Help with getting appraisal from Tiffany!!!

[freddy]

Hi to you all, I am hoping I can use your wide knowledge and experience to help me.

I have a tiffany round brilliant diamond ring, which I bought secondhand. It came complete with the paperwork, ie the tiffany diamond certificate, gia report, and even the original receipt. I live in Australia, and I bought this ring from someone in USA.

As this ring was purchased in 2002 originally, and it is now 2010, I phoned Tiffany customer service asking what I needed to do to get an up to date appraisal for insurance purposes. They took my name, email address etc and even the numbers etc that were on the original receipt, and said that it should not be a problem to get a appraisal and have it in my name, and it would be $100. They said that customer service would email my shortly regarding this.

Nearly two weeks later and I had no heard fro Tiffany by email or phone, so I contacted them. They could find no information, anything regarding my previous contact, and then proceeded to tell me that a new appraisal could only be forwarded to the person whose bought the ring originally.(I had said it was a gift, hence why not in my name!!). This I informed them was totally different to what I had been told originally, to which they did not care and just reiterated what they just told me.

Can you tell me what your experience has been with trying to get an appraisal, and also what happened when you tried to get a piece transferred to your name?

Thankyou in advance for all your help.

PS I f I knew then what I knew now after spending time reading up here, I would have spent elsewhere.

 

[mrssalvo]

I''m pretty sure that you have to have the ring re-documented and verified by Tiffany and put into your name. I believe it costs around $200 to do this, but am not sure. After that''s done, then I think you can ask them about getting a new appraisal for the ring. If Tiffany''s still just won''t do it, I would think you could still have an independent appraiser do an appraisal and verify it''s a tiffany ring so you''d have that for insurance purposes.

 

[hazelstone]

You should be able to get a new revaluation certificate in your name. This costs $100, from what they told me. I''m about to do that myself with a ring I just purchased online, as well as getting it fit with a new band. They actually suggested I do that, so that I would have something for insurance in my name. I would just bring it into a store if you can. Different people might give different answers on things depending on their personal knowledge and experience, but I''m almost positive you are correct. You just need to be insistent that you are right and ask to speak to a manager.

It helps to say you bought the ring from a friend rather than online, because they seem to react poorly to that. When you order the revaluation it necessarily comes in your name when you order it. You cannot replace the original buyer''s name with your name in their files, however, from what they told me. So maybe this is where the confusion comes from.

 

[hazelstone]

Perhaps the problem is that you want the new appraisal sent to you without them actually seeing the ring? In that case, it is like asking for a copy of the original retail replacement valuation and I can see them as a matter of policy not sending that on without any verification. Likely you''ll need to mail the ring in to NYC and have them do it with the ring, or go to the store and they will mail it in for you. That is why it costs $100, because it entails an actual verification of the ring, not just a new copy of the original with your name on it.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 2/11/2010 3:05:24 PM
Author: mrssalvo
I''m pretty sure that you have to have the ring re-documented and verified by Tiffany and put into your name. I believe it costs around $200 to do this, but am not sure. After that''s done, then I think you can ask them about getting a new appraisal for the ring. If Tiffany''s still just won''t do it, I would think you could still have an independent appraiser do an appraisal and verify it''s a tiffany ring so you''d have that for insurance purposes.

Ditto. There was a thread about this just the other week or so. You have to pay about $200 to have it re-documented and verified by Tiffany in NYC.

Good luck, it shouldn''t be much of a problem.

 

[winternight]

I got a second hand Tiffany ring a few years ago and had it reappraised for $200 at Tiffany.

 

[hazelstone]

Hmm, maybe they told me only $100 because I was already getting the ring reset, or because it is easier to authenticate a laser inscribed stone? Maybe they are flexible with this?

 

[hazelstone]

-edit- double post.

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 2/11/2010 5:37:31 PM
Author: winternight
I got a second hand Tiffany ring a few years ago and had it reappraised for $200 at Tiffany.

HI:

I saw also quoted $200 for this service.....

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dreamer_D]

At the end of the day, as long as you do not plan to resell the ring for some reason, all you really need is an appraisal stating the replacement value and also verifying it is a Tiffany piece. If it is too difficult to have this done by Tiffs, then an independent appraiser should be able to do it for you.

Call and talk to someone else, though. I have found that not all SAs are equally knowledgeable generally speaking, at any company.

 

[Jim Summa]

I agree with Dreamer, take it to an independent appraiser.

 

[hazelstone]

An appraiser can''t really authenticate it, right? I don''t think Tiffany claims to "authenticate" but they won''t issue a certificate for an inauthentic ring. I see the value in sending it in, even if it costs a bit more. First, you''ll be in their records, if not the recorded original owner, they can still find your information associated with that ring in case anything happens to it. Second, your insurance might want the verification in case of loss or theft, so that they do replace it with a Tiffany. And finally, it would be good to have peace of mind as to the authenticity and value, in case you ever want to upgrade through Tiffany or sell it elsewhere and upgrade. I''m guessing it will be much easier to do this now than ten or twenty years from now when the trail of ownership is harder to verify.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 2/11/2010 7:29:40 PM
Author: hazelstone
An appraiser can''t really authenticate it, right? I don''t think Tiffany claims to ''authenticate'' but they won''t issue a certificate for an inauthentic ring. I see the value in sending it in, even if it costs a bit more. First, you''ll be in their records, if not the recorded original owner, they can still find your information associated with that ring in case anything happens to it. Second, your insurance might want the verification in case of loss or theft, so that they do replace it with a Tiffany. And finally, it would be good to have peace of mind as to the authenticity and value, in case you ever want to upgrade through Tiffany or sell it elsewhere and upgrade. I''m guessing it will be much easier to do this now than ten or twenty years from now when the trail of ownership is harder to verify.

An appraiser can check that the diamond matches the cert by either looking for the laser inscription of the clarity plot. A good appraiser will also recognize the stamp. If the appraiser says it is Tiffany and the insurance co accepts that, then that is all that metters for insurance.

 

[freddy]

Just to keep you all updated....

I took in my diamond tiffany ring and all the documentation in the Tiffany store. I informed them that I had previously enquired about a re-valuation and was told to bring in the ring and documentation. The salesperson went and took the ring and documents and went to see the manager. She then told me that they would need to look into it, and photocopied the original receipt (purchased originally in US, and this store in AUS), and said they would ring me within a week.

Well, I did not hear from them, and when I phoned to follow up, I was told that the only valuations they issue is the original when the ring is purchased. They proceeded to tell me that I would need to get an independant appraisal.

What a nightmare, one person says one thing, and then another says something totally different. I am pretty quickly going off the whole thing. I have all the original paperwork, receipt etc, and it should not be this difficult. I cannot believe how one company can have so many different takes on something. I do not live near a "Tiffany", so to visit was a big effort.

All I can say is that I have always wanted Tiffany, and I have a eternity ring and diamond solitaire, which I both love, however at this moment I do doubt that aything else will follow.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thanks for the update Freddy. As I said previously, I wouldn''t sweat it too much. Tiffs wants to protect its market share, and they don''t want to support the second hand market for their goods. I guess it is their perogative. You don''t really need the evaluation from them to properly insure you ring, so water under the bridge.

Now where are hte pictures??