Jewelry Appraisals
Jewelry should be insured in the event it is lost, stolen or damaged. To have your jewelry properly insured, a qualified jewelry appraisal is needed. An updated appraisal can be completed at Noah Gabriel & Co. Jewelers.
OUR PROCESS
You have 3 options for jewelry appraisals at Noah Gabriel & Co. Jewelers. A certified gemologist or appraisal expert will inspect your jewelry, diamonds and gemstones. Bring documentation such as sales slips, diamond or gemstone grading reports and warranties if available.
Consultation
We offer a free consultation where we will identify the item, main stone and metal. We will do a brief analysis and recommend the best type of appraisal for your needs. We then decide together the best course of action.
FREE
Insurance
Our appraisal will have a detailed item description, retail replacement value estimation and high resolution photographs. We offer a same day service for an additional $80.00/ea. (“Same day Service” Appointment Required)
$115 for a single item $95 each additional
Legal Purposes
Depending on the need, an appraisal by a GIA Graduate Gemologist may be needed. This type of appraisal is most often used to protect assets during, estate planning, asset distribution, bankruptcy or tax purposes.
$250 per item
Why Noah Gabriel & Co. Jewelers?
With a jewelry appraisal from a qualified appraiser, such as Noah Gabriel & Co. Jewelers, a rider can be added to your policy through your insurance agency. We offer the best and most comprehensive jewelry appraisal in Pittsburgh to help protect your cherished jewelry. All parties involved receive protection with our comprehensive jewelry insurance appraisals. It safeguards that the insurance company has an accurate value of your jewelry. But more importantly, it protects the jewelry owner by making sure in the event of a loss, theft or other incident, you get a fair settlement. Without an appraisal, the insurance company can potentially pay out less than the replacement value of your jewelry. Plus, an accurate jewelry insurance appraisal allows for claims to be paid more quickly and headache free.
“Noah Gabriel & Co. Jewelers came recommended by a very good friend and what a recommendation! I have never spent a more lovely hour while my jewelry was being appraised…I would give them more than 5 stars if I could and I definitely will recommend them to anyone looking for jewelry or an appraisal.”
Debi Fisher
Insurance Appraisals
Jewelry appraisals for insurance purposes are the most common type of jewelry appraisals needed in Pittsburgh, Cranberry Township, Gibsonia and Wexford, Pennsylvania. Jewelry Appraisals are necessary because in most instances, your homeowner’s policy will only cover jewelry up to a certain limit, typically around $1,000, and only cover loss from theft. Therefore, it is so important to have a jewelry appraisal, with the proper value, on all high-value jewelry such as engagement rings, wedding bands, diamond jewelry and gemstone jewelry.
The market values of jewelry, gold, platinum and diamonds are constantly changing. We suggest you have a jewelry insurance appraisal performed every three years to ensure your jewelry is adequately insured in the event of a loss. However, most insurance companies require you to update your appraisal every 2-5 years.
Professional jewelry appraisals include the following:
- Detailed description of each item
- Enlarged digital photograph of each item on the document
- Metal content determination
- Gemstone identification, grading, measurement and weight calculation/estimation
- Verification of gemological laboratory reports whenever possible
- Fully researched valuation at the appropriate market level
- Identification of designer or manufacturer whenever possible
- Complete professional cleaning and inspection of mounting
Appraisal Pricing
- $115 for a single item appraisal
- $95 each additional appraisal if done together.
*Same day service is available for an additional $80.00 per appraisal (Appointment Required)
Appraisal by a GIA Graduate Gemologist ($550 per item)
In estate planning, or sometimes referred to as distribution, a deceased person’s personal property is being distributed among their heirs. For example, one heir may receive jewelry, while another heir receives fine china, vehicles or real estate. In these instances, it is important that the jewelry appraisal facilitates a fair division. During the estate planning or estate appraisal fair market value (cost of purchasing similar items) for distribution is used. In other situations, an heir may be receiving jewelry while others are receiving cash or cash equivalents. In these instances, it might be preferable to distribute property according to its marketable cash value-actual cash in hand after selling costs.
Asset Distribution in Divorce Appraisal
Jewelry is a wonderful gift because it is very closely tied into emotions. Divorce is a difficult enough experience without the issue of fighting over the value of jewelry. Both parties are likely to have an inaccurate and possibly inflated impression of the current value of their jewelry. A divorce appraisal helps solve these issues.
Do not get an appraisal for divorce purposes until advised by your attorney. It is our recommendation that both parties hire the appraiser jointly to appraise both his and/or her jewelry. This ensures the same standard of measure is being used for jewelry.
Bankruptcy Appraisal
An Appraisal is often-times required when jewelry is part of a bankruptcy estate. Bankruptcy Appraisals use fair market value. Fair market value is defined as the price that a willing buyer and willing seller agree upon.
The most common example of fair market value in Pittsburgh is the price that an item sells for at auction. Almost always the selling price is below the retail price. Depending on the condition of the item and the desirability, the fair market value can be as low as the scrap value of the materials.
Tax Purposes Appraisal or Donation Appraisals
When high value jewelry is donated to a charitable organization, the donator may want to first have the jewelry appraised for tax purposes. Fair market value is used when reporting taxes.
If planning a donation or estate, we always recommend seeking legal or professional guidance along with our appraisal services.