A crazy week in the life of a jewellery valuer


Posted July 6, 2021 by dansimmo

the frustration of incorrect valuations on jewellery

 
In a professional sense, last week was difficult, and I've buried my head in my hands more times than I'd like to admit. Unqualified people are offering inferior insurance appraisals to the general population, which is the source of this exasperating level of frustration.

To be blunt, these pieces of paper aren't appraisals; they're just a bunch of nonsense scribbled on a piece of heading paper with no foundation in reality or proof. They also expose the client to unnecessary risk and additional costs for no apparent cause. I've seen a fracture-filled diamond in the last week with a valuation that didn't include the non-stable treatment. A very important factor that has a big impact on the replacement value, which was substantially greater than it should have been for a treated diamond, as I'd like to point out.

I've also seen a Rolex from the late 1990s with a valuation that simply stated, "One Rolex watch." There was no mention of whether it was a men's or women's watch. There was no mention of model kind, steel, steel and gold, or precious metal in general. There was nothing to identify the watch, establish it was real, or ascertain whether I was looking at the watch pictured on the sheet of paper. And, because the value recorded had no connection to the watch, I can only deduce that it was obtained by rolling some dice against a wall.

It would have been fascinating to see if that one passed a settlement assessment, but I really doubt it.

I recently saw an 18-karat gold and diamond half eternity band that had been appraised by an incompetent appraiser only a few weeks before. The client brought it to me because they were concerned about the ring's value. And it's a good thing they did, because the "value" on this piece of paper was £700.00 less than the actual replacement cost! Allow that to settle in for a moment: the ring cost £700 less than it would cost today. Imagine having your claim settled, then realising how short you are when hunting for a replacement. Do you believe the insurance company would compensate you once you realised the difference? No, I don't believe that either.

But it was a classic Rolex GMT from the late 1960s that was my particular favourite and made me choke on my coffee. Original parts, box, and warranty papers, as well as multiple repair invoices, make this an extremely clean watch. By any metric, this is a highly sought after watch that is well worth several thousand dollars.

Thousands, if not tens of thousands. What horror accompanied this coveted timepiece? A new price for an old item! On a collector's piece that is almost fifty years old, new has been substituted for old. When I told one of my esteemed coworkers about this storey, he said, "Even at double the current retail price, it's still approximately half what this watch is worth!" Imagine owning a beautiful vintage Jaguar E-Type, and your insurance company insisting on replacing it with a brand new F-Type! That's essentially what this was; it's just absurd.

There appears to be a perception that anyone working in the jewellery industry can value, as I noted in one of my recent writings. That is not the case, and thankfully, this mindset does not extend outside of the trade. After all, you don't see mortgage lenders accepting window cleaners' building inspection reports and assessments.

My rage isn't intended at the naïve client who accepts these phoney valuations. They take them on faith, and how are they to know that the piece of paper they've just been handed is just good for starting a fire? My rage is directed only at the uneducated individuals who continue to manufacture this garbage.

All I can say is that, like any professional service, valuations must be performed by someone who is qualified, experienced, and registered to do so. You're not simply wasting your money right now by hiring someone who has no understanding what they're doing. However, you are opening yourself up to a slew of problems and costs in the future.

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Categories Jewelry
Tags cardiff , jewellery , valuations
Last Updated July 6, 2021