How Low Will You Go?

I tried not to get too excited until I got a professional opinion. NOW I'M EXCITED!!!! I got an A+ on my homework!

I've been teaching myself how to grade and measure diamonds the last few years. And it's paid off with opportunities just like this - and it's gonna be a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I watched everyone in the auction throwing out wild guesses instead of doing it by the book. I had a few people tell me I paid too much, and one guy that said I was a fool.

My jeweler graded the diamond exactly as I did, and it's an Emerald Cut, 1.68 carat, F color, VS1 clarity or better (possibly VVS1 after polishing). My estimate was ~1.5 carat, but it was a bit deeper than I could measure, so I err'd on the side of caution.

The stone is so clear, you can see the refraction of the hallmark on the platinum in the first picture!

It's off to be cleaned up and sent to GIA for grading. The grade will ultimately decide value, but It will be January before I see the stone back. Then we need to decide whether to put it back into the setting or not.

Meanwhile I've got 3 grams of platinum and 5 grams of 14k gold out of it too! Something tells me to hang on to it and get it back into the original setting.

 

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All of them are listed on liveauctioneers.com

 

Thanks!

 

Brett, we'll just call you Renaissance man!

 

I'm tempted to buy 10oz of silver right now for melt value. It might go down even more this week. What do you guys think? What's your gut telling you?

 

Gut feelings are risky. Stock prices and bond prices both went up today. That money is coming from somewhere. Whether PMs have been sold completely off in an investment switch is anybody's guess.

 

I ended up pulling the trigger for ten ounces at $16.66 this afternoon. My reasoning was you usually have to pay a $1.00 premium for a 1 oz round online. With this deal I got it at melt so that's like buying an ounce at $15.66.

 

Not bad. Buy below market value.

 

Both of my favorite bullion sites are having Black Friday deals. Hope silver tanks before then.

 

Well, Silver starts trading in about half an hour as I type. We'll see how this week goes. I am still in bear mode unless I see a deal I can't refuse like ten ounces at spot when it was $16.66. So I guess I am looking to buy around $15.50.

 

I will be making my large silver purchase on December 5th. I will buying the 2017 silver panda and of course 1 or 2 of the new silver krugerands. May a 1/10th ounce gold coin if I still have any money left.

 

Sorry, I gotta brag. Beyond any bullion, I got the call from the jeweler today.

After re-cutting and polishing, the diamond came back from GIA.

1.59 carat, F color (colorless), VS1 clarity, Perfect/ideal cut. I go to confirm the GIA cert tomorrow, and then we negotiate a final price.

HOME RUN!!! THANK YOU SANTA!!!

 

After some excitement this week silver is back down to $16.81. Crazy...

 

Precious stones are definitely up this year for me. Precious metals, not so much...

I finally got it into my grubby hands!

 

I'm still on the sidelines. Even with the drop the last two days I am not buying. Something tells me it's going to go down further.

 

Since you are the Renaissance Man around here, drop me a PM if you have the time and/or the inclination on how one invests in diamonds. One can never be too diversified.