Appraisals, good and bad? HELP!!!

[septemberbaby]

I'm putting out a call for more information on more expensive colored gemstone appraisals. I know that people highly recommend Richard Sherwood (and also getting the AGL report). I also know that not everyone feels comfortable mailing their valuables around the country. (Isn't it possible to find a great sapphire appraiser in a large city like Los Angeles?)

I'm having my own little crisis as my boyfriend and I paid for an appraisal were displeased by how little information it provided. I'm wondering if we can ask for our money back.

Anyone who has useful information, please post here. Do you have a sample appraisal that hits on all of the necessary points? Any samples from Richard Sherwood? Any other pearls of wisdom?

I'll start by providing a link to one of Patrick Davis' sapphire appraisal samples. He is NOT the appraiser we used, just someone I noticed as having a good reputation in the diamond part of Pricescope. His appraisal contains MUCH MORE information than ours had. Is this a good appraisal example? Should there be even more information?

http://www.certifiedjewelryappraiser.com/UnmntSaph.html

For reference, our appraisal simply stated that the sapphire was blue, natural, and unheated, and listed the carat weight. It included a photograph, and referenced the GIA report and stated that it was checked against the GIA report. The final item stated was the value of the stone. There was no talk of the clarity, the cut quality, or the color quality.

Is it a waste of time to give this appraiser another chance? Should I just ask for a refund? Challenge it with the credit card company if that doesn't work? My gut reaction is that I should not continue to waste my time and that if the appraiser couldn't do the job right the first time, I should just move on.

 

[septemberbaby]

One more thing to add... We received the appraisal in the mail, not on the spot (is this standard?), so we did not realize what he planned to include in the appraisal.

 

[chrono]

I am very sure there must be highly skilled and qualified independent appraisers who are very familiar with sapphires but unfortunately, I do not know any. I think someone may have posted a coloured stone appraisal sample from Richard Sherwood but with the current search function, it is going to be a challenge to find. The appraisal you received seems like the generic, basic, run of the mill appraisal. Personally, I would like a statement about the colour quality at the very least. The example appraisal you linked to is of a level that I am willing to accept for a high value gemstone. The one thing I like about Richard Sherwood’s appraisal is that when he is able to, he can also make a good probability of place of origin, includes the replacement value, wholesale value and internet value. Do you know if the appraiser you used is well versed in the GIA colour breakdown of hue, tone and saturation? Some appraisers offer different levels of appraisal ranging from the most basic, medium and up to the most detailed information with pricing that reflects the necessary testing.

 

[septemberbaby]

Chrono, thanks for your reply. I'm not sure if our appraiser was well-versed in the GIA color characterization that you described, but he does have a GG degree from GIA. At one point he described the stone as being a very pure blue with little or no secondary hue and very briefly showed us a little color sample set with plastic color "sticks" to illustrate that there are a lot of different color possibilities.

We were not given any different appraisal options, and the fee was $100, which seems to be the going rate for a comprehensive appraisal!

 

[chrono]

The new information you provided is very helpful. Yes, it sounds like he is well versed with the Munsell colour chart and even owns those colour paddles, so I don’t see why he isn’t able to give you a more comprehensive report with at least the colour quality rating.

 

[T L]

You could have obtained that same basic information in a gem brief costing about $50. The only thing you were paying extra for was the appraisal value.

 

[minousbijoux]

Hi Septbaby (me too btw):

While I have not used him, I have heard good things about Charles Carmona of Guild Labs as well. I agree that there is a wide variation in the info you can receive on an appraisal, and I would imagine for replacement/insurance purposes, you would want info on place of origin as well as clarity, color and cut, treatments, etc. so that you would have a base of comparison in the event you had to replace it.

Somewhere on the website, there was a great interview with four noted appraisers about appraising colored stones among other things. I am sorry, I just looked for you, but I can't find the link. Anyway, they talked about the equipment they use (and therefore as a consumer, what you want your appraiser to use) as well as the affiliations they think are important for an appraiser to have. I just found the whole article/interview pretty interesting.

 

[minousbijoux]

I found it: https://www.pricescope.com/journal/“appraise_appraiser”_help_consumers I hope this is helpful

 

[septemberbaby]

Thanks! I'm just fixing your link:

https://www.pricescope.com/journal/“appraise_appraiser”_help_consumers