What do you guys do when you find something with a stone in it? I know a little bit but when you have something that looks really nice do you trust a jeweler to do an accurate estimate of value? It seems like solid melt value would be fairly obvious if you know what K the gold is but how do you check stone quality? Any other trick on how to determine value of a ring with a stone, or even just a nice gold ring if it's really nicely made?
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Trusting jewelers for value
- Thread starter whisperer
- Start date
Sanddigger
New member
n/t
Remember all jewelery is priced several times the wholesale price. Also priced at many times what you can get at a pawn shop. The paid appraisal you get will be accurate but it also will support the retail price jewelers charge for their goods. In my belief that the appraised valued is good for insurance purposes and to impress the woman whom you are giving it to. Other than that its a good place to decide how much you want to sell it for. With experience you will know without an appraisal what your finds are worth. Best to all, Mike.
Joe Brandt
New member
Several points:
1) You seem to be asking about "value" with regard to SELLING. It should be understood that "value" is subjective. "Value" to whom, and in what context? The "value" of an item will be different if you want to sell it to a jeweler, buy it at retail, have an insurance appraisal, sell it to someone privately (or on ebay), or have it evaluated as part of your estate. Same item, different "values"... and anything may be appraised at ANY of these levels, although an insurance apraisal is the most common.
2) There is no reliable, inexpensive tester the layman can buy that will determine the nature of material (particularly precious stones) easily and accurately, let alone the "value".
3) Jewelers are not in the business of trying to cheat you, with VERY rare exceptions. Some jewelers will offer you a verbal opinion as to the nature of a particular item you have, and may even opine as to it's "value", but most will only offer a formal written appraisal, which you must pay for... and that's NOT the same as an offer to BUY. If you're looking for an offer from a jeweler, you should tell them so "up front". Remember, some jewelers DO buy from the public, but most do not.
4) As with many other things, one of the best methods of determining the best deal is COMPARISON. If you receive an offer, it's always best to go elsewhere for a second (or third) offer, THEN decide what the best deal is. By all means, check with a pawn shop, but unless you have no alternative, NEVER sell to this type of operation without a comparison.
5) If you're not sure about a jeweler, check with you local (or state) Better Business Bureu. It's easy, and it's FREE.
6) And, you would know the karat content of a piece... how, exactly? If it's stamped? I own a "14K" stamp and could use it on a paperclip if I wanted to. Would that make it gold? A jeweler can usually check. You, on the other hand, most likely cannot.
1) You seem to be asking about "value" with regard to SELLING. It should be understood that "value" is subjective. "Value" to whom, and in what context? The "value" of an item will be different if you want to sell it to a jeweler, buy it at retail, have an insurance appraisal, sell it to someone privately (or on ebay), or have it evaluated as part of your estate. Same item, different "values"... and anything may be appraised at ANY of these levels, although an insurance apraisal is the most common.
2) There is no reliable, inexpensive tester the layman can buy that will determine the nature of material (particularly precious stones) easily and accurately, let alone the "value".
3) Jewelers are not in the business of trying to cheat you, with VERY rare exceptions. Some jewelers will offer you a verbal opinion as to the nature of a particular item you have, and may even opine as to it's "value", but most will only offer a formal written appraisal, which you must pay for... and that's NOT the same as an offer to BUY. If you're looking for an offer from a jeweler, you should tell them so "up front". Remember, some jewelers DO buy from the public, but most do not.
4) As with many other things, one of the best methods of determining the best deal is COMPARISON. If you receive an offer, it's always best to go elsewhere for a second (or third) offer, THEN decide what the best deal is. By all means, check with a pawn shop, but unless you have no alternative, NEVER sell to this type of operation without a comparison.
5) If you're not sure about a jeweler, check with you local (or state) Better Business Bureu. It's easy, and it's FREE.
6) And, you would know the karat content of a piece... how, exactly? If it's stamped? I own a "14K" stamp and could use it on a paperclip if I wanted to. Would that make it gold? A jeweler can usually check. You, on the other hand, most likely cannot.
I've found the best way is to shop around. I had a platinum engagement ring that I sold two years ago. I went to six different jewelry stores. I got a low price of $350 and a high of $950. The jeweler who offered me the most told me that he had to take the stone out of the setting to give me fair estimate of value. He weighed the stone, and had me match up the color and clarity on a chart. Then he was able to give me a buy value. One jeweler who looked at the stone said it was cracked and offered me $350. Other jewelers said the stone was of high quality. Whatever you do, don't accept an offer without going from jeweler to jeweler.
Yup, that's what I'm talking about. I've run into the same problem with jewelry NOT found in the ground. I know that the clarity, inclusions cut and caret weight all determine the value of a stone but I don't trust myself to make an honest determination of those things. Also there are other factors like famous designers of a piece and rarity of the same. I wouldn't know a one off custom designed Tiffany ring built for John D. Rockefeller that everyone's been looking for for 100 years from a nice ring that the local guy made last year that is full of inclusions. I'd sure hate to sell something off for $350 when it's really worth $80,000. I'm sure any jeweler that is worth their salt would at least know that a piece has real value, but I'm not feeling really good about trusting him to tell me that. I guess the only way to do that would be to pay for the assessment and never let the piece out of my sight?
I have a local jeweller who will give me a guesstimation, (always under the true value by about a third) this gives me a good idea how much it's worth. I get the valuations done by a well respected and well known valuation expert. I then place my good items on consignment at a jewellers in the city centre. I give him 1/3 when sold, it's worth it for the high exposure etc. A lot of people only want to pay the least they can to the jeweler, if you look after them, they'll look after you! HH regards Nugget.