Your first decision is the overall color of the ring: Yellow, rose or white.  This is entirely personal and there is no right or wrong answer.

In terms of generalities, 14K gold is the hardest and will look new the longest.  The only real downside is that 14K prongs tend to break more than bend.  18K gold will develop of patina faster as it is more prone to scratching than 14K but the metal itself is warmer and purer than its counterpart.  Platinum is purest of the precious metals as it is used at 95% purity.  Platinum is a white metal that survives decades.  When is looses its shine, platinum looks light grey.

If you choose yellow your choices are 14K or 18K gold. 18K is 75% gold and 25% other alloys to harden it but it will be a softer metal and a warmer yellow tone than 14K which has 58.3% gold and 41.7% hardening alloys.

If you chose rose, you choice are similar to yellow with the biggest difference in the intensity of the rose color. 14K rose gold has far more copper in it which gives it a more intense rose color as opposed to 18K which is more of a reddish yellow.

If you choose white, things get a little more complex. The same hardness profiles exist in the 14K and 18K white gold categories but you need to understand that there is no such thing as “white” gold. Gold with alloys that lighten it only get it to a very light yellow or light bronze color and then the ring is coated with rhodium when it is finished. That rhodium plating does wear off over time and the off white color then starts peeking through. At that point most people look to clean their ring but in fact it just needs to be re-plated.

The better metal in the white category is platinum. Platinum is a white metal and is used at 95% purity. It is softer and more pliable than gold and will develop a patina sooner but will not wear down as much as gold. It is the metal of choice and has long been the more luxurious choice in jewelry because for most of our lifetime it has traded at close to double the cost of gold. The last couple of years have seen an inversion of prices with gold trading around $1900/oz and platinum around $1100/oz. Platinum rings are still a little more expensive that gold but the difference is too small to sway the decision away from the better metal.

In the picture above you can see the sometimes subtle differences between the metals.  Starting on the left, this is the color of a rhodium plated gold ring or platinum ring. It is as white as white gets.  The next one over is the actual color of white gold with no plating.  As is obvious, white gold is actually a pale yellow or bronze color which gets covered by the rhodium plating.  When the plating wears off, this color starts peaking through.  The next one on the right is 14K yellow gold which has 58.3% gold content.  You can see the 18K (75% gold content) has a richer yellow color.  Second to last is 14K Rose gold which is very pink.  The intensity of the color comes from the relatively large amount of copper alloyed in this ring.  Think about the color of a new penny.  Last but not least is 18K rose gold which also has some copper in it, but much less and as a result has more of a peach color to it.

There are no right or wrong choices, but oftentimes, we are not aware of the differences and hopefully this post will help clarify.

We then present the CAD to our customer and upon approval move forward with the manufacturing process. In the case of the attached pictures, we used stones from our customer’s original wedding band along with sapphires from an heirloom ring.  We were fortunate that they were nearly the same diameter.  In the design process we were able to adjust the heights of both rings such that they would look good next to each other despite the difference in the size of the stones in the shanks.

Once the design is approved, creating the ring takes about a week to 10 days.  The end result is personal, unique and worthy of being yours.

If your goal is to maximize the value of your jewelry, you are best off trying to sell directly to a private consumer.  This can be done through your local paper, ebay, or some other virtual outlet.  Unfortunately this can be the most time consuming and frustrating method and very few people pursue this avenue after the first couple of failed attempts.

If you have time on your hands, you may want to try working out a consignment deal with a jeweler.  This method can take years, but on some rare occasions, if a customer walks into a store looking for exactly what you are trying to sell, it has been known to be fairly quick as well.

The vast majority of people opt for a fast sale to a jeweler.  We do this every day.  The upside is that you essentially walk away with cash in your hand.  The downside is that the cash is nowhere near what your perceived value for the piece was.  What you have to remember is that the jeweler may sit with your piece in his store for years, so it should not be surprising if he is not willing to pay top dollar.  We purchased the ring pictured below as part of an estate with the thought that it would be one of the first pieces we would sell.  Tiffany’s sells virtually identical rings every day for nearly double the price.  As you can see, we still own it.  And some day somebody will fall in love with it and purchase it, probably buying the deal of a lifetime.

There is one other option which is a service we provide our customers: let us broker the piece for you.  This option allows us as professionals to work on your behalf and try to get a higher offer on the market than what you would be offered walking in cold off the street.  We know the New York City diamond market inside and out and can usually find the best buyer for your jewelry.

I hope this short article has been helpful.  Please contact us if you have any questions.

This platinum pavé eternity band contains 4.05 caratsof exceptionally cut diamonds.  The workmanship on the ring is astonishing, reminiscent of when quality was truly appreciated.

We are naming this ring the Beatrice.