Ok ... Today I found out what Old Mate dose with his stones. It's not the best news for those of you who have collected precious stones when buying gold. Any decent stones with certificates are promptly sold to jewelers ( a rare occurrence ) Other decent stones are offered to jewelers, but in the absence of certificates they aren't worth a great deal. Basically most of the stones end up in jars as a very pretty collection. That's why these guys don't factor them into the equation when buying gold. If I had a jar ful of precious stones, I'd be doing my homework on how to have them graded and certified. Perhaps by the time all that's done and their polished there's little value left?
There is no secondary market for them. You’re really paying for the retail experience of going to a nice jewellery store etc. That’s where the only value lies. We always try to sell the rings retail in my pawn shop, even cheaply. Most shops will heavily discount diamond rings if you ask. Not so much for chains etc. If you scrap the rings you get nothing for the stones anyway. Most are too small to worry about. There are wholesalers who will buy loose stones from you (for not much) but they are really only interested in 1ct plus sizes. Your best bet is to sell privately on Facebook or eBay, but be realistic because you’re essentially trying to con someone else into paying for the stones that have no resale value, but without the fancy shop and retail experience that came with the initial sale.