Putting Out Pre-Owned Jewelry
Being a licensed buyer—I buy loose diamonds from the public whenever I can. Every once in awhile I purchase a diamond in a mounting that is beautiful and I find that it can be easily resold—here comes the ethics question:
- Do you polish the piece and put it out in the showcase?
- Do you have to tell customers the piece has been worn by others?
What about loose diamonds—Whenever I have purchased loose diamonds (I usually only purchase a carat and over)—I put them in the ultrasonic and clean them real well then put them in a diamond wrapper with a quality and price per carat. I, myself, have never told a customer that the diamond was pre-owned. Where do you draw the line—on anything that is purchased from customers? What about diamonds from vendors—I’m sure many of the diamonds even from them have been owned by someone sometime ago. What’s the right thing to do???????????????
If you feel uncomfortable stating the truth—please comment with a pseudonym because we all look forward to what you have to say.
necktie commented:
HAHA...reading this is funny....would you buy a house if you knew
that a family was murdered in it?.......well it depends on the
price...........if you were selling the house that had a tragic
history, would you tell the potential buyers?.......But a house is
just raw material........"Please comment with a pseudonym because
we all look forward to what you have to say" <--translation=i
know that the retail jewellery industry is full of bottom-feeding,
money-grubbing, deperados that will say anything to make a dollar.
Franck Saragossi commented:
Our business is all about integrity. Pre-owned jewelry that is
displayed after a cleaning is an estate piece with the rich history
that it brings. Stones that are separated from their original
metal, polish and sold either loose or in a new mounting is a part
of the raw materials needed for a new finished product and doesn't
need any other information. The "conflict free" certification
cannot be made and that should be disclosed if asked.
MOXA commented:
I love pre owned.... People in the South love Tradition and to have
a great ring with a history makes it even so much more exciting, I
wish I had 100 in my case. I do not buy loose diamonds .
Shanu S. Guliani commented:
Very good question. Do any others purchasing from the public have
an answer to this question? What about those who have pawn shops
and purchase diamonds from the public? Side note: Last month I
asked one of my brands for proof all the diamonds in their rings
complied with the Kimberly Process and the company said we have no
such paper.
facet commented:
devils advocate question: how do you comply with the Kimberly
process when purchasing previously owned diamonds?
Dana commented:
I have thought about buying diamonds from the public and know that
I would have a much better profit margin however, you just can not
know where that diamond originated from. I do not want to state
that my store sells only "Conflict Free" and buy from the public
not knowing if that is a true statement. I know they (the customer)
would never know and they really do not ever ask, but I can't look
myself in the mirror not knowing exactly where each diamond came
from and possibly representing my store falsly. All I have is my
reputation and I have to be honest with myself and my practices to
be honest with my customers. They are the reason I am open and have
what I have and can only do my best for them to thank them. Being a
small independent I have to compete with the mall chains and One
wrong move, one wrong statement, one wrong misrepresentation and my
credibility is gone and then no one wins.
Accutron boi commented:
Mountings and Complete Pieces: Polish them up brand new and put
them in a case...the Estate Case. Or have an "E" printed on the tag
and item description in the computer, and have it print out on the
sales receipt. No guilt there since the customer has the full
disclosure. Estate jewelry, as a term, exists for a reason. Loose
stones: I'd consider this "reclaimed raw materials", and feel that,
unless you have big claims about "direct from the mine" and
importing, you can sell them without saying they were purchased
from a customer. If your customers know that you buy from the
public, then you can feel even less guilty since "they should know"
that since you'd buy THEIR diamond, they might be buying one
originally owned by another person off the street. Last note: how
can you claim that all of your diamonds are "conflict free" unless
you contact the original seller of the diamond to the customer?
That opens up a can of worms, doesn't it?



















