RecycledBride

The Scoop on Recycled Jewels

• Truly timeless. Why are preowned and vintage rings so popular? Because diamonds, platinum and gold are among the most durable materials known to man, and don’t wear out or lose value with age. A diamond that was mined 100 years ago will have the exact same value as a comparable diamond mined today.
• Why recycled rocks. Buying a recycled ring is an earth-friendly, socially responsible consumer decision. If you want to avoid conflict or “blood” diamonds, or you’re concerned about the toxic chemicals released into our environment by gold mining, a recycled ring is your best option. You can still sport a stunning sparkler, and you won’t be contributing to the demand for newly mined and manufactured jewelry.
• Beautiful values. When you shop for a ring in a retail store, the price of your jewelry is inflated so that the store can pay their salespeople and overhead. Preowned rings are generally priced to reflect the actual market value of their metal and gemstones (see below for more on this). Buying preowned lets you cut out the middleman, so that every dollar you spend goes toward putting a beautiful ring on your finger.
• Secure shopping. The safest way to buy a ring on Recycled Bride is buy using a secure third-party escrow service like Escrow.com. You send payment to Escrow.com, where it’s held in a secure escrow account until you receive your ring. Once you’ve determined that you’re satisfied with your purchase, you release the funds to the seller in one click. See Recycled Bride’s Tips for Buyers for more safe transaction tips.

Engagement Ring Rx

If the wedding band or engagement ring you’re looking at contains diamonds that are over ? carat, be sure to ask the seller about the stone's 4 Cs, which help to determine a diamond’s value:

• Cut - The cut pertains to the shape of the diamond and to the make (how well a diamond was cut). Shapes include round, marquise, princess, radiant, pear and emerald. The make includes details such as table percentage, depth percentage, polish, and symmetry.
• Color - The color of diamonds varies from colorless (highest quality) to many shades of yellow (less rare). Colorless diamonds refract the most light, which is what makes a stone sparkle and gives it more value. The scale starts with D for perfectly colorless stones, and goes all the way to Z for diamonds that have a very noticeable yellow tint. Most people prefer colors D through L.
• Clarity - Diamonds are a natural substance, and no most diamonds have inclusions, or internal flaws. A flawless diamond, graded IF, creates more brilliance, is extremely rare and very valuable. A diamond that’s graded VVS or VS will have very small inclusions that are not visible to the naked eye. A stone with an SI or I grading may have inclusions that are slightly visible or noticeable.
• Carat Weight - The weight of diamonds is measured in carats. Larger diamonds are much more rare, so a 2-carat gem will be worth significantly more than 2 diamonds of the same quality weighing 1 carat each.
• There’s also a “5th C”, which stands for Certificate. Look for diamonds that have been certified by an independent gem grading lab like GIA , AGS or EGL. A diamond’s certificate will tell you about the stone’s 4 Cs, and provide additional in-depth information that will help you to compare it to other diamonds and evaluate its value.

For more information about the 4 Cs, or to find out how much a diamond you’re interested in is worth, go to DiamondInfo.org.

Remember, when you use their tools to calculate the worth of a diamond, you’re getting an approximate wholesale price — buying retail in a store would cost more than twice as much, and a gold or platinum band could add $1,000 or more to the value of a ring. A Recycled ring should cost about as much as the wholesale value of the diamond(s), plus the market value of the ring’s metal. Rings by popular designers like Tiffany or Tacori will fetch more, as will rings made with colored diamonds or intricate/unique settings.