Appraisal Experts
Truth: You wouldn’t want someone who dabbles in car repairs to replace your brakes, right? And we’re willing to bet that you feel the same way when it comes to the valuation of your fine jewelry. So why should you do business with Heritage Appraisers?
- All of our appraisers are graduate gemologists, educated at GIA (Gemological Institute of America), the world’s foremost authority in gemology. They are also members of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers and other leading appraisal organizations.
- You’ll receive a professional, thorough appraisal report of your fine jewelry item.
- We are a national company with centralized management that allows us to subcontract with individual appraisers and therefore retain a level of consistency in our work and product.
- Our proprietary software, The Loupe, helps us provide professional Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP) compliant appraisal reports for customers.
- Heritage Appraisers offers support from our home office in Beachwood, Ohio for any questions or issues that may arise within the appraisal process..
- You can find a Heritage Appraisers affiliate appraiser or retail partner here
In scope, we offer a vast array of fine jewelry appraisals to meet your needs. These include:
Insurance Appraisals
These are the most common appraisals performed by appraisers. The appraiser will use all available current market information to determine the value of the item being appraised. The value may vary from what a client may have originally paid for the item.
It’s important to understand that values are based on the current market value, not necessarily what a retail jewelry store may have sold the item for. In particular, this is the case with lab-grown diamonds and jewelry purchased outside of the country; for example, on a cruise ship. There are many factors that will determine the appraised value of an item. Some conditions that could affect the appraised value might be brands, designers, promotional sale prices, or a retailer’s profit margin.
Vintage or Estate Appraisals
These appraisals use a different methodology process to determine their value because these items are often no longer in production.
Similar to home appraisers, jewelry appraisers may use comparable prices from auctions, private sales, manufacturers, and/or designers to authenticate and value these items.
Fair Market Value
The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.
Appraisers use some of the same methodology used in an estate appraisal when establishing an FMV appraisal. Items being appraised for Fair Market Value may or may not be items that are available in the retail market. Researching online sales, pawnshops, and auction sales may help to establish FMV.