Question for Richard Sherwood

[TooMuchInformation]

Richard,

How is life in the business of independant appraisals? How long have you been doing this for, and how much experience do you have doing this sort of thing? Where and when did you decide to start up a business like this, and how did you get your education? Is the business (very) profitable?

Sorry for some of the more personal questions, but I would *love* to work towards being able to do something like this at some later point in my life. So far, my work and research into stone apprasial, identification, and grading has been *very* interesting. Although some of the required equipment seems rather expensive, it seems like this would be a very enjoyable and hopefully feasible career.

What sort of equipment do you have, and how and when did you purchase them? Can you give any advice for someone new and interested in working with precious stones? I''m waiting for my first distance education course to arrive in the mail from GIA, but the remainder of the courses get more expensive (and sometimes require travel).

Feel free to answer any of my questions off-line, or even not at all (I don''t mean to be obtrusive at all - I just like to make good use of helpful and experienced people), though I included my question on here if anyone else was interested in the same sort of thing.

"The Seeker Of Too Much Information"

 

[harleywoman]

Hi TooMuch,

I know I'm not Richard but you caught my attention when you said you were waiting for your first GIA course to arrive. After waiting almost 30 years, I opened the box and started mine on Jan. 9. and went thru the whole Diamond Essentials part by Jan. 14. Now I'm almost through with Diamonds and Diamond Grading while waiting for my Proctor to be named. You are really going to enjoy it.

Have you worked in the jewelry business for long? How did you get interested in it and how did you find out about the GIA? My 1st employer wanted me to take their courses way back in 1975, but was I smart enough to do that? Nooooo! But that's a long story.

While you wait for Richard, tell us a little about yourself and how you got interested in Gemology. It can't just be a career, it has to be a passion first.

 

[TooMuchInformation]

Harleywoman,

Well, I can't tell you how excited I am to get my course material after you say "You are really going to enjoy it". I don't know what it is about all this jewelry stuff that has really caught my interest, but I can tell you that I find the stuff irresistable.

A little bit about me? You might be surprised to hear that I'm not involved in the jewelry business at *all*. In fact, I work in the information security industry - for anyone who understands tech lingo, I'm a reverse engineer who works on malicious binary samples (worms and viruses), and an IDS and Firewall data analyst for a large anti-virus / security company. Also a hard-core UNIX (BSD) freak. Given the level that I'm involved with this type of stuff, you'd think that I didn't have any time to work on anything other than that.

Oh, lastly, I'm from Calgary, Alberta (Canada). Born and raised.

I found out about the GIA and basically became interested in all of this jewelry stuff after shopping for a diamond engagement ring for my girlfriend (who is now my fiancee). After browsing the local shops here in town, I was a little dissapointed. I'm notorious for over-analyzing things and doing way too much research on anything that I purchase, and I couldn't let myself down with this, so I spent a good two months (not devoted, mind you) surfing, reading, chatting, and otherwise seeking out information on diamonds. I managed to hook myself on them after I puchased a loupe and spent a few hours looking at every ring in the house. It's just plain fascinating.

My plans for the future? I have no idea. I'd love to get my GG from GIA, for no other reason than to learn as much as I can about this stuff, though I have NO idea what I can use that for afterwards, because I doubt that with my level of skill and training in information security, that I'll ever abandon that as my career. So, I'm open to suggestions on how I can benefit financially from a GG while enjoying it as a hobby and still working another job full time.

Now, I have a few questions for you.

How are the Diamonds and Diamond Grading courses, and did you have to travel in order to take them? They're a little pricy for someone who doesn't have a work-based interest in them (it's about 2K US for the remaining two courses?), but I still *plan* to take the other two. And then theres the colored gemstones.

This is why I was asking about good auctions, as I figured after obtaining a plethora of knowledge on the subject, it might be fun to search out and look for some good deals here and there, if not just to collect a bunch of different works of art. I am also interested in cutting, though this seems a little far fetched for me to persue at the moment, given equipment costs, and my lack of manual dexterity.

Well. Look what you did. You made me answer your question, and I talked for far too long.

Who said being able to type fast is a good thing?

 

[TooMuchInformation]

Looking back at my last post, I'm afraid that I'll have to admit myself to some sort of institution in order to deal with my excessive use of smilies.

Oh dear. Even my avatar is one big smilie, what have I done?!

 

[newenglandgemlab]

Hi HarleyWoman and Seeker!

The appraisal business is a great career! It take awhile to get things going but once your reputation gets out there your services will be sought after if you are truly diligent. The trick is not to succumb to 'playing games' with pricing and grading. We are opinion givers and that can take a strong personality. You will need many avenues to keep abreast of so many markets. I get to see so many wonderful items. It is not a cheap profession to start. I am constantly buying 'additional' equipment. I like all the toys. But the downside is that it can be grueling work. I have two lots I am working on now that will take me many days to get through. And, I feel I have to do the job right and no shortcuts. That bites you in the back down the road. I feel we have to educate the public and the insurance industry. A very thorough report is what is necessary for adequate coverage. You have to be a people person first. I do alot of while you wait appraisals in my office and this always takes a ton of time. I love the feeling of helping the consumer. Had one woman this past week that drove 2 hours with a 2ct stone she just purchased. Very offical looking paperwork (laminated too!)that stated the color as a H. It was an M!! Feel free to call me anytime with any questions. Cindy

 

[TooMuchInformation]

newenglandgemlab,

Thanks! Everything you said was really interesting to know; it's really helpful to hear feedback from people who really work in the industry!

By working on "lots", what sort of work does that entail? Do you just have a small "pile" of stones that all need to be graded? I would suppose that, given an hours work on each stone, working in such volume would be worth your while (although I can understand how that would be horribly rough work to do for hours on end)?

It's nice to hear that you enjoy the work, and like doing a great job while doing so! If you have any reading or research recommendations, I'd be very happy to hear them, although I'm sure in this industry moreso than any other, experience is really the key!

 

[harleywoman]

Hi Cindy and TooMuch,

Wow! You are from both ends of the spectrum.

TooMuch, Once you become fascinated with gems it won't matter to you what it takes. You will always be driven to learn more. I know because I caught the bug 40+ years ago. You can take most of the GIA classes through home study and the 3 others you need to finish your GG you can get at distance education. You can get the dates and locations of classes on the website, but they have them all over the US and Canada. You don't have to go to the campus.

Cindy, It's great to hear from an actual appraiser. I've worked for jewelers off and on most of my life and I am married to one. I'm taking the course to help in his business, but I can also see myself setting up my own someday. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis so I have to be able to make my own hours. We have an appraiser we have used for a long time, but many times he gets simple things like the size of the stones wrong and he's a certified appraiser and supposed to be the best in our area. That is very disheartening.An appraiser should be able to tell a 5mm stone is not a 2mm stone even if it is mounted. Anyway I'm acquiring many of my basic gemology tools secondhand since we live in a large city, but I know I'm going to want some fine stuff because I've got a list already. Just the books I have weren't cheap.

Any advice is very much appreciated and will be repaid in kind thoughts untill a better method can be figured out.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi TooMuch. Thanks for the inquiry. Answers follow:

-----------
How is life in the business of independant appraisals?
-----------

I'm having a blast. You get to travel, meet lots of interesting people and see lots of fascinating jewelry. It's a real "upbeat" profession.

-----------
How long have you been doing this for, and how much experience do you
have doing this sort of thing?
-----------

I've got 24 years in the business, and have been appraising for 19, after receiving my GG in 1985. There's a bio on my website at www.sarasotagemlab.com.

-----------
Where and when did you decide to start up a business like this, and
how did you get your education?
-----------

I was lucky to be employed by a master third generation gem dealer who took me under his wing, teaching me the business from the ground up. Along the way I took the GIA courses via correspondence. After seven years with the gem dealer, I ended up going out on my own. It was scary at first, but ended up being the best thing I ever could have done.

-----------
Is the business (very) profitable?
-----------

Like most businesses, you can run the gamut of profitability depending on what level you operate at. Probably 20% of the people make "great money", while the other 80% make livings ranging from mediocre to good. To make "great money" you have to be very knowledgeable, very savvy, very dedicated and very much a people person.

-----------
Sorry for some of the more personal questions, but I would *love* to
work towards being able to do something like this at some later point
in my life. So far, my work and research into stone apprasial,
identification, and grading has been *very* interesting. Although
some of the required equipment seems rather expensive, it seems like
this would be a very enjoyable and hopefully feasible career.
-----------

It is indeed an enjoyable career, and entirely feasible. Many people get into it by degrees, starting as a hobby, then a passion, then a living. You get kind of drawn into it. Not only is it a "job", but a lifestyle. You make friends from all over the world. That's one of the things I enjoy about it the most, all the friends I've made and the social life which comes along with it.

The equipment takes a while to accumulate. Keep your eyes open for bargains. I recently bought a desk mount spectroscope which normally costs about $5,000 for $800 over EBay. There's bargains out there if you pay attention.

You might also consider buying a maxi-lab on credit. You get the whole magilla for a reasonable monthly payment. Wait until you're getting really serious though.

-----------
What sort of equipment do you have, and how and when did you purchase
them?
-----------

Your most important piece of equipment is a high power binocular microscope. This is followed by an array of equipment, like a refractometer, spectroscope, dichroscope, polariscope, optical filters, diamond scale, gold scale, gold testing equipment, master color grading diamonds, Gran colorimeter, digital camera, laptop computer, fiber optic light, color grading lights, loupe, tweezers, idealscope, hearts & arrows viewer, leveridge gauge, digital micrometer, optical visor, ultraviolet lamp and comprehensive library.

I purchased all these over a period of time, and am constantly upgrading. Now my attention is on more sophisticated equipment like the high end Sarin machine for proportion analysis and visible spectrum and far infrared spectrophotometers used for complicated gem ID's. The machines range in the 20 to 30 thousand dollar neighborhood each.

-----------
Can you give any advice for someone new and interested in working
with precious stones? I'm waiting for my first distance education
course to arrive in the mail from GIA, but the remainder of the
courses get more expensive (and sometimes require travel).
-----------

The approach to the GIA courses is the same as eating an elephant. Do it one bite at a time, and you'll be amazed once you finish the whole thing. The more you develop a passion for it, the more magically the money appears to finance your passion. Don't worry, it will happen.

A lot of practical experience can be had for free by attending gem shows, auctions, and your local gem & mineral society. They're all great fun, and excellent learning experiences.

 

[harleywoman]

Hi Richard,

You are definitely one of my heros on this forum and I want to thank you for all the information you share so freely. I have been particularly interested in your posts on Guerilla Gemology and have followed up on some of that info. Being a real Charles Lewton-Brain fan, I love that whole way of doing things. You don't just do things by rote, you really learn how all the equipment works and why.

Thank you again and I hope your wife makes a speedy recovery.

 

[TooMuchInformation]

Richard,

Thank you *so* much for all of your answers and information. Just as harleywoman said in her last post, your contributions to this site are nothing less than outstanding, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate your earnest and thoughtful responses.

Thanks again for all the information. All I have here is a pair of locking tweezers, a 10x loupe, an idealscope, and a full hot cup of Earl Grey; all I need to get started!

Thanks again!

 

[harleywoman]

Yuuummmm! Earl Grey! Let's look at some rocks!