What You Should Know About Jewelry Appraisal

  Jewelry appraisal is something many people put off due to busy schedules, but it is important to have your jewelry appraised as soon as you get it. There are a couple of different types of appraisals, but the insurance appraisal is the one you will always need.

Your Insurance Company Needs an Appraisal

If your home is burglarized, destroyed in a fire or someone rifles through your hotel room and takes your gems, you are going to need that appraisal. Without it, your insurance company is not going to reimburse you. It is easy to put off that insurance appraisal on your jewelry, but make it a point to get it. A good practice is to have the jeweler give you one as soon as your purchase it. Sooner or later, you’ll need it.  Once you have your appraisal, contact your insurance agent and have your fine jewelry added to your policy.

Jewelry Appraisal for an Estate Sale

Sure, you know granny’s diamond necklace is super valuable because granny told you it was for your whole life. Well, guess what? It turns out grandpa went bargain basement and bought paste then told granny that those diamonds were real. Hey, times were hard back then so who can blame him? Get an appraisal from a certified gemologist before you embarrass yourself in an estate sale.

Jewelry Appraisers’ Certification

If you want your appraisal to mean anything to an insurance company or potential buyer then you need to use an appraiser that is certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). This is a nonprofit organization that trains appraisers in the valuation of gems and jewelry.

What’s Your Jewelry Worth?

There is another type of jewelry appraisal and that is when you want to sell it to a jewelry store. This is a wholesale deal. The jeweler will give you a wholesale value of the jewelry. This amount is usually just the wholesale value of the metal and stones. Beautiful settings usually don’t count for anything in this type of appraisal.

Stone Switching

It is a switcheroo as old as the hills. You go into the store to get a jewelry appraisal or repair only to get back your engagement ring with a different stone in it. This is a common problem with unethical jewelers, so ask around to find a jeweler with an excellent reputation and a long history in the business. Ben David Jewelers in the Danville, VA area, is an ethical jeweler and a family business that began in the 1950s. If you have any concerns about the safety of your jewelry, we will be happy to do the repair at the counter while you watch. We want all of our customers to feel comfortable and we understand the concerns a new customer may have when they don't have an experience with us yet.