What is an appraisal?
An appraisal is a document that states how much a piece of jewelry is worth.What’s in an appraisal?
When we send out an appraisal, it’s a full insurance document; which means it contains a full description of the piece of jewelry including stone weight, color, clarity, dimensions, and type of metal as well as a retail value.Do I have to leave my jewelry to get it appraised?
Here at Les Olson Jewelers in Palm Harbor, Florida, we have an appraisal day once or twice a month where we bring in a top certified jewelry appraiser who is a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in residence graduate gemologist from the Clearwater, FL area to do appraisals. This allows our customers to either stay and watch him appraise their jewelry, or they can drop it off and pick it up at their own convenience.
After appraisal now what should I do?Palm Harbor Jewelry Appraisals
The most common reason someone needs a jewelry appraisal is to get their jewelry protected under an insurance policy. If you don’t have your precious jewelry insured, you should, and we don’t mean insured just under your homeowners’ policy. Separate jewelry policies will insure jewelry for the retail value that it is appraised at whether it has been lost, stolen or damaged. This way if and when you have to make a claim it is not against your homeowners’ policy.
Jewelry fluctuates in price, which means if you haven’t had it appraised recently it could very well be insured for less than it would cost to replace. To keep insurance accurate, most jewelry insurance policies require a current jewelry appraisal from the past 2 years. Here at Les Olson Jewelers, we base our appraisals on current market prices for gold, diamonds and gemstones.
Other reasons people get jewelry appraised is if they’re looking to sell an item and want documents proving that it’s authentic and of value, or if they need documents for estate, tax, settlement, donation or loan purposes. Sometimes, people simply want to know more about their piece of jewelry, whether it’s a family heirloom or a gift from a significant other.
Call us today to ask about our next appraisal day or our recommended jewelry insurance companies 727-785-9624.