if you won a $7500 diamond in a contest....

[shaynaatl]

What would you do with it? This was a topic covered in last week’s podcast of Freakonomics. They featured a couple from MI that won a loose diamond valued at $7,500 in a charity raffle giveaway.

The wife wanted to keep it, and the husband wanted to sell it. Though valued at $7500 at the auction, a jeweler would have given them $3-4k cash for it. The husband wanted to use the money to pay off debt and possibly take a long-awaited vacation. The wife said she never received a diamond ring during their marriage, and thought this was the perfect chance to finally have one. They didn’t give any financial details about the couple, but they seemed solidly middle class (a nurse and an EMT), and had 2 young kids. The husband was also described as being annoyingly cheap.

They argued about what to do so much that it started to negatively affect their marriage. They ended up storing the diamond in their laundry room just because they would argue about it so much.

What would you do in their situation? What would you do in your own situation if you won something like that?

[loreleigilmore]

If I didn't have a diamond ring, I'd probably want to keep it. I understand that.

If I had a diamond ring, I would sell it.

[mcsangel2]

Apr 23, 2015 15:28:53 GMT -5 loreleigilmore said:

If I didn't have a diamond ring, I'd probably want to keep it. I understand that.

If I had a diamond ring, I would sell it.

Ditto.

[Deleted]

Hmm. I honestly don't know. A part of me thinks that this is a great chance to get a diamond ring! But I'm not sure my taste requires a $7500 diamond, either. I guess it would partly depend on the shape, size, etc of the diamond. I don't want a huge rock but if it's well cut and just good quality, I might just keep it.

If not, I might sell it, buy a cheaper ring that is more my taste, and use the rest for a vacation Though 3k is probably not going to buy both of those things. In which case I lean back toward just keeping it. That's a pretty big loss in value*.

*this is also why I don't really want a diamond e-ring next time around. They are not a good investment!

[LoveTrains]

Hrmm. I would see if the diamond could be fit into my engagement ring, as its probably bigger than the one I have. Then I would take that diamond and get a necklace made. Or just get the diamond made into a pendant/necklace.

[raangoli]

Did they have to pay taxes on the cash value when they won it?

But you can never go wrong with more diamonds.

[alleinesein]

A $7500 diamond isn't that big- its either a really shitty I1-I3 1.5 ct stone (J-L in color) or a decent 1 ct (F in color, VS2, VG/VG or EX/EX) and its most likely a Round Brilliant cut.

If it was a larger, shittier stone I would sell it. If it was a nicer quality I would keep it and have it set into a ring.

[sweetptater]

I'd sell it. That's a lot of money that I could use on vacations, clothes, and fun stuff. I mean, debt. 

[v]

Special snowflake -- my best friend works in diamond research/appraisal/resale so I'd first go to her to see how much money she could get for it. I'd imagine I'd be able to get better than the normal piss-poor resale value if I sold through her. If the number was very favorable, I'd sell it.

I'm not much of a jewelry person. Costume jewelry I like, but being that I rarely wear my engagement ring because I'm not someone who likes wearing diamonds, I don't know that I want another diamond ring. Maybe I'd have it set into a pendant? But then, I can't really see myself ever wearing a diamond pendant.

So I guess I'd sell it, even if it was at a piss-poor resale value, even though that isn't the best way to maximize the value of the win.

[msmerymac]

I have a diamond ring. This loose diamond sounds like a better one than my center stone, so if it fit, I would change it out and sell my current stone.

A compromise might be selling it and her getting to spend half on a cheaper piece of jewelry. 

[ESF]

I'd probably see if I could trade it in for other jewelry, as I imagine a trade in would net you more in cash than $3k-$4. I have no use for a loose diamond and wouldn't wear a diamond pendant or anything. I would, however, wear a $5k cocktail ring made with other precious or semiprecious gemstones.

[meij]

I don't have a solitare engagement ring and now nine years later wish I did. Now with two kids, a house and lots of stuff to spend money on I know I won't ever have one. So if we won that diamond, I'd keep it especially since the sale price wouldn't be that high.

If $3500 would make big difference for us getting out of debt or was money we needed, obviously I'd sell it and use the money.

[BeagleMama]

I thought her husband sounded like a jerk - let her keep and love the damn diamond!

But, for me, I don't need another solitaire so I'd sell it (privately, like they suggested to do).

[tacosforlife]

I'd sell it. But I'm perfectly happy with my gemstone engagement ring, and I need a vacation like WHOA.

I don't think the wife is necessarily unreasonable for wanting to keep it.

[Deleted]

I would sell it, even if I didn't have a diamond. The diamond (solitaire) ring is typically worn as an engagement ring. I wouldn't want a diamond ring where there was no sentimental value and my h resented me keeping he stone. Also, I'm assuming they both won it in a raffle so they should share the prize.

[cjeanette]

It depends on the cut/quality and size of the diamond really.

I don't want anything huge and it would need to be very clear and pretty to be worth paying off a debt.

[audette]

I don't like diamonds, and I'd be uncomfortable wearing something that valuable.

So, we'd sell it. No clue what we'd do with the money made from the sale, but neither of us would want to keep it.

[Deleted]

I would want to sell it. I have my e-ring and I don't feel the need to have any more diamond jewelry than that. I feel like H would want to sell it as well because he would have less use for a diamond than me.

[gogreengowhite]

If we had cc debt or something similar I would be inclined to sell it and pay off the debt.

But, if it was me right now? I would keep it. I like diamonds, I'm basic like that.

[M]

I'm a diamond snob. So in my current situation it would depend on the quality. If we're talking about colorless VVS+, I'd keep it. I don't care about the size. I can find a place for any size diamond as long as it's beautiful lol.

If I was in their situation, some debt and no diamond ring... I would pay off the debt and get myself a smaller diamond. The sentimental value of picking out an affordable diamond together that also represents when you are finally debt free would outweigh the value of a bigger diamond. And if I wanted a bigger diamond, then I'd save the money that we were no longer paying towards debt until it was enough to pay for the bigger diamond.

[Balki.Bartokomous]

If she won it, let her keep it. If THEY won it, then sell it & use it toward something they both can enjoy.

It sounds like a good compromise would be to do the debt/vacation split that he wants & let her pick the vacation. Or just sell it & let each one do what they want with their half. She can go buy a small, cheap diamond if she really wants a diamond.

If it were me, vacation, all the way. I don't really "get" the love of diamonds, but to each their own.

[doobeedoo]

Keep the ring, ditch the husband.

[maddiepaddy]

Personally, I'd want to keep it to upgrade my E-ring, assuming it was of better quality/larger (which I assume it would be, as my E-ring stone is on the small/included side).

In their case, I think it depends on who bought the ticket. If she bought the ticket, she should keep the diamond if that's what she wants unless they're in a ton of $$ trouble. If he bought the tix, I suppose he should get to do what he wants with it. I assume if they bought the ticket together, they would have discussed what they'd do with it before hand. I know my H and I would have.

[babsbunny]

What if it wasn't a diamond, but was a corvette that the husband would enjoy but the wife wouldn't (and pretend the husband had always driven beaters)? They could have a brand new corvette worth $50k but could only sell it for $30k (yes, I'm stretching in order to fit my example). I bet we would agree that the husband should sell the car and use the money in a way they could both enjoy, which might include a cheaper car and vacation (or even a diamond).

What if it was a men's Rolex, not a diamond? I bet again that we would want the husband to sell the watch at half the appraised value and use it for something more practical.

What if it was a riding lawn mower?


The fact that it's a diamond is irrelevant to me. It's $3-4k and that's how it should be looked at. The only time it matters that it's a diamond is if they both agreed that they should take $4k to buy her a diamond (then it would be obviously better to keep the diamond as is).

[Susie]

Apr 23, 2015 15:25:25 GMT -5 shaynaatl said:

The wife said she never received a diamond ring during their marriage, and thought this was the perfect chance to finally have one. 

In this scenario I'd keep it - it's obviously important to the wife to have a ring, and a windfall seems like a great way to get it.

For myself?  I have a ring, I have studs... so I'd probably look for a jeweler who would give me more than the $3-4k cash amount in store credit, and I'd pick something spectacular.  Maybe for when Hobbes is born.

[doobeedoo]

Apr 23, 2015 18:17:09 GMT -5 babsbunny said:

What if it wasn't a diamond, but was a corvette that the husband would enjoy but the wife wouldn't (and pretend the husband had always driven beaters)? They could have a brand new corvette worth $50k but could only sell it for $30k (yes, I'm stretching in order to fit my example). I bet we would agree that the husband should sell the car and use the money in a way they could both enjoy, which might include a cheaper car and vacation (or even a diamond).

What if it was a men's Rolex, not a diamond? I bet again that we would want the husband to sell the watch at half the appraised value and use it for something more practical.

What if it was a riding lawn mower?


The fact that it's a diamond is irrelevant to me. It's $3-4k and that's how it should be looked at. The only time it matters that it's a diamond is if they both agreed that they should take $4k to buy her a diamond (then it would be obviously better to keep the diamond as is).

No, I'd feel the same way if the other person really wanted/liked the item that was won.  And I hate Corvettes.  

[ddi741]

It was a loose diamond though right, so it would cost them $ to turn it into a ring?
I'd sell it and pay off debt and them put some $ away each month to get her a ring at some point.

[Deleted]

I rarely wear my own ring so I would totally sell it.

[yentl]

It depends on what kind of debt the husband was talking about paying off. Mortgage or student loans? No. CC debt? Yeah, I'd want to pay that off vs. having a big diamond ring.

[emisi]

I'd keep it. I have a ring, but the diamond is fake. I'd swap that baby out for a real one in a hot second.