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How to Determine the Price to Sell Diamonds

Determining the sale value of a diamond takes into regard a minimum of four factors: its carat, color, clarity and cut. When pricing a diamond, it is important to remember that a buyer may spend up to one or two months' salary on their choice of stone and will expect to receive the best quality their money can buy; accordingly, the price you set for a diamond must be competitive. Unless a diamond is particularly unique, the pricing should be fairly standard and buyers, too, can benefit from learning how diamonds are priced to be sold. Learning what to ask your diamond professional and how your diamond is priced will give you the best understanding of how a diamond is priced and valued.

Instructions

- 1
  If you are unsure about the cost of a diamond, you should have it appraised and certified based on its value by an independent company. These values are estimations, and each diamond's unique qualities will cause variation. Most importantly, a rare or unique diamond can be quite a bit more valuable than the average stone. Likewise, a historically interesting diamond may be worth more. It is a good idea to simply have an appraisal done by a professional lab or company.
- 2
  Carat refers to the weight of the diamond. If you know the official price of a particular quality of diamond per carat you can simply multiply it by the carat weight of your diamond to find the price. As a diamond increases in size, the price is generally about an additional $1,000 per half carat. Ask your professional jeweler to note the carat weight of your diamond at the time of appraisal for your records.
- 3
  Determining the stone's color and clarity is a more complex process in which your jeweler will assign your stone a letter-grade abbreviation for each category. As you move up in color quality, you can expect to pay from about $1,000 to $2,000 extra per grade. It's a good idea to determine very specifically what color and clarity each diamond has to know its expected value. For clarity, you should expect to pay an extra $1,000 per category increase per carat. Your jeweler can tell you specifically which categories of color and clarity your diamond falls into.
- 4
  The final determination of a diamond's price should be based on its cut. Since there are a wide range of cuts for a diamond, this is harder to generalize, but essentially, the basic rule is that the better quality the cut, the higher the value of your diamond. Each diamond needs to be examined individually, as there is no way to assume the quality of a diamond without examining its specific design. Tell your jewelry professional if you have information or records about which company cut your diamond, and when it was cut, as this may help price your stone.
- 5
  When you collect your report from a diamond professional, you should have a fairly clear estimate as to the value of your diamond. Keep records of your diamonds appraised value. As time passes (and this is especially true for rare or unique stones and their settings), the value of your stone may increase based on demand. When you re-evaluate the stone at a later time, or sell it, you will want to provide the buyer and/or appraiser with this information.

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