Appraisals

Appraisals

Appraisals for Insurance Purposes

Check with your insurance agent to find out what documents are required if you want to purchase insurance on your jewelry. Insurance companies have different requirements and offer different types of coverage. Many insurance companies will accept your Topazery.com sales receipt as proof of purchase. You may also want to print for your records, the online gemological report for your jewelry piece. The report is prepared by an independent GIA Graduate Gemologist and Certified Appraiser. This gemological report displays when you click on a thumbnail photo for a particular jewelry piece. The report displays to the right of the enlarged jewelry photos and may be printed, along with two photos, by clicking on the Printable View button.

USPAP Appraisals

Most jewelry pieces for sale on Topazery.com are not offered with a written appraisal as part of your purchase, but we are happy to provide one for an additional charge. To determine if an appraisal is offered as a complimentary service, click on the thumbnail photo to display the online gemological report. The following statement appears in the online report if an appraisal is included as part of your purchase: "A USPAP compliant appraisal, in narrative form, completed by an independent GIA Graduate Gemologist and Certified Appraiser, is included with your purchase."

All jewelry appraisals which are provided by Topazery are written by an independent appraiser who has a Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) degree from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The appraiser does not own a jewelry store, is not employed by a jewelry store, and has more than 30 years experience in the jewelry industry. The appraisals are written in narrative form in compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP).

If you require a USPAP compliant appraisal, and if it is not offered with the jewelry piece you want to purchase, you may order the appraisal, for a fee of $150.00 and up, depending on the jewelry piece. USPAP appraisals may require up to 4 weeks for delivery and the fee is non-refundable. If you want to purchase an appraisal, please let us know when you place your order so we may schedule time to have the document prepared before we ship your jewelry.

Second Opinion Appraisals

If you feel more comfortable getting a second opinion on your jewelry, take your jewelry item to an independent Certified Appraiser who has formal training in appraisal science and who has experience appraising antique and estate jewelry for estate and insurance purposes. Your best choice of an appraiser is an independent Certified Appraiser who has a Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) degree from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

Working in the jewelry industry does not make someone an appraiser. Antique jewelry appraising is a profession and one must be trained and tested just as doctors and lawyers and other professionals are educated and certified in their respective fields. Some individuals who offer appraisals have no formal training, and have little or no experience appraising antique jewelry. Often times these same people do not have the appropriate equipment for testing and evaluating metals, diamonds, and gemstones. Be sure to ask about an appraiser's experience, education and training before you hire him or her. A professional antique and estate jewelry appraiser will be happy to show credentials and tell you about the equipment he or she uses to perform tests and make evaluations.

If you can not find an independent jewelry appraiser in your area and you want to take the jewelry to a jewelry store for an opinion, keep the following things in mind. First of all, the person you talk to is probably not a professional antique and estate jewelry appraiser. This person also wants to sell you a piece of jewelry from their own store. When there is a conflict of interest, it is human nature to be biased. In today's market, the internet gives consumers many different purchasing options for diamonds and jewelry. A jewelry store owner or employee may feel threated by the competition, making it difficult for them to give you an accurate opinion about jewelry you have purchased elsewhere.

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Topazery is an online-only antique jewelry boutique.
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