What is an Appraisal?

Appraisals for diamonds, diamond jewelry and fine watches exist to help establish a retail value for an insurance company to cover any loss that may occur. These companies encourage very “generous” appraisal values because the higher the appraisal, the higher the insurance premium they can charge. Appraisals generally consider all design and manufacturing labor, potential upward fluctuation in the metals and diamond markets, and, of course, the hefty retail profit. You can expect the number to be especially high if the items were appraised by the seller or seller’s representative who may have an incentive to “flatter” the value of his own merchandise. It is important to note that there may be no international, national or state government guidelines or other regulations that apply to your appraisal. Consequently, appraisals rarely indicate the actual cash value of the item described.

 

Factors that Affect BondedBuyers.com Estimated Cash Values

Different factors can positively or negatively affect your appraisal. A piece with significant provenance or is a signed designer or unique piece such as “Bulgari” or “Rolex” will bode well, but the amount of wear, tear, and damage can certainly impact the cash value. Sometimes the value of the piece will be based only on the value of the components that make up the piece, such as current value of the precious metal and the precious stones or diamonds. Fine Watches also have different factors which affect price. If your watch is in pristine condition and you can provide the original box, owner’s manual, and ownership papers, the value will be higher than if you sent the same watch without the box or written documentation. Again wear and tear can be a factor in the price of the watch, but in most cases we can re-condition those watches to close to their original condition.

Gold, Silver, and Coins – Certain coins are truly rare, and can have substantial numismatic value, while other “bullion” coins’ value is directly tied to their precious metal content. Platinum, gold silver bullion and jewelry items have values, which are easily evaluated once we confirm the metal content. We pay a very high percentage of the total precious metal value based on the daily market quotes and the anticipated cost of refining.