Finding Jewelry Best Buys

Buying jewelry is often a major investment, and the key to finding a best buy in jewelry is to know the correct value of the piece in question.

The most accurate method of establishing value is through an appraisal from an independent gemologist preferably certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Such appraisals are usually given as "Suggested List Retail" being the price the vendor should be asking for the piece. Their wholesale cost will vary between 30% and 60% of the above figure, so they may have room to come down on the price to close the sale.

It is quite all right to dicker the price of a piece of jewelry down to the minimum the vendor is willing to get. Keep in mind that, if their asking price is already close to wholesale, there is little room to reduce the price any further. Beware of advertised prices of "50% off". A few years ago a large department store chain was charged with fraud for offering 50% off jewelry on which they had doubled the price. They escaped prosecution by showing that this was a common practice among jewelry vendors. And it still is!

Prices can vary greatly on similar items from vendor to vendor. So, lacking an independent appraisal, you should at least shop around and compare prices on items of similar quality.

See our pages on Diamond Grading to understand more about this subject.

Gemstone and diamond quality is a major factor in calculating the accurate value of a piece of jewelry. Get a detailed receipt giving materials, weights and number of stones, sizes and quality. Also get a money back guarantee if returned within a reasonable period so that you can have the jewelry appraised by an independent appraiser. If you find that you were overcharged, it may not have been intentional. You'd be surprised at the number of pricing mistakes vendors can make.

The more you learn about jewelry values, the better buys you will find. A good book to own and study is JEWELRY & GEMS, The Buying Guide by Matlins and Bonanno published by Gemstone Press.