are going to grade and rate the diamonds themselves. If we provided any type of papers, they would just throw them in the waste basket, because they are going to re-grade and re-rate the diamonds, and in most cases they will increase them a grade or two and a color or two in order to claim that they are of a higher quality;
3. 95% of all diamonds have not been sent to a gem lab, and accordingly they don't come with papers;
4. Any papers or documents of this nature that are provided by retail stores are virtually worthless. These papers commonly state that the "grade shown is our opinion of the quality of this diamond, but we do not guarantee any ratings or grades." If they do not guarantee any grades or ratings, then the documents are worthless. The only thing that they might guarantee is that the stone is a genuine diamond, and this is already a part of our guarantee; therefore, such documents and papers add nothing. A federal government investigation found that between 80% and 90% of the grades and colors were misrepresented by retail stores. Thus, a piece of paper with a 90% error rate has no value.
5. Finally, there is no such thing as an absolute or definitive grade for either the color or clarity of a diamond. Diamonds do not wear little ID's or name tags that announce that "I am a VS-2, G." Instead someone has to look at the diamond and make a judgment call as to the color and clarity of a given diamond, and if 10 people look at the same diamond, there will be at least 5 to 6 different opinions as to the grade of that diamond. If you send the same diamond to all of the 8 to 10 gems labs, you will get back papers and documents with 4 to 6 different certified ratings. There is no consistency from one lab to another.
6. As a result of the combination of all of these factors, the papers and documents provided by retail jewelry stores have no value and are simply self-serving. They charge a price of 50% to 75% more and in exchange provide you with a document that is inaccurate and worthless 90% of the time.

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49. How much do people usually spend on an engagement ring?

In the U.S. the average amount spent on an engagement ring is approximately 2-½ month's salary.

If someone makes $2,000 per month, then the average expenditure on an engagement ring would be $5,000. If they make $5,000 per month, the average expenditure would be $12,500.

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50. Why do emerald cut diamonds seem to cost so much more?

Most diamonds are covered with facets, and these facets prevent a person from seeing every detail that is located in the center of the diamond. Emerald cut diamonds on the other hand have flat, clear tops, and as a result you can see all the way into and through the diamond. Thus everything is visible. As a result of this "window", we generally recommend that emerald cut diamonds be purchased with a clarity grade of VS-2 or higher. It is this higher clarity grade that results in the higher price.

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51. What is your markup compared to retail jewelers?

Our markup averages about 35%. This goes from a low of 5% to a high of 75% of small inexpensive items. For example, we may purchase an item for $2, carry it half way around the country, and sell it for $3.50.

Retail jewelry stores have an average markup of 300% to 400%. Typically in November and December they use a 600% markup, and if the items do not sell, they then have a 50% off sale in January. At the sale, you are only paying a 300% markup. On some items they may have a 700% to 900% markup.

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52. Knowledgeable people in the diamond industry have told me that it is impossible to do price comparisons between diamonds of the same grade and the same color. Why is this the case?

This is absolutely true for a number of reasons:

First who is assigning the grade and color rating? There are four or more groups who assign the various grades or ratings to diamonds:

1. G.I.A.
2. E.G.L.
3. A.G.S.
4. I.G.I.
5. HRD (Hoge, Raad voor Diamant)
6. Kroll
7. Individual jewelers
8. Jewelry stores

Let's say you want an SI-1, G diamond, and you want to do some price comparisons between jewelers. Here is the problem: There is often no correlation in grading between these groups. An E.G.L. rated diamond of SI-1, may be rated SI-2 or I-1 by the G.I.A.
The color rating of A.G.S. may be two color grades different from that of G.I.A. And keep this in mind, only 10% or 20% of the diamonds even have any grading or ratings from a lab. The other 80% or 90% are assigned by some jeweler taking his loupe and looking at the diamond over near the window. How accurate do you think these instantaneous rating are?
The grading may change by 2 or 3 levels depending on whether or not it is a cloudy day. In short, price comparisons between diamonds that supposedly have the same rating are just about worthless since there is no consistency in the rating process.

Second, comparisons are next to worthless because the price of a diamond is affected by much more than Color and Clarity. The quality of the "cut" can affect price by as much as 90%. So if you are only looking at Color and Clarity, then you have left out all of the various "cut grades", i.e. Ideal, Premium, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor, and Very Poor.

Third, the price of a diamond is affected by any lab enhancements that have been done on the diamond. The market is flooded with diamonds that have been "heat treated", "chemically treated", "pressure treated", or "laser drilled" and refilled with oil or glass.
These treatments will affect price by 50% to 75%, and jewelers will often hide or conceal knowledge of these treatments.

Fourth, price comparisons between diamonds of supposedly "like" quality are worthless because at the retail, mall, or jewelry store level, 80% to 90% of the grades and colors are intentionally misrepresented. This information comes from a federal government study of the industry.

In summary, price comparisons between diamonds simply won't work, because one is never comparing the same thing from one diamond to another. In addition, more and more groups are assigning grades and ratings, and there is a marked trend toward including lower and lower quality diamonds in the higher rating classes. As an example, we might sell an SI-1(flawless to the eye), 1 ct solitaire, for around $4,000, but the other day in Birmingham, Alabama, I saw an SI-1, 1 ct solitaire in a retail store for $2,200. Identically the same grade. The only difference was that in the middle on the one in the store, there were two visible carbon deposits. When I asked the store who was assigning their grades, he informed me that they were using a "new group" for their ratings. Price comparisons based on Color and Clarity ratings has become a practical joke that is being played on the consumer.

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53. Can you give me a rough idea of your wholesale diamond prices?

	1 carat	2 carats	3 carats
NEAR INDUSTRIAL GRADE I-1, I-2, I-3	$500-$3,000	$1,000-$5,000	$6,000-$15,000
INEXPENSIVE DIAMONDS SI-1, SI-2	$3,000-$6,500	$6,000-$12,000	$16,000-25,000
MIDDLE GRADE DIAMONDS VS-2, VS-1, VVS-2	$5,000-$10,000	$13,000-$25,000	$20,000-$50,000
HIGH END DIAMONDS VVS-1 IF (internally flawless) F (flawless)	$11,000-$20,000	$16,000-$60,000	$60,000-$100,000

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54. Plain Gold Wedding Bands. The jewelry stores want to charge me between $200 and $300 for a plain gold wedding band about 4mm wide. This price just doesn't seem right. Can you help me with this item?

Yes and no. We can probably get the same item at wholesale for $90 to $125, however, on special order items of this nature, the minimum order is $250, and that will prevent us from getting just this one item for you. However, I have another suggestion. I would go to a pawn shop, and they will have plain gold bands almost 100% of the time. In addition, I would look for the one that looks the worst, i.e. full of surface abrasions and scratches, and this is the one that I would buy. The price would probably be around $20 or $30. I would then have this item "repolished" for about $10 or $15, and you will have yourself a gold band that looks identical to the ones in the stores for $200 to $300. I have seen bands that looked so bad that people either gave them away or threw them away. However, all they really needed was a $15 repolishing job, and they would have looked new.

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55. DIFFERENT PRICES AT CONVENTIONS. "I just returned from one of the Team National conventions where I purchased a piece of jewelry. I paid $430 for it, but when I got home, I found the same item on the web site for $350. This doesn't make any sense to me. Why is there a price difference at the conventions?

We never take the same items to a convention that are on the web site. However, we do have the same item of jewelry to two, three, and sometimes four different prices depending on quality and grades. Therefore, if a given item of jewelry is popular and people want us to bring it to the conventions, we will bring a piece of jewelry of that type, but we will bring it in a grade that is different from those on the web site. Most people have already seen the items on the web site, and they want to see something different so we will generally never bring something that is shown on the web site. The closest that we will come is to bring something that is the same but in one of the other grades or qualities.

One lady purchased a ring at one of the conventions for $1,500. When she got home, she found what she thought was the "exact same thing" on the web site for $1,000. Therefore, she returned to $1,500 item and ordered the one for $1,000.

However, when the replacement arrived, she was very upset, because in her words the diamonds had a "sort of yellow cast" to them. She then returned the substitute and got back her original purchase. Altogether she spent $150 in extra shipping charges just to get back to where she had started.

However, anytime you would like to have the lower quality item, we will always be glad to accommodate you.

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56. DIFFERENT PRICES FOR THE SAME ITEM. "Two months ago I purchased two items from you. Today I saw those two items still on the web site, but one had a higher price on it and one had a lower price on it. Of course, I like the fact that I got one item before the price went up, but I am just sick that one item is now $100 less than I paid for it. Why does the same item now have a lower price and why is one item higher? These are exactly the same items.

The price of one identical item may change as often as monthly and in a volatile market, the price may change weekly. For example, when platinum was going up at a skyrocketing price, the price of platinum rings changed weekly. And, when tanzanite was falling at 10% to 15% per month, the price of tanzanite rings changed weekly. Here are some additional reasons why the same item may have different prices on it from month to month:

1. When our buyer purchases 4,000 of a given item, he may get them for $200, and we can then sell them for $250. When those are gone, he may place a second order for 200 items, and this smaller order will not get as good of a price, and he may pay $275 for each one, and we might sell them for $350. Therefore, the price of the same item is $100 different within just one month;
2. Manufactures will often change prices depending on demand and on the popularity of a given item. For example, a manufacture may sell a given item for $300 and find that the demand is so great that they will be sold out within a few weeks if they don't do something. So, the next time we order we find that the $300 item is now being sold for $400, and the price of a given item has changed $100 in a very short time;
3. In addition, the precious metals and precious gems markets change constantly. We absorb small changes and sell items for the same price even if they have gone up 3, 4, or 5%. But there may be three months between orders, and when the second order is placed, we find that the price has gone up 15%. An item that was selling for $500 is now selling for perhaps $600 or more.
4. Finally, the location of purchase can greatly affect the price. We may find a source of supply in New York or Vancouver, and those items can be delivered for a few hundred dollars. This item may be very popular and may sell out quickly. Often, we then find that there is no more available from the original source, and the second order must be fulfilled from Bangkok or South America. Since, these are unknown suppliers, the buyer may travel to these locations and inspect the items, make payment, and accompany the merchandise back to the showroom. This adds thousands of dollars to the cost of this second order, and this cost will be reflected in a different price for the same item. You may recall ring # R-25. We sold this 4 carat cluster ring for $995, but the second order for the same item resulted in a selling price of $1,295, because $7,000 extra was spent in acquiring this item.

For all of these reasons, you may see different prices on the same item as often as monthly. You may see one price on the web site and two months later, you may see a different price at one of the conventions.

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57. Can you give me more information about the purchase of a pre-owned Rolex?

The purchase of a pre-owned Rolex is a very good idea for a couple reasons. First, you will generally save 50% or more, and you can usually buy the pre-owned Rolex without paying sales tax, and this makes the savings even better.

Second, the market for new Rolex watches is a little strange. For example, a regional manager for Rolex recently told me that it is one full year for a newly produced Rolex to show up in a retail store. So it is one year old before it even arrives in the store. In addition, only 50% of these watches will be sold the first year. That means that next year half of these watches will be two years old and have still not been sold. Then half of this group will be sold and 25% of them will be carried over to the third year. Half if these are sold and 12% are now 4 years old and still have not been sold.

So the first thing you have to realize is that when you purchase a new Rolex, you may be buying a watch that is already 3 to 4 years old. On the other hand it is quite common for a pre-owned Rolex to be only 18 months old. Last summer we had two pre-owned watches and one was 30 days old and the other was 90 days old. So it is possible for a pre-owned item to be 2 or 3 years newer than a "new" Rolex.

The ideal situation is to buy a pre-owned Rolex and at the same time to get a 1 year or longer warranty, and this applies to all of our pre-owned Rolex watches.

In addition, the movement on a high-end watch such as Rolex generally has a useful life of 30 to 50 years. Therefore, the fact that it is pre-owned means almost nothing. I have had my pre-owned Rolex now for about six years, and the only thing that I have had done to it was to have it serviced twice in six years. It has been four years since I had the last service. With a brand new Rolex, you are required to have it serviced each and every year at a cost of $250 to $300, and you must send in proof of that servicing. If you fail to do this, they cancel your warranty. This is another major advantage of the pre-owned Rolex watches.

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58. How much does it cost to get a ring sized?

You should expect to pay between $12 and $25 to have a ring sized, and most often it is around $15. It may be two or three times this high if the ring is made out of platinum.

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59. Why don't you size the rings before you ship them?

We don't size the rings prior to shipment, because if we did, you would lose your right to return them.

Rings that have been sized or altered cannot be returned. Therefore, it is better for you to look at the ring and be sure that you like it prior to having it sized. Sizing is a very minor thing, and it can be done locally in 99% of the cases.

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60. How big of an adjustment can be made when sizing a ring?

Typically you can feel comfortable in expecting that a ring can be adjust up or down two sizes without much trouble. Often larger adjustments can be made, but two size movements are common and trouble free. An exception to this would be some type of band where there were gems set side by side all the way around the ring. Another exception might be if the diamonds or other stones came far down the sides of the ring.

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