03 8596 5908
Clean Your Jewellery
Your jewellery should be cleaned before it is appraised. A conscientious appraiser will clean your diamonds and precious gemstones to make the best possible estimate of their colour and clarity under the already significant restrictions of grading stones in their mountings. Doing a good preliminary cleaning at home, it speeds up the process.
Inspect your jeweLlEry and note any needed repairs.
As you clean the jewellery, check for loose stones, sharp prongs, weak clasps, stretched-out strings on beads and pearls, and any other indications that repairs may be needed. The appraiser will also point out any needed repairs. Should any additional repairs be noted, your appraiser will point them out.
Make an appointment
Your appraiser may be booked up for a couple of weeks in advance. Be sure to call for an appointment ahead of time, especially if your appraisal involves numerous items. An appraisal by a trained NCJV valuer – a professional appraiser, is detailed documentation of your jewellery, including photographs. It should not be done in haste.
GATHER YOUR Documentation
If there is any documentation for previous appraisals, certificates, and receipts, please bring those with you to your appointment. It will expedite the process and incorporate the relevant information into the valuation.
If you withhold documents at the beginning of an appraisal and then produce them for consideration after the appraisal is complete, the appraiser will have to charge for the extra time it will take to re-check.
Get together any documentation that might be of use to your item. This will assist in establishing a “paper trail” of the ownership history of the jewellery and may contain information that will speed up the appraisal process.
We make copies of significant documents and keep them in your file for five years. This can be of great benefit should your records be destroyed at the time that you suffer the loss of your jewellery.
- Sales receipts (best proof of ownership)
- Warranties (very important)
- Diamond or gemstone certificates from GIA, etc. (also very important)
- Old insurance summaries listing the Jewellery
- Old appraisals (helpful if the previous appraiser took stone measurements or examined stones before they were mounted)
- Letters, etc., with facts relating to the jewellery or its history
Make an inventory
For your records and to save time at the time of the appointment, by making an inventory of the jewellery before your appointment. This will make it easier for during the take-in procedure.
Personally, I like to place each item in a clear sealable bag and group jewellery in a standard way that makes it easy to locate on the appraisal document.
You can make your inventory in a similar order.
- Rings first
- Second earrings
- Pendants and chains next, then
- Brooches, pins and tie clips, followed by
- Bracelets, cuff links, and watches
I keep sets of jewellery together.
This arrangement of jewellery lets the appraiser address the more challenging items at the beginning of the session.
