Appraisal

[breanne]

What am I looking for when having my ring appraised? I visited AGS's website, an Independent Certified Gemologist came up, as well as Certified Gemologist Appraiser. The ICG is out of town, I'm just wondering if one is 'better' than the other, or is there any other appraiser that I can/should use.

Thanks very much!

Edit ** Is there anything I should also bring to the appraisal, do people typically avoid sharing the cost?

 

[denverappraiser]

Well, I’m an ICGA, and I think it’s a great program but, realistically, there are only 22 of us in the whole country. For a lot of people the nearest ICGA is a bit far away. If there’s one nearby I think you’ll probably get a better document and a more unbiased evaluation of what you’ve bought but it really depends on what you’re hoping to learn in the appraisal session. Services vary quite a bit from one appraiser to the next.

Plan to take whatever paperwork you have but especially any lab documents and paperwork surrounding the branding of the mounting. Start with a conversation, before you show your papers, and tell them what you want to learn. Why are you getting it appraised? They should be able to take it from there.

 

[breanne]

Is it normal for them to want to hold the jewellery for a few days? The CGA close by said they'd take 3-5 days ...

http://www.hwgem.com/ Is a few hours away, we do go there often, and they're ICGA, as opposed to CGA around here.

 

[denverappraiser]

I don't. I much prefer to have the customer just wait and watch. It allows questions to flow freely, it gets it out of my inbox and it gets me paid right away. That's hard if there are a lot of items but for single item appraisals, this is almost always the way I do it. Others have different procedures. In the case of jewelry stores, the appraiser often is a contractor or a part-time employee and it would be logistically a problem to work by appointment like I do. Yes, I would say it's typical to make you wait a few days but no, it's not usually necessary or even helpful for the process.

 

[breanne]

Ok great! I don't know if this is something you can personally answer, but do you recommend any jewellery insurance companies? I'm in Canada, but perhaps there are a few you recommend that also do business here.

Thank you for your quick replies!

 

[denverappraiser]

Ok great! I don't know if this is something you can personally answer, but do you recommend any jewellery insurance companies? I'm in Canada, but perhaps there are a few you recommend that also do business here.

Thank you for your quick replies!

Ask whatever appraiser you choose. They may or may not answer depending on how they view the inherent conflict of answer in that question but it's easy enough to ask. I tend to see it as reasonable since we've got no financial connection to any of the insurers but I've heard of others who view it differently.