Jewelry Quality and Price

Not all gemstones are of the same quality.

Gemstones range in:

1) Size of stone

2) Clarity

3) Color hue, tone and saturation 

4) Cut quality

5) Rarity

Any one of these different characteristics of gemstones may affect its value in the marketplace. Value and therefore cost of a piece of jewelry will be affected by all of these characteristics of the gemstone. 

Precious metals used in the making of your jewelry may affect the overall Cost and Value of your jewelry as well. All precious metals have a "Spot Price" which is what the market is willing to pay for an ounce of that precious metal on a given day. As spot price goes up, so does the cost of manufacturing jewelry. Increased manufacturing cost drives up the cost of your jewelry item. Different Precious metals are more rare or more sought after than others and this makes the spot price higher. As this material cost increase, so does the Price to purchase an item. 

Finally, some designers have a reputation for creating beautiful pieces of artwork that you wear as jewelry. The time a designer takes to build a piece of jewelry as well as the designers reputation may affect the cost of the final jewelry item.