JEWELRY APPRAISALS

As you will probably want to insure the jewelry you purchase from As you will probably want to insure the jewelry you purchase from GemsTV for the cost of replacement, this means seeking an independent appraisal from an experienced professional.

Before seeking third-party appraisals, please take the following into consideration:

Insuring jewelry

Don’t assume that your jewelry collection is automatically insured by your household policy. Furthermore, it is always wise to take photos and catalog all of your jewelry. Try and keep all your receipts and retain as many written details as possible (e.g., our certificates of authenticity). If your catalog is a hard copy, make sure you take a photocopy and keep the second copy at a friend’s house or as some collectors do, leave a copy with your family lawyer. If your catalog is a soft copy on your personal computer, make a copy of the data and keep it in a different location.

Valuation

An appraisal valuation is what someone is prepared to pay for something. For example, what is the value of the Mona Lisa? Is the value the same as the cost of the canvas and the paint or is it determined by the amount that someone will pay for it? We believe that jewelry appraisals should reflect the average cost you would have to pay to replace the item if lost or stolen.
Independent

On these pages are just some of the thousands of comments we have received from delighted customers whose appraisals have exceeded their expectations. Unfortunately, we have also heard that some customers have had a negative experience when obtaining appraisals from local jewelers. As GemsTV is an integrated manufacturer and television home shopping retailer of colored gemstone jewelry, we cut out numerous middlemen. This keeps our prices extremely competitive. While most jewelers thank us for increasing the awareness of colored gems, a few may feel threatened and try to discredit our jewelry. Please bear this in mind when seeking appraisals.

Knowledge

Although most appraisers will have experience valuing gold, silver and diamonds, some may not have even heard of some of the gemstones offered by GemsTV. When obtaining an appraisal it’s always a good idea to confirm that the appraiser possesses the requisite experience to value colored gemstone jewelry. This can be easily determined by asking if they have received any formal gemology training. As visual inspection is not a reliable means of identifying gemstones, please make sure you ask what tools (e.g., refractometer, jeweler’s loupe, etc.) they used to perform their appraisal.

One question we are routinely asked is how appraisers can know the weight of gemstones without removing them from their settings? If you pick up two different gem types of the same size and shape you may notice that one feels heavier than the other. This is due to differences in their chemical composition and crystal structure resulting in some gem types being denser than others (specific gravity, which is the ratio of the weight of a specific material to the weight of an equal volume of water is used as the index to measure the density of gemstones).

Given this, an appraiser will measure the set gem with calipers, and then based on their knowledge, extrapolate an estimate. For example, a 7x5 millimeter oval-cut sapphire weighs approximately one carat, a 7x5 millimeter oval-cut topaz weighs approximately 0.70 to 0.80 carats and a 7x5 millimeter oval-cut zircon weighs approximately 1.20 to 1.50 carats. However, these are estimates only. The only accurate way to measure carat weight is to remove the gem from its setting and weigh it. As this should be avoided, we include the MTGW (Minimum Total Gem Weight) on our certificates of authenticity.