appraisal and certification

[cmms]

I have a 1.5 ct round stone that I bought 10 years ago. I traded up so I picked from what they had. My stone doesn''t have a well written appraisal nor is it certified.

I am seriously considering a vatche setting from excel. I would like to get my stone a GIA certification before having it reset. The jewelry store where my stone was purchased is no longer in business they retired.

How should I go about this? I was thinking of having a local jeweler remove the stone from it''s setting and appraise it. Then send it off for certification. Although I am not sure if a jeweler must submit a stone to GIA or if a consumer can.

Suggestions or help welcome.

Thanks
Cindy

 

[belle]

are you planning on selling the stone?
i''m just trying to understand why you feel the grading report is necessary in addition to the appraisal.

yes, consumers can submit diamonds for grading. or at least they could the last time i checked.

 

[cmms]

I am not planning on selling any time soon. I guess I would just like to have it and since I would be changing settings anyway I might as well get it done.

Who do I get to appraise a ring? I live in a small to medium size city and there are NO jewelry appraisers listed in our phone book. Do I just try an up scale jewelry store?

Cindy

 

[belle]

Date: 11/8/2007 8:38:10 PM
Author: cmms
I am not planning on selling any time soon. I guess I would just like to have it and since I would be changing settings anyway I might as well get it done.

i just don''t see the extra expense being worth it unless you are trying to appeal to another buyer. even then, you might not realize the full benefit of the cost that would be involved. especially since you can get a much more in depth report from a competent appraiser.

Date: 11/8/2007 8:38:10 PM
Author: cmms
Who do I get to appraise a ring? I live in a small to medium size city and there are NO jewelry appraisers listed in our phone book. Do I just try an up scale jewelry store?

you need an independent appraiser. one who specializes in diamonds and jewelry NOT a jewelry store. no way. i can''t stress enough what a disadvantage that is.
if there are not any independent appraisers near you, consider sending the stone to one of the well known and respected appraisers here.
neil beaty
richard sherwood
dave atlas

or you can click on the ''resources'' tab at the top of the page to locate an appraiser near you.

no jewelry stores!

 

[Skippy123]

I would just get it appraised by the vendors Belle suggested.

 

[cmms]

Do I have the stone removed from the setting before I send it to an appraiser?

Thanks for helping me.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

As long as you''re going to have the diamond reset, you might as well have the appraiser analyze it loose. That makes for the most accurate appraisal.

You could have it removed before sending it, or most appraisers could remove it for you as well, as long as it is in a prong setting. Bezel settings are another story.

 

[elmo]

Yes you can send this to the GIA yourself: http://www.gia.edu/gemtradelab/31508/how_to_submit_stones.cfm. 1.5 carats is $110 plus shipping, there''s a fees list near the same link. A GIA report will cost you less than a full Pricescope style appraisal but all you get is the report. An appraiser will be spending time with you helping you understand more about the stone, for instance if the it has wear or some special attribute. But for other purposes the report would be sufficient or even better.

If the report is sufficient, the least work for you would be to send Barry the ring and ask him to drop off the stone with the GIA up there, and add the cost to your purchase.

 

[denverappraiser]

Talk to your appraiser about it FIRST. Pre-existing damage should be noted before you have the stone removed from the setting. This is especially important if there is a potential for an insurance claim surrounding the damage. If you have a jeweler take it out and then have an appraiser look at it, they insurer has the opportunity to say that the damage was caused by the jeweler (which may still be covered but it’s an enormous headache). In most cases, taking it out of the setting isn’t very difficult and as Richard points out, the appraiser can probably arrange for the work but an educated inspection before anything is done at all is an important step.

If you want a GIA, your appraiser can assist you in sending it in or you can do it yourself. GIA is actually sort of a pain to do business with and you may find that it’s worth the money to pay someone else to put up with it but this depends on what they will charge and how much patience you have for this sort of thing.

The least painful way to get the best possible merchandise and documentation is to choose a good appraiser and send them the ring. Have them inspect it and discuss their observations. Assuming there are no troubles, have them take it out of the setting, inspect it again and send it off to GIA. When it comes back, have them send it directly to the setter who makes a ring out of it. Upon completion, have the setter give it back to the appraiser for a final inspection and have them write a report about it using all of the data from all of the above steps. If it passes the final inspection they ship it to you, if it fails they ship it back to the jeweler for rework.

To some this seems like overkill and it involves spending some money on appraisers, shippers, labs and insurers but often it’s less expensive than people imagine. GIA can be a bit slow but otherwise overnight mail makes the whole process go quite quickly even if there are participants on opposite sides of the country.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[elmo]

Neil in principle I agree but I was addressing her question. If someone has a stone sitting around for 10 years and didn''t wear it and simply wanted it reset, most folks would just drop it off with a jeweler they trust and ask them to take care of it. I expect Barry can be trusted to just take care of it.

I''ve never had a hassle with the GIA. Learning how to send something registered mail the first time, that''s another story

.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 11/9/2007 8:06:45 AM
Author: elmo
Neil in principle I agree but I was addressing her question. If someone has a stone sitting around for 10 years and didn''t wear it and simply wanted it reset, most folks would just drop it off with a jeweler they trust and ask them to take care of it. I expect Barry can be trusted to just take care of it.

I''ve never had a hassle with the GIA. Learning how to send something registered mail the first time, that''s another story

.

I agree that Excel is a trustworthy vendor.

It’s common for a 10 year old diamond to have undisclosed damage and this issue is one to address before anyone does any work on the piece. I would not trust this evaluation to a jeweler unless there is some reason to trust their gemological skills beyond the fact that they say ‘jeweler’ on the sign out front. It’s a pretty important question, especially if there’s currently an insurance policy in force.

People like GIA paperwork, whether this is justified or not. The ONLY way to get it is to do it while the stone is loose and, by a lot, the most convenient time to do this is while it’s unset between mountings. I agree that there is valid a debate about whether the GIA document is of much value in this situation but as the GIA brand becomes more powerful there are an increasing number of people who feel that their diamond is somehow inferior because it’s not ‘certified’. As you point out, this is only a $110 problem (plus shipping) and if it makes you feel more secure about your stone this strikes me as a decent deal. Doing it later will be considerably more trouble.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver