CIRCA

I went to CIRCA on 11÷20÷15 with a pair of diamond earrings and a vintage gold Movado watch. I previously had the earrings independently appraised, unbeknownst to the Circa jeweler. The earrings were a total of 5 carats in diamonds in white gold. They were appraised, in writing, at $ 23,000. I was offered $ 1,800 at Circa.
The watch is currently in a bidding war on eBay, last bid was $ 2,700. Circa offered me $ 300.
You do the math.

I found my experience to be very good at Circa. I had a piece of jewelry I needed to sell, it was semi-​vintage and my appraisal was quite high from 2008– however I was unaware the one main stone was chipped until John pointed it out to me. He made me a very reasonable offer and I was satisfied. I would definitely recommend John for evaluating your piece — especially vintage stones, he is an expert and I trust his opinion.

Not even close to being a Trusted anything. Went to the NYC office today with 3 pieces of Hermes jewelry and a diamond Tiffany necklace. The young lady told us how happy she was that we had the original boxes and we were selling brand jewelry. She looked, examined with a loop made notes etc. All part of the setup. I actually don’t think she had the foggiest idea of the worth of the items. She they proceeded to tell us the pieces were really not popular any more even though the Tiffany piece is still sold worldwide. Just more of the setup. She offered us less then 10% of the retail price. At this point I was just beyond myself although saying nothing except her offer was insulting to me. She then proceeded with their program. «Let me see if someone
else can take a look at your items» and left.
She returned with the President of the company who went through about the same song and dance but increased the offer by 2 ½ times.
I refused the offer and left after telling the President of the company what I thought of the tactics. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Don’t believe the ads. These people are out to beat you if they can.

My wife decided to offload her jewelry after many years. We researched the process online and read a well-​known magazine article where CIRCA were mentioned favorably. We set up an appointment and brought all the goodies in to see Jeffrey Singer, one of the founders. He went through every piece (there were about 100) carefully and thoughtfully and prepared an offer for her. We were more than pleased with the professional way we were treated and comfortable enough with the offer that we accepted it. We found Mr Singer to be straight-​forward and pleasant. He wrote us a check on the spot. Could not recommend the firm more highly.

Anyone who is looking for true reviews, look for «14 other reviews that are not currently recommended» after the first 3 reviews. I have no idea why Unilocal won’t include them, as they are far more current than the ones listed here.
Don’t waste your time unless, you have plenty of it!

CIRCA should be embarrassed by the prices they offer. They are much lower than wholesale value. They are no better than a pawn shop. Do Not Go to Circa to sell your diamonds.
There are many better websites to visit to get prices, White Pine Trading for one.
the reviewer below is not being truthful. CIRCA is not a place to ever consider selling you jewelry. you would do better at almost any pawn shop.

Just prior to Christmas, I submitted two valuable rings (one diamond engagement ring valued at $ 7,500 and another vintage ruby ring, circa 1850) via a trusted and reputable local jeweler. As a single Mom, I was hoping the sale would help me make my little girl’s Christmas a bit nicer than I normally could afford. The offer that I received — $ 1,000 for both rings — was a disappointment and I politely declined. The rings were returned to my jeweler. After some thought, I decided to re-​submit the rings and accept the offer. The woman with whom I spoke (not the same as the original representative) was very nice, but I was presented with an offer that was «substantially less than $ 1,000…» (to quote this second representative). She said that, upon reviewing the former rep’s notes, an offer was never concretely made but rather I was told that they could only give me «substantially less than $ 1,000.» I corrected her, telling her that I was originally given a very solid offer of $ 1,000 — and that I had even asked if she (the original rep) could at least go to $ 1,200, which she apologetically declined, stating that she could «only offer the $ 1,000.» Essentially, they attempted to gaslight me into believing that I had «misunderstood» what had been presented to me in the original phone call offer. I assured this second rep that I misunderstood nothing — that I had been offered $ 1,000. I made a point of calling my local jeweler to let them know that my two rings were once again being returned, and I explained why. Unless you are facing homelessness, do not attempt to sell your jewelry through this company. They are insulting on so many different levels.

It felt like a pawn shop with IKEA veneer and well-​tailored suits. Don’t be fooled. They will try to low-​ball you on your jewelry at prices below the commodity value of the stones and the precious metals. They will suggest that you overpaid for the jewelry by suggesting a ridiculously low purchase price, in order to convince you of the low value of your jewelry.
In addition, the front desk secretary made insulting comments in the guise of small talk. I will never go there again.

First the good news. The staff at Circa is very helpful and courteous. I liked that.
Then the other news. Omigosh, I was so shocked at the price they offered me for my 6.72 carat tanzanite ring with 1.5 carats of diamonds set in 18k gold. I certainly wasn’t expecting to receive the appraised value of close to $ 11k, but $ 1500 was all they could come up with. YIKES!!! I got a higher price in a pawn shop. Do not go there to sell your jewelry unless you’re truly desperate, on the way to being homeless or hate the guy that gave it to you. NO, NO, NO, NO.. .. And there’s more, they actually apologize in advance for the offer they’re going to spring on you. UGGGGH!

If you look for reviews of Circa Jewels, you’ll find some mighty unhappy customers who were insulted by their low offers to buy. The thing to remember at the outset if you are going to sell your jewels is that (a) you aren’t in an empowered position when it comes to wholesale and (b) the price they offer you will be a tiny fraction of the likely retail price. We went in to have a vintage piece evaluated. The price the appraiser offered to pay was about ¹⁄₈^th of what he thought the likely retail price would be. It was far less than we ever would sell the piece for but it was a fun experience. The offices were nice; the receptionist offered us water while we waited and we actually learned a few things about the piece that we wouldn’t otherwise know. Having sold jewelry before, I have no ego about these sorts of transactions. If you want to make the most money from your sale, find an individual who wants to buy your item. If you are looking for a bit of super-​quick cash and can sell with no regrets, consider Circa.