The problem with diamonds: Part 2

Check this out... I wasn't imagining it about the diamond market being kaput. Here is a story from Saturday's Washington Post.
Last fall, recession-wary Americans more concerned about basics than bling began to lose interest in diamonds and other jewelry, and now the sales slump is reverberating around the world.
Retailers are taking a big hit. Tiffany said Monday that its profit dropped more than 75 percent in the fourth quarter. Lynn Jewelers, a downtown Washington presence since 1946, closed its doors last month. Christian Bernard Jewelers, a national chain with several stores in the Washington area, has shut down, as well. They are among 1,000-plus jewelers across the country to go out of business in the past year.
Read the full story here.

Forget diamonds, Brighton is girl's best friend

Brightonistas, I have just learned a very sobering truth about diamonds. They aren't worth near what we pay for them. They retain very little value. This was driven home to me the past month as I tried to sell a diamond ring that, lets just say, no longer held any sentimental value to me.
I tried jewelry buyers around town and the best offer I got was $400 for a ring that cost $1,200 nearly 20 years ago. (I can still see that Kay Jewelry salesman who showed us charts and told us don't worry about the cost, this would be a great investment.) Ha!
A very nice, honest local dealer advised me that the best odds for getting anything close to the retail price of a diamond is to go on ebay. So I posted it for 10 days and the highest bid was $300. I did not let it go for that.
This is a fairly quality diamond, too. Half carat, H color, SI2. I just designed a ring with the exact specifications on http://www.bluenile.com/ and it came out with a pricetag of $2,100.
As I have mentioned, I also auctioned a number of older items from my Brighton collection. Every one of those items sold, all for more than half their original retail value and most for 80 percent or more.
The lesson here is obvious ladies: Brighton jewelry is worth much more than diamonds! (Or at least, its a much better investment per dollar.) From now on, I am putting my money on Brighton.