If you are wondering if you need an appraisal for your jewelry, you may want to ask yourself these questions:
- Are you wanting to insure your jewelry?
- Are you wanting to sell your jewelry?
- Or do you just want to know what you have?
An appraisal is a written document for insurance or resale and is different from a verbal opinion about your item. Our verbal opinion can help you determine if what you have is gold or not, whereas an appraisal is a comprehensive assessment (hopefully) performed by a certified gemologist appraiser.
Luckily, we can help you with all of these things.
Question # 1: Are you wanting to insure your jewelry?
Insuring your jewelry is a very personal decision, one that we can’t make for you. However, if you have questions about whether or not you should insure jewelry, talk to your insurance agent and take a look at the Jewelers Mutual website: https://www.jewelersmutual.com/
If the answer is “yes”, you do want to insure your jewelry, then you need an appraisal from a qualified and trustworthy appraiser.
What many people don’t know is that, legally speaking, there are no regulations regarding who appraises jewelry for insurance. Your insurance agent may accept whatever documentation you provide them, whether it’s accurate or not. If there is a loss, your insurance company will replace the jewelry based on the description that you give them. Therefore, the accuracy of that description is of the utmost importance, and the responsibility to provide them with accurate documentation falls on you.
This is why you need a certified gemologist appraiser, someone who is properly educated to evaluate your jewelry. Through HPerry Jewelers, you can have your jewelry appraised by The Gem Lab, I.C.G.A so that you can be sure it’s an accurate appraisal for insurance replacement.
https://yourgemlab.com/services/insurance-appraisals
Question # 2: Are you wanting to sell your jewelry?
If you answered “yes” to this question, you do want to sell your jewelry, take a look at our blog post on this very subject: https://www.hperryjewelers.com/tips-for-selling-your-jewelry/
A resale appraisal may or may not be the best option for you, depending on your piece of jewelry. Our store uses a third-party appraiser to ensure impartiality and to build trust in our community’s jewelry industry. Mark Cartwright of The Gem Lab, I.C.G.A. holds the highest of appraising credentials and has been trusted with appraising fine jewelry for over 30 years.
Question # 3: Do you just want to know what you have?
Like we said before, an appraisal is a document. This document may be necessary for insurance or resale, but not if you are just curious about whether your jewelry is costume or fine jewelry. Sometimes, it’s hard to justify the expense of appraisal services, depending on the item.
At HPerry Jewelers, we are always happy to look at your jewelry and give you our verbal opinion at no charge. Is it gold? Is it costume jewelry? Is it “worth” appraising?
These are questions we can answer for you.
If you have any questions about our services, please feel free to call us at 479-443-3222.+
You can also check out The Gem Lab I.C.G.A website here: https://yourgemlab.com/
If you are interested in insuring your jewelry, check out the Jewelers Mutual website here: https://www.jewelersmutual.com/
Jordan Rayne
GIA Diamonds Graduate, GIA AJP
Designer and Consultant for HPerry Jewelers since 2013