In my previous post, I talked about not using appraisals to tell you how much you can expect to sell it for, but rather for proof that you owned your piece before you traveled. Today, I want to talk about another reason – Insurance against loss.
A typical appraisal includes an image of the item and every bit of descriptive information possible. It has to stand up as a legal document in court, and is proof to an insurance company that you owned this specific item. If the item is lost or stolen, the appraisal tells the insurance company how much it would cost to replace that very same item on the retail market, that is, the RETAIL PRICE, not how much it cost you to buy it.
An appraisal is also not used to value an item on the resale market. Why? It’s because the item is now “used”, not “new”, and is not for sale in a retail store. The biggest misconception about appraisals is that the owner of a piece of jewelry sees the number on the appraisal and thinks that the item is worth that much if they want to sell it later. Wrong! In the appraisal world, a lot of work and research goes into valuing the item for replacement, especially for estate and antique jewelry. But this valuation does not tell you the market price of that item if you’re looking to sell it. You are probably not a retail store selling that piece, so you are not going to command a retail price. You may not even command a wholesale price, unless you’re dealing with a reputable dealer, because any wholesaler needs to buy their inventory at less than a wholesale price to stay in business.
The moral of the story: Don’t spend your money on appraisals if you want to sell an item of jewelry. Take the jewelry to a reputable dealer who will work with private clients to eliminate the middleman and get you the best possible price. But please do get your jewels appraised and update the appraisals every couple of years for insurance and for travel. This will save you headaches and money.
The Diamond Expert 