I saved the engagement ring purchased by ex with a lab-grown 1 carat diamond – what’s it value? DAN HATFIELD replies

My long-term partner proposed to me a few years ago at Christmas time. Although the relationship didn’t last, the ring he proposed with is still in my life. 

He said I could keep it despite the breakdown in our relationship. I’m wondering how much it’s worth. 

I’m keen to sell it and figure as it’s Christmas time maybe now is the best time to flog it. 

It’s a lab-grown 1 carat diamond and the colour is F with VVS1 clarity. I’ve been told the quality is amazing so I’m hoping it might be worth a decent amount. Ellie, via email.

Dan Hatfield, our resident valuaion expert, replies: When it comes to diamonds, I’m an unapologetic magpie. 

I trained as a diamond grader in Antwerp – the capital of diamonds – studying them in all shapes, sizes, and colours. 

Even now, as a pawnbroker handling them daily, I never tire of their allure. 

Each one is as unique as a snowflake and valuing them is as much art as science but valuing them isn’t as straightforward as you may think. 

It all comes down to the famous ‘four Cs’ which stand for, the cut, clarity, colour, and carat;

1. Cut

This is the one most people misunderstand. It’s not the shape (round, oval, pear) but the quality of the cut – how well it’s been carved, faceted, and polished. 

A well-cut diamond bounces light around like a disco ball, giving it that irresistible sparkle. Sadly, you haven’t shared this with me so I will have to focus on the other c’s.

2. Clarity

This measures how ‘clean’ the diamond is from internal blemishes or inclusions. 

You’ve done well here — your VVS1 clarity is near the top of the scale, just one step below ‘Internally Flawless.’ 

This tells me your diamond is as close to perfect as many of us will ever see.

3. Colour

The colour scale runs from D (completely colourless) to Z (a not-so-lovely yellowish hue). 

Your diamond is an ‘F’ — still firmly in the ‘colourless’ camp. This is prime real estate in the world of diamonds.

4. Carat

A 1-carat weight is the ultimate crowd-pleaser; big, bold and the size most people think of when the dream of an engagement ring.

 If this was a natural diamond, you’d be right to be popping the champagne right now, but your diamond is lab grown which does affect the price vastly. 

What is a lab-grown diamond? 

Lab-grown diamonds are chemically and visually, identical to a natural diamond. They sparkle just as brightly, and in a display cabinet, even an expert could be fooled, but the market doesn’t value them the same way.

Natural diamonds are one-of-a-kind wonders born from intense heat and pressure deep within the earth, which can often be 3billion years old. Whereas lab-grown diamonds are created in machines.

When lab-grown diamonds first hit the market in 2015, there was buzz about them being ‘eco-friendly’ and they sold for around 90 per cent of the cost of a natural counterpart. 

Celebrities like Emma Watson and Meghan Markle were spotted with them, and suddenly, it seemed like lab-grown diamonds were the future.

If you bought one back then, you might have felt pretty smug, all the appearance of luxury without the astronomical bill. 

But fast-forward to 2024, and the bubble has burst. Lab-grown diamonds are everywhere and we now know that they’re not as eco-friendly as once thought due to the large amount of power needed to create them. 

As more producers flood the market, prices are collapsing like a bad soufflé. 

Research from global jewellery analytics firm Tenoris reported a 20 per cent drop in lab-grown prices in 2023 and this continued in 2024.

To put it bluntly, lab-grown diamonds are a terrible investment. It’s a painful truth I’ve had to deliver to too many people who thought they were being savvy when they first came onto the market.

As we know, your engagement ring has 1 carat diamond with the colour F and a VVS1 clarity which if natural would be a stunning gem but as this is lab-grown, it wont hold much of a resale value. 

Looking at the current market, I would estimate you could sell your ring for about £600 maybe even up to £1,000 if you could find the right buyer.

This may not seem a lot for an entire carat, but it all comes down to supply and demand. 

Due to the sheer volume of lab-grown diamonds on the market, prices are decreasing fast and they don’t have the history, mystique or limited supply that make natural diamonds so valuable.

My advice to you would be to sell it now as the market is awash with buyers hunting for gifts and Christmas is often a season full of proposals. 

Come January, people’s focus will be on clearing their credit card bills rather than splashing out on diamond rings, lab-grown or natural. 

To maximise how much you can make off your ring, I would opt for selling it to online diamond buyers or specialist jewellery resellers. 

High street stores have overheads which means they will drive down an offer on how much they can buy it for in order to turn a profit.

I’m not sure if you had a figure in mind and while not the price a natural diamond of this quality would demand, it’s still a lovely little earner in time for a very merry Christmas.

I’m about to break to enjoy some festive merriment myself, so I just want to thank all my readers who have joined me for this Modern Treasures column this year.

 I’ll be back with more valuations and money-making advice in 2025, so for now, wishing you all a sparkling Christmas and a bling filled new year.