Sounds like a business ready to be disrupted
Edit: Found the article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/fashion/jewelry-diamond-s...
Even in the article you listed there were a number of offers all close to each other. ~8-10k is a 'reasonable price' for that ring.
Most jewelers I've interacted with are more than happy to buy your diamond for a bit under wholesale cost. They're also happy to make rings with old diamonds. They make money selling settings too.
One issue is the public. There are a number of people who don't want a "Used Ring". But, there are a large number of diamonds being sold that have been owned previously.
Kind of crazy when people say they want a "new" diamond, uh....well all of them are literally millions of years old unless it's lab grown.
Can anyone who works in the diamond industry respond to this? Can anyone tell if a diamond has been made into a ring before? Would it damage the diamond to remove it from the ring? This sounds like an opportunity to plaster signs that say "WE BUY DIAMOND RINGS" all over and buy them back from consumers at a discount from wholesale.
The easiest way is to determine through the setting. Styles change. If it's a setting from the 50s that isn't made anymore it's probably old. If it's a setting from a company that is < 10 years old it's got a better chance of being new.
Diamonds are not damaged when swapping settings. They are often removed and reset if a prong breaks for instance.
Most people just don't want to buy from estate sales or auction. So, jewelry stores will do that, clean it up, put it in a new setting (or leave it as is), and resell it as 'new'.
Here's the profit margins that the stones receive along the way: - Miners selling to cutters - 10-15% profit - Cutters selling to wholesalers - 3-5% profit - Wholesalers selling to retail - 10-20% profit - Retail to consumers - 100-200% profit
Everyone on these threads is always mad at the miners and I never see any anger placed on the Jared's, Kay's, Zale's of the world (all owned by the same company btw).
You and the other person gives loads of reasons why people giving that complaint are entirely right. The marketing is (partly) that it is valuable. In practice you'll not be able to resell it for a similar value.
I bought my wife's diamond out of an ugly ring I found at a pawn shop. I brought it to a jeweler at a mall and had him pop it in one of his bands.
I saved a TON of money, my wife got a modern design with a really high quality stone, and the jeweler still got some business and his ring on another finger.
Win/Win