9 replies to this topic

[rose]

I am looking to get two diamond rings appraised.

Being new to this, I did a bit of research on the web to understand what kind of “title” a trustworthy and competent appraiser should have – but I got lost in all the information to be able to determine which accreditation or “title” is more rigorous than the other.

I found two appraisers in my area.

Who has the better accreditation? Or do you think their qualifications are similar?

Appraiser #1 :
Graduate Gemologist certificate from GIA
Appraisal Accreditation from ISA
Senior Member of NAJA

Appraiser #2:
Owner of the jewelry store
CGA from American Gem Society
On-premises AGS certified Gem Lab

I am leaning towards Appraiser #1 because of the GG certificate and the fact that Appraiser #1 can come to my office to do the appraisal - but I don’t know if AGS certified Gem Lab” means Appraiser #2 has an edge in terms of equipment.

And what about appraisers in chain jewelry stores? I cannot seem to find these listed in any of the Appraisal Societies.

[LaurieH]

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, HANDS-DOWN, Option #1! Could I be any clearer?

GIA holds to the strictest standards for education and evaluation. YOU CANNOT GET BETTER! Trust me--and it's not a cheap accreditation (which is why I have not completed my GG...2 classes to go!), so it's not something that people take lightly, ie quickie courses and ta da, you have a piece of paper. NO. It is seriously hard work and you have to learn a LOT to become a Graduate Gemologist, including being able to identify and evaluate upwards of 520 different colored stones, in addition to INTENSIVE education about everything Diamond. On top of that, they've gone the extra mile to become certified by NAJA, which also keeps to stringent standards, and has had to have sample appraisals "graded" by other NAJA appraisers, making sure they keep to their high standards before accreditation. Most also carry insurance for Errors and Omissions.

There are other entities that give other kind of Gemological certifications--they give them different titles--Certified Gemologist, etc--but, while I don't mean to slight them, they just don't measure up. Not to mention, this is a shop owner. Not that that means that they're bad or won't necessarily give just as good an appraisal, they're likely not as well educated in all the particulars a Graduate Gemologist is, and often store owners/managers will get some kind of certification just to give the appearance of extra weight to the pieces of paper they sign. Seriously...I'm not meaning to diss them, but when I was already a Diamonds Graduate, I was working at a store that did their own appraisals, and it was a single sheet of paper with a description and a number he pulled out of thin air, mostly based on the metal weight. I saw him give just silly appraisals that I never would have signed my name to, personally, even if I had the chance.

Go with someone who does NOT have a horse in your race. A store owner is going to give you what you want to get your business next time you're in the market--if it's something new you're appraising, he might even "poo-poo" it, to try to get you to buy something he's got that's sooooo much better. An independent appraiser is going to just evaluate what you've got so you can insure it and his/her only interest is getting it right.

Oh...and an appraiser in most chain stores is about what you'd expect from someone in a chain store. Beware!

[davidelevi]

Laurie - I would not discount the CGA from AGS. It's a specific qualification on gem appraising, which GIA does not offer (as far as I know), and it requires a GG from GIA for entry.
See http://www.americang...endentcertified - second numbered list point 1.

What would swing me towards #1 in any case is the fact that he/she seems to be someone dedicated to appraising, as opposed to someone that offers appraisals as an added service to a jewellery sale business. You may find #2 to be the most honest and impartial of judges, but that requires other information than the qualifications! With #1 the chances on impartiality are higher right from the start.

Chain stores: avoid like the plague, with a few exceptions (e.g. Tiffany's). Can you tell I like them?

Edited by davidelevi, 06 February 2011 - 01:45 AM.

[barry]

I would advocate for #1 as they appear to be "independent" and not engaged or involved in the sale of diamonds/jewelry so that you have more certainty of receiving an objective appraisal that is not influenced by presentation of their own merchandise to you.

[rose]

Thank you Laurie, Davide, Barry.

Your insights and knowledge in this area are tremendously helpful! I will be going with appraiser #1 and be sure to stay away from jewelry chain stores!

I understand that appraisals appraise the whole value of the ring including the setting. Is it common however for the appraiser to grade the diamond in terms of clarity, cut, color, etc? What other items are common on the report? It seems there is such a wide range of information that is or is not included.

Many thanks!

[LaurieH]

They'll evaluate the diamond, but they can't grade it with certainty when it's in the setting, because inclusions could be hiding under prongs, etc, and Color is evaluated face up and face down, so being they can't get that face-down view, they can only estimate. They'll estimate as closely as possible and put all the information that they can on the appraisal. If your rings are relatively recently purchased and you have ANY information as regards them, bring that for the appraiser. If he can match the stone to the info to his/her satisfaction (like if you have a certification for the stone and they can match an inclusion or a laser inscription number) then more accurate information can be put on that appraisal.

[davidelevi]

It also depends on what you are asking the appraiser to do.

Most appraisals are done to help people get proper insurance coverage, so the appraiser's focus will be on describing (words but also pictures) the object as accurately as possible, helping you get a good replacement should you lose it for whatever reason.

Some people want the appraiser to focus on the diamond's characteristics (e.g. cut), but to do that properly requires the stone to be unset and examined loose. In this case, the report may include output from a Sarin/OGI scan, reflector images (ASET/IS/H&A viewer) as well as macrophotographs of characteristics of the diamond.

[denverappraiser]

I’m a little late chiming in because I’ve been off for the last week. I bought a new house and have been moving. Gad what a pain.

A few general corrections.

A GIA-GG or equivalent is a prerequisite for an AGS-CGA so #2 has a GG as well.

ISA offers several different levels of accreditation. They are not all the same and the bottom one is pretty easy. Some are good, some are not. If you're going to rely on ISA credentials, the one you want is 'CAPP'

Senior NAJA is good.

AGS Membership is a nice thing but bear in mind that this is an association of jewelry retailers, not really appraisers. Appraisers are, at best, viewed as an ancillary service. AGS is about selling jewelry and about running ethical jewelry stores. They do that well and their membership includes some very high quality outfits. There are only 14 Independent appraisers in all of AGS's 1500 members so we are, to say the least, a small contingent. The CGA's are all employed by jewelry stores, in fact you HAVE to be affiliated with a jewelery store to use the credential.

AGS certified gem lab is good as far as it goes, but it’s a piece of cake to get for any AGS member who makes a stab at it.

The best equipment is expensive and is NOT particularly portable. The fact that #2 wants you to go to him is a sign in his favor. What equipment will be useful depends on what objectives you have and it may be a moot point but it’s hard to do good photomicrographs at client sites for example. Sarin, Raman spectroscopes, colorimeters et.al. don't schelp around well.

The appraisal societies are for individuals, not firms. NAJA, AGS, AGA, ISA all have individual memberships only. There members can and do work at firms but that’s the reason you aren’t seeing the firm name listed on the directories.

In general, there are three types of appraisers out there. The first are jewelers who are using their expertise and the fact that people tend to think a jewelry store is the place to go look. Overall, the quality of work from these folks tends to be low and there are conflict of interest issues that crop up but each needs to be evaluated on their own merits. SOME jewelry store appraisers are quite skilled and quite careful but they seem to be in the minority. Whether or not the one you’ve found is one of these I have no clue but the AGS membership is a good sign.

The second is a group that travels from store to store with a portable lab and they run a circuit of anywhere from 2 to 20 stores. As with the above, some of these are excellent but, for the most part, I would avoid them. The problem here is threefold. First, they are under tremendous pressure to crank out the work quickly and move on to the next client. This is aggravated by the fact that they are splitting the fees with the store and so they aren’t really very well paid. If they can’t do 3-4 in an hour and do 5-10 per stop, they can’t make a living at it. The result is they cut corners and often don’t do with I would call a thorough job. In fact, often they are woefully inadequate. Lastly, the client is really the store, not you, and the conflict of interest thing is at least as bad as the above, if not worse. They are decidedly NOT independent even though they are occasionally sold as such because they aren't actually on the store payroll. I guess it depends on your definition of the word....

The third are private appraisal companies that have a facility for doing just appraisals. They tend to be extremely well equipped, well trained and well secured. They also tend to be a tad expensive and are few and far between. I know of about 50 or so in the whole country. If there’s one of these nearby, I definitely would suggest them but it depends on where you are. (Note of disclaimer. I operate a facility like this in Denver so I’m not exactly an unbiased observer about the usefulness of this service. My clients do seem to be consistently happy even though I cost more than the guy doing the routes through the local malls.)

The fourth I don’t even count as appraisals. These are paper mills that produce documents that jewelers use to sell things. An item will ‘appraise’ for big money and the store will sell it at a discount as evidence of what good people they are. These documents are completely useless.

On to your question: I don’t know which will work best for you. We don’t know if the first is ‘independent’ or even claims to be and we don’t know if that’s something you even need. It depends on your objectives. I’m a big fan of AGS and I’m not so fond of ISA (again with the disclaimer, I’m an AGS member and I’m a former ISA). I would still go with #1 because he’s billing himself as a professional appraiser and has the Senior NAJA credential but I just don’t know enough about either one. Many of the CGA's are quite capable, and many ISA's are useless.

One last observation. The GIA-GG diploma program doesn’t include so much as a single class in appraising. GIA once had an optional one, and it was lame lame lame, but even that’s been dropped from the curriculum. Now there's nothing and they leave it up to the appraisal societies. They teach gemology, which is NOT the same thing.

Edited by denverappraiser, 08 February 2011 - 05:57 PM.

[rose]

Hi Denver-Appraiser.

Thanks for the informative guide on the different types of appraisers out there. I'd say quality ones are scarce! Wouldn't you? Is there a law somewhere (by insurance companies) that appraisers require certain qualifications before they can legitimately be called an appraiser?

The first appraiser is an independent appraiser and has a fee of ~$150 per ring, depending on carat weight. The appraiser will travel to a desired location - but you mentioned that portable equipment will be inferior to the store-owner who has non-portable equipment. But at such a high price, I am hoping that means the quality is high too! Going rate for yet another appriaser whose only qualification is membership in NAJA (regular member, not senior member) is about $75 a piece. Also portable equipment.

[denverappraiser]

Portable equipment MAY be inferior to lab based equipment. For example, I've got a serious video microscope so I can so clients inclusions and damage real-time on an HD TV thats 5 feet away. Obviously this isn't portable and it's extremely helpful n helping people to understand what they have. I don't know what the store based guy has (nor do I know what the portable guy has).

FWIW $150 for a client site appraisal is less than I charge for a similar service (on site that is. Most appraisals at my office are $85).

No, there are no standards from the insurance companies. Actually, the insurance companies are the ones who benefit by weak appraisals. They are generally agreeing to replace with 'like kind and quality' or words to that effect with the policy. They use the description from the appraisal and provide the minimum item that meets that description. Weak and vague descriptions make this easy and inexpensive for them. They have professional shoppers who are skilled at hunting down bargains and, at the same time, they set their premiums based on the declared value so overvalued things result in higher premiums with no change at all in the risks for the company. If you pay $5000 for a ring, the appraiser says it's worth $20000 and they can replace it for $3000, that's what they do and they get to pocket the extra money. Of course they like this, wouldn't you?