Sell to Prodiam · Diamond buyers, Johannesburg
Sell my diamond, the cutter-direct way.
Sell your diamond in South Africa to the bench that cuts them, not a retail counter that on-sells them. Loose certified diamonds, an engagement ring, gold of any karat, tennis bracelets, pendants, signed pieces, whole estates, single inherited stones. Most jewellers buy second-hand well below true market worth. They have to: they do not cut, they on-sell. We do cut. We re-set. We re-supply.
So we value the assets themselves rather than the resale-as-is risk, the diamond against the Rapaport sheet on the day, the gold against the LBMA spot price, with the working shown.
Fast track · about fifteen seconds
Tell us three things and the desk can answer you properly.
Darren reads every message himself. These three answers let him give you a real indication instead of a list of questions, so you hear something useful first time.
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1 What are you selling?
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2 Do you have a certificate for it?
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3 Roughly what size is the main stone?
Before you send photographs, worth knowing
Plenty of pieces that come to the desk turn out to be cubic zirconia, moissanite, white sapphire or glass, usually inherited or bought years ago in good faith. That is a normal thing to discover and nobody minds, but a photograph cannot settle it, and neither can we from one. Two quick checks at home will tell you a great deal:
- The breath test. Breathe on the stone. A diamond clears almost instantly because it disperses heat; glass and cubic zirconia stay fogged for a couple of seconds.
- The read-through test. Place a loose stone flat side down over a line of newsprint. Through a real round brilliant you will not be able to read the letters or see a straight line through it.
- The stamp. Look inside the band for 750, 585, 375, 18K, 14K, 9K or PT. Fine stones are rarely set in unmarked base metal, so an unmarked mount is a useful signal.
One thing the home tests cannot tell you: a lab-grown diamond is still a diamond physically, so it passes every one of them. Only instruments or a certificate separate it from a natural stone, which is why a GIA or EGL report is worth having. We are a natural-diamond house and do not buy lab-grown.
These are indicators, not proof, and the only real answer is instruments. We are happy to test an uncertified piece properly at the Bedfordview desk, free and with no obligation, and if it is not a diamond we will tell you straight away and you have lost nothing but the trip. If it is, you will have a number the same day.
Your message is ready
Send it on WhatsApp Rather use the form
Attach a photograph in the chat when it opens, and the certificate if you have one. Darren replies within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.
Why sell to Prodiam
Six reasons it’s the better number when you sell a diamond in Johannesburg.
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We cut. So the value is real.
A retail jeweller on-sells your stone in its existing form, so they discount aggressively for risk. We can re-cut, re-set, or re-supply, so we value the stone, not the resale-as-is.
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Rapaport-benchmarked.
Every offer is anchored to the Rapaport price list on the day, with documented adjustments for cut, certification, fluorescence, and current SA market spread. See how the buy-back price is worked out →
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Same-address re-grading.
If your stone has no cert, we can submit it to GIA South Africa, in the same building, before final settlement. Faster than couriering it elsewhere.
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FICA-compliant settlement.
Bank transfer to a verified SA account, full provenance paperwork, FICA / KYC done correctly. No envelope-cash ambiguity that could cause SARS or banking issues later.
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Cleared funds, fast.
From signed offer to cleared ZAR in your account: typically 72 hours for SA buyers, 5 days for international wires. No consignment lock-in.
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Or trade for an upgrade.
Don’t want cash? Trade your existing piece toward something larger or rarer at our bench. More on upgrades →
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Twenty-five years in the trade
Director Darren Etkind on the desk since 1995. Co-director Molefi Letsiki, president of the South African diamond bourse (DGJASA), on the manufacturing entity since 2019.
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Same-address GIA verify
GIA South Africa office is in our building. On-the-spot re-grading on request before settlement.
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Insured delivery, SA & worldwide
Overnight across South Africa via Brink’s, G4S or our nominated jewellery courier. Insured worldwide dispatch via Ferrari Group and FedEx Custom Critical.
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Natural diamonds only
Mined-Earth, never lab-grown, by conviction, not price. Kimberley-Process documented from the mine of origin. Why we don’t sell lab-grown →
What we buy
If it is gold, a natural diamond, or jewellery containing either, we buy it.
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Loose certified diamonds
GIA, EGL, IGI, HRD certificates ideally to hand. Single stones from 0.30 carats up to investment-grade pieces. Rounds, fancies, and coloured naturals welcome.
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Gold, any karat
9 kt, 14 kt, 18 kt, 22 kt, 24 kt. Yellow, white, and rose. Gold jewellery, hallmarked or unhallmarked. Priced live against the LBMA gold-spot rate on the day, in ZAR, with the karat confirmed on our scale and the margin shown. How selling gold works → Gold price per gram →
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Any jewellery with gold or natural diamonds
If it contains gold or natural diamonds, we buy it. Engagement rings, eternity bands, tennis bracelets, tennis necklaces, pendants, chains, signet rings, charm bracelets, brooches, cufflinks, earrings, anklets. With or without certs, we can re-grade the stones through GIA South Africa, in the same building.
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Estate & inherited jewellery
Whole estates, partial estates, single inherited pieces. We work with executors, deceased-estate attorneys, and family beneficiaries. FICA-compliant settlement direct to the estate account. Confidential, with photographic record of every piece valued.
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Damaged or broken pieces
Stones from broken settings, damaged jewellery with diamond components, partially-set pieces, single earrings. We dismount and value centre stones honestly, value the metal on its content against the spot, and pay on each component separately.
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Period & signed jewellery
Cartier, Tiffany, Boucheron, Bulgari, Asprey, Mauboussin, Garrard, Graff, Harry Winston, Chopard, Mikimoto and other named houses. Provenance papers helpful but not required.
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Rough diamonds (licensed only)
For licensed SA dealers and producers only. Procut DCW is a SADPMR-licensed buyer of South African rough under the Diamonds Act 1986.
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What we do not buy
Lab-grown / synthetic diamonds (no comparable resale market today, and we do not stock them). Cubic zirconia, moissanite or other simulants. Stones we cannot reasonably re-cut, re-set, or re-sell. Costume jewellery (no precious-metal content).
The process
From submission to cleared funds, four steps.
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Submit photos & papers
Use the form below to send clear photos of the piece (front, side, hallmark / inscription). Attach any GIA / EGL / IGI / HRD certificate. Note carat weight, colour, clarity, shape, and anything you know about the piece’s history.
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Indicative valuation, in 48 hours
We respond with a Rapaport-benchmarked indicative range, in ZAR, with the assumptions written out. Free, no obligation.
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Inspection & firm offer
Bring the piece in to the Bedfordview viewing room or send it via insured Brink’s / Ferrari Group courier. We inspect under loupe and microscope, confirm cert authenticity, and issue a firm offer.
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Cleared funds
On acceptance, FICA-compliant settlement is initiated. SA EFT within 72 hours. SWIFT international within 5 working days. Full paperwork, including SARS-compliant invoice and CGT considerations explained.
Selling a diamond in South Africa
Frequently asked questions.
How do I sell a diamond in South Africa?
Send clear photos and any GIA, EGL, IGI or HRD certificate through the form on this page. We reply within 48 hours with a Rapaport-benchmarked indicative range in ZAR, with the assumptions written out. If you accept, you bring the stone to our Bedfordview viewing room or send it insured via Brink’s, we inspect under loupe and microscope, confirm the cert, and issue a firm offer. FICA-compliant settlement clears in about 72 hours.
Where can I sell a diamond in Johannesburg for a fair price?
Because Prodiam is a working cutting house in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, we re-cut, re-set or re-supply the stones we buy rather than on-selling them as-is. That lets us pay against the Rapaport sheet on the day rather than the heavy second-hand discount most retail jewellers apply. You can sell loose diamonds, an engagement ring, or any piece containing gold or natural diamonds, with the valuation benchmarked to a public reference, not an opaque margin.
How much will you pay for my diamond?
Every offer is anchored to the Rapaport price list on the day, with documented adjustments for cut, certification, fluorescence, and the current South African market spread. We do not quote a flat headline percentage, the number depends on the stone. What we can promise is that the working is shown to you: you see the per-carat reference and the adjustments, so the offer is transparent rather than take-it-or-leave-it.
Prices are on application, never a blind lowball.
Do I need the GIA certificate to sell my diamond?
It helps, but it is not essential. If your stone has no certificate, we can submit it to GIA South Africa, in the same building as our bench, and re-grade it before final settlement, which is faster than couriering it elsewhere. With a certificate to hand we can give a tighter indicative range up front. Either way the valuation is Rapaport-benchmarked and the settlement is FICA-compliant.
Can I sell an engagement ring or loose diamonds I inherited?
Yes. We buy loose certified diamonds, engagement rings, eternity bands, tennis bracelets, pendants, and whole or partial estates. For inherited and estate pieces we work with executors, deceased-estate attorneys, and beneficiaries, with FICA-compliant settlement direct to the estate account and a photographic record of every piece valued. You must be the legal owner or hold written authority to sell on the owner’s behalf.
How is a cutting house different from other diamond buyers?
A resale-only buyer values your diamond at its resale-as-is risk, often only a fraction of its true worth. As a manufacturer-direct cutting house we value the stone itself, because we can re-cut or re-supply it, and we settle by verified bank transfer with full FICA and SARS-compliant paperwork. The trade-off is that we work by appointment and to a Rapaport benchmark, not instant cash over a counter.
Submit a piece
Tell us what you have.
Detail what you’d like us to value. Photographs by attachment on the email reply we send back, or via WhatsApp once we’re in touch.