The services of an independent appraiser are increasingly of importance in today’s complex market environment. As consumers have grown in sophistication and education, diamonds have gotten more costly, and many previously unheard of treatments and ethical issues have arisen, as well. One used to fear that a diamond might be misrepresented as to color, clarity or weight. Now the list of reasonable questions is nearly endless:
- Has the stone had some temporary or permanent treatment applied?
- Is the stone a real diamond, a man-made diamond, a color altered diamond, loaded with filler, or totally phony?
- Will the dealer sell me one stone and deliver another?
- Is the information on the grading document accurate?
- Is the stone damaged?
- Are the grading documents genuine and unaltered?
- Does the diamond match the grading document?
- Is the stone really cut correctly and does the grading paper supply enough information to make an informed decision?
As an independent jewelry appraiser, I have no motivation to inflate the value of your diamond or gem appraisal to make it appear you got “an incredible buy”. Your jewelry appraisal will reflect a true replacement value so you won’t overpay on the insurance premium. Independent appraisers conduct the appraisal because they are unbiased. Since they don’t buy or sell jewelry they are less likely to overvalue the jewelry. They will inspect all aspects of your jewelry (size, color, quality, etc) and will conduct market research to determine the value.
A good rule of thumb in choosing a diamond jewelry appraiser is if you don’t know where to go to get jewelry appraised…read your local jewelry appraiser reviews. If you only choose one item, a diamond ring appraisal would probably be your best choice. Also, if your purpose is to sell diamond jewelry, a current jewelry appraisal will help you decide a better selling price.
