Sellling cut jewels in Seattle?

November 14, 2006 6:45 AM

A friend inherited a bunch of cut precious and semiprecious gemstones (peridot, amethyst, sunstone, maybe some others) and wants to know how to sell them. This is in the Seattle area. Do we get them appraised? How does that work? Who buys precious gems nowadays?
posted by cgc373 to clothing, beauty, & fashion (5 comments total)

I do, on ebay.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:36 AM on November 14, 2006

If you think they're really high quality gemstones, start calling jewelers in the phonebook to see who does appraisals. Try to get a few different opinions. Jewelers might want to buy high quality stones. Otherwise try selling them on ebay or to a bead store.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:53 AM on November 14, 2006

Peridot, amethyst, and sunstone are not in the "precious" category. Don't get your hopes up as to value. Try a jewelry store for a ballpark figure of value.
posted by stirfry at 7:55 AM on November 14, 2006

If these are still in vintage settings, try Alexandria Rossoff in downtown Seattle (across from the Four Seasons hotel). She buys/sells high quality vintage jewelry, some with semi-precious stones. Amethyst is quite trendy right now.
If that fails, try other jewelers who advertise "estate" jewelry. Downtown will offer the best, in terms of quality and service - there's a much greater concentration of fine jewelers downtown.
posted by dbmcd at 8:34 AM on November 14, 2006

You might also try Michael Wm. Farrell, on Capitol Hill - but as stirfry says, don't get your hopes up too high for those three stones.
posted by pdb at 9:50 AM on November 14, 2006