Diamond Appraisals and Jewelry Appraisals are written to establish a retail value for insurance purposes but can be misleading when you wish to sell a diamond or piece of jewelry.
What Does My Diamond Jewelry or Watch Appraisal Really Mean?
Most diamond, diamond jewelry and watch appraisals are written for your protection in the event of theft, loss, or damage and establish a retail value for your Insurance Company to cover for losses that you may incur.
Although appraisals are a very important document that helps protect you from loss, they can be a bit misleading when determining the actual cash value of your item. What this means is that your diamond, jewelry item, or watch cannot be sold for the appraised amount.
Appraisals are written to account for the Retailers Markup (as much as 3 times cost), manufacturing/labor costs, and the fact that many Insurance Companies only pay 60-80% of the appraised value. In addition, many retail appraisals are written to account for the potential inflation that may occur over several years in the gold, diamond, and jewelry markets.
Typically, diamonds are in the same condition as when they were purchased from the retail store. Jewelry and watches, on the other hand, are subject to wear and tear and therefore, this wear and tear is typically discounted. Unless a piece of jewelry has significant provenance, or is a signed piece such as “Tiffany & Co.”, we must calculate the value of jewelry as the sum of its parts, for example, the weight of the gold plus the value of the diamond(s).
When you send Hamilton-York Estate Buyers a fine watch, many factors influence the price. A watch that includes the original box and all paper documents such as owner’s manual, title certificate, warranty card, etc. is typically worth more than the watch alone. The overall condition of the watch is relatively important, however, Hamilton-York Estate Buyers has the ability to re-condition most watches to a near-new appearance. How much we have to invest to return the watch to a like-new status reflects on the price we can pay for the watch.
Since there are no government guidelines, state laws, or other rules for appraising jewelry, it is difficult to provide a true cash value of your item based on a retail appraisal. Hamilton York Estate Buyers will pay you the actual value of your diamond, jewelry or watch based on our own strict laboratory evaluation. We are happy to provide you with a value range based on the information you submit and that we are able to gather during a telephone consultation.