Appraisals in D.C. area?

[Jereni]

Hi all, I apologize if I missed this info elsewhere but I did some searching and couldn't find much(including the site appraiser map).

I'm beginning to build on my jewelry collection and I really should do more due diligence and get my pieces appraised and insured. I'm going to start sending my stones to AGL beforehand, but regardless, I am looking for an appraiser who is good with colored stones. Short of just hitting up the yellow pages, does anyone have an appraiser they'd recommend in the D.C./Northern Virginia area?

Thanks for any info!

 

[GregS]

I have one I use in Burke Va., if that isn't too far I will dig up his info.. He does colored stones and he doesn't require that you leave your pieces with him.

 

[pregcurious]

I recommend Martin Fuller. You can do a search for him on Pricescope to see reviews. His website is here:
http://www.martinfullerassociates.com/gemologicalteam.html

When I worked with him, he mentioned that he had appraised Madelaine Albright's pins for her book. Info about the book and an article about his appraising the pins are mentioned on this thread:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/read-my-pins-madeleine-albright.181067/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/read-my-pins-madeleine-albright.181067/[/URL]

Martin's hourly rate is not low, but you get what you pay for. I think there may be a PS discount, but I am not sure. I have worked with a less expensive appraiser in the DC area to appraise my entire collection (with diamonds and golds) for only insurance purposes. I have met with Martin only twice, and only intend to have him appraise high ticket items for which I want a detailed report. One of the times, I went to Martin to appraise a colored stone because there are very few colored stone experts in this area (at least that I could find.) He spent an hour appraising my stone, including explaining to me the market price, taking pictures of inclusions under a microscope so it could be identified in the future and to determine if it was synthetic (he did other tests for this to), and gave me a full written report (hard copy and electronic) that described color using a standard set of GIA "red" stones. He will do the appraisal while you are there. He is also a nice guy to boot.

 

[Jereni]

Thanks so much both of you!!! I will check them both out.

Greg, Burke is not too far, I am up in Arlington so that works. Thank you!

 

[GregS]

Five Star Jewelers, 5765 Burke Centre Pkwy Ste S Burke, VA 22015(703) 239-1300

 

[minousbijoux]

I thought for conflict of interest purposes it wasn't a good idea to use an appraiser affiliated with retail sales? Or is this different since presumably Jereni's item is not from the store?

Personally, I would go to an independent appraiser...

 

[GregS]

I thought for conflict of interest purposes it wasn't a good idea to use an appraiser affiliated with retail sales? Or is this different since presumably Jereni's item is not from the store?

Personally, I would go to an independent appraiser...

I have never bought anything from them.

Recently I bought a stone from a vendor, who will remain nameless, and as a selling point they informed me the stone was accompanied with an "in house" appraisal. Afaic in house appraisals aren't worth the paper they are written on. I didn't tell them that though.

 

[minousbijoux]

I thought for conflict of interest purposes it wasn't a good idea to use an appraiser affiliated with retail sales? Or is this different since presumably Jereni's item is not from the store?

Personally, I would go to an independent appraiser...

I have never bought anything from them.

Recently I bought a stone from a vendor, who will remain nameless, and as a selling point they informed me the stone was accompanied with an "in house" appraisal. Afaic in house appraisals aren't worth the paper they are written on. I didn't tell them that though.

Sorry I wasn't clear - I don't think it matters whether you've bought from them or not (well, I guess it would be even worse), I've just heard repeatedly that its not a good idea to go to one affiliated with jewelry sales as the two should be separate.

Seasoned jewelry hounds, can you weigh in? Am I worrying needlessly?

 

[Jereni]

Now I'm curious too

 

[cm366]

Me too! The only danger I can see is that they'll be 'trained' to retail prices, so their appraisals might be inflated significantly beyond the replacement value appraisals insurance companies prefer. OTOH, an appraiser affiliated with a large retail business might see and handle quite a lot of jewelry on a day-to-day basis, and they have access to the truest wholesale price there is based on what their store is paying for finished pieces. I probably wouldn't go to an appraiser associated with a mall jeweler because I'd presume they saw mostly low-grade colored stones and rarely saw anything beyond commercial ruby, sapphire and emerald - but surely a high-end store that stocked a lot of colored stones could provide just as 'seasoned' an eye as any independent?

Wonder if we can draw some of the appraisers over from RockyTalky - would love to hear what Denverappraiser and Oldminer had to add...?

 

[LD]

My experience is probably different because I'm in the UK BUT I most definitely would only go to an independent appraiser. Those who are affiliated with retail outlets may well be specialists in diamonds (for example) but will they have seen the wide range of coloured stones to be able to make an accurate assessment. Their value assessment may also not be realistic.

For me it would always use (1) an independent and (2) somebody experienced in coloured gemstones. Many of the posters in the CS Forum know quite a bit more than jewellers and may even know the same as some appraisers - although probably won't have seen such a huge number of gemstones or be qualified to fully assess.

In the UK I use people who are affiliated to a lab / assay office and that guarantees an unbiased opinion.

 

[minousbijoux]

Thanks - thats helpful. And I thought Kelpie would have recommendations of such unaffiliated appraisers specializing in colored stones as she lived/lives there. But I guess she popped on to CS and left just as quickly...

 

[pregcurious]

Kelpie has recommended Martin Fuller before:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/martin-fuller-dcd.6735/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/martin-fuller-dcd.6735/[/URL]

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/oec-finally-set-i-have-been-holding-out.147098/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/oec-finally-set-i-have-been-holding-out.147098/[/URL]

 

[chrono]

I would go with an independent qualified appraiser:
1. Knows replacement value, not over-inflating
2. Has seen many stones and experience in both high and low qualities
3. Being independent, will judge your stone fairly. A store appraiser might naturally favour theirs better than yours.