How to Identify Quality in Platinum Rings

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You are looking for the highest quality platinum engagement ring possible for your lovely lady with very fine tastes. As a busy executive, your time, along with your knowledge of platinum and diamonds, is limited. How do you make this very personal investment purchase a high-quality, high-value decision that will elate your special woman for decades to come?

Steps

1. Look for quality in the workmanship. The workmanship of platinum casting, milgraining, engraving, filigree, pavé or other fine details can vary dramatically.
   
   • Work only with a master platinumsmith who is an expert in the metal and the craftsmanship. Some jewelry manufacturers and online mass producers choose to imitate hand engraving or filigree by embedding a design into the ring’s casting. This prefabricated engraving will eventually wear off and the filigree will look chunky and lack finesse.
     
   • For the best quality, look for deep and intricate hand engraving and filigree that is from hand-drawn wires and sculpted then soldered into a piece. Pavé in platinum requires very specific expertise.
     
   • Proper setting ensures that the focus is on the sparkle of the diamonds, not the platinum prongs holding in the stones. This goes for the prongs holding the center stone is place. Do not choose a ring with overly elevated or thick prongs, which lack any elegance and just look plain clunky.
     
2. Understand what quality means in the platinum alloy. Just like gold, platinum is alloyed with other metal(s) for use in jewelry. PT 950, or 95 percent platinum is the new high-quality standard.
   
   • Nevertheless, the five percent left does matter. To save on costs, many jewelry designers and mass producers mix their platinum with lower-strength and inferior materials, which yield platinum that becomes dull over time and is less durable because of an increased risk of porosity. Porosity or pitting – literally holes within the platinum in a ring - leads to cracked shanks or bent prongs and dramatically decreases both the value and endurance of the piece. A proprietary mix with the highest quality alloy is the best choice.
     
3. Go beyond the Four C's and a certificate when choosing a diamond. Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight are just the basics in evaluating and pricing diamonds. While a certificate from the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) on an ideal-cut diamond lends some peace of mind, many diamonds with the same evaluation of the 4 C's can vary substantially in their beauty and light reflection.
   
   • Gemologists rate the diamonds based on standard criteria, but this can be subjective and two gemologists can disagree over what a certificate reads.
     
   • You can ensure that you are getting the best quality diamond by actually looking at a variety of diamonds yourself.
     
   • Ideally, your platinumsmith is also a diamond expert that can help to educate your naked eye (or with a loop) to evaluate the polish, symmetry, cut grades and light performance of each stone.
     
   • Quite often it is obvious what diamond is the brightest and most beautiful when they are compared to others. This means that if you are purchasing a diamond of any significance (one carat or more), you should resist buying online because you can't see the quality of the diamond - or the platinum craftsmanship. Also, be sure that any other diamonds used to accent your center stone are of equal quality - Russian-cut diamonds are the highest quality choice for smaller stones typically used in eternity bands and pave work.
     

Tips

• Learn more about platinum and diamonds at trusted sites such as this one www.platinumrings.com.
  
• Don't focus on the size of the diamond, but make sure that it is at least H in color and contains no flaws visible to the naked eye.
  
• Ask for Canadian non-conflict diamonds if this is important to you or your fiance.
  

Warnings

• Don't let a jeweler talk you into white gold or palladium, which are of lower quality than platinum
  
• Beware of unscrupulous or just plain greedy diamond dealers or supposed wholesalers, often found in jewelry marts or centers offering deals that seem too good to be true - and are!
  
• Stay out of mall stores that offer only cookie-cutter, mass-produced designs of lower quality.
  
• Beware of the little blue box type of retailers, which usually offer fairly good quality, but not value
  

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Start a Gold Party Business - wikiHow

Start a Gold Party Business - wikiHow

Traveling Gold Buyers

This last Sunday I went to a gold buying event that was at the Shilo Inn in Salem, OR. I wanted to see hows these individuals run these "massive gold parties" for lack of a better term and to see what percentage they would pay. 

This group had rented the entire second floor of this hotel for the week.  When you arrive they ask you what you are there to sell and then assign you to your own private room.  They say this is to protect you so that others do not know what you have but can also be used to keep people from making a scene in front of others and telling an entire crowd what percentage they are paying.  I waited in this hotel room for almost 10 minutes before someone came to help me.  When the gentleman walked in he was very friendly and was trying to build trust by telling me about the pieces of jewelry I had brought.  He then weighed each piece individually and told me what he could pay.  I had already figured out how much gold was in each piece and here is what they offered.

Lindy Star Sapphire Ring made of 14KY:  Gold value $226, offered $110
18KY Chain: Gold value $182, offered $70

Diamond Pave ring with 1ct. of G+, SI2 diamonds in 14KW: Gold Value $178
Semi-Mount in 14KW with 4 - 0.07ct Princess cut diamonds: Gold Value $219
I was offered $180 for both rings

I was offered a grand total of $360 for four items that had a gold value of $805.  On average this is approximately 45% and they said they were paying me for the diamonds, which means the average is actually less than this amount.  Some of you might think this is horribly low and I would agree it is low but I have heard of much worse.  These traveling gold buyers cannot pay you the same amount as a jeweler of independent gold buyer, think about it.  These companies have to rent an entire floor of a hotel for a week, they had paid for three full pages in local newspapers for multiple days, and advertised they had 85 employees at the event.  That is a TON of overhead!  A jeweler also has a lot of overhead but they make most their money for selling jewelry and buying gold is an added bonus to them and is why many will pay 60-80% for your gold.  I even know some jewelers who will give you 150% of the gold value if you use it towards the purchase of something in the store.  With gold over $1400 a deal like that can go a long ways!

A local gold buyer in your area is also a great option, I pay people 75-85% for their gold since I have very little overhead I do not need that outrageous margin.

Before you sell your gold stop and think about it for a minute.  Do you want to sell to a traveling company who has paid a tons of money in advertising and staffing and therefore is going to pay you less; or sell it to a local jeweler who will pay you more and be there tomorrow if you need them. 

Matt Wallace