Valuing Man

Integrity in Valuations

2012-02-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

I was pondering the ideas of different skill sets the other day, prompted by the TV advert for a well known Car Breakdown Service who would come and repair your boiler, It was the use of the word "cowboys" as a derogatory comment, and appeared to indicate that if you didn't use the Car Breakdown Service, you could be dealing with a cowboy. I am sure that many Independent Qualified Plumbers would take exception to this.

I then saw the story about a well known Auction House who "valued" a piece of Historic Jewellery for £35,000 and which subsequently sold for over £300,000. Too late to save the original owners house which had to be sold.

The original Auction house dismissed the piece when first seen as a Late 17th Century Copy when in fact it dated back to the time of Henry VII (Reigned 1509-1547)

The first owner sold it for the smaller sum Based on the advice of the Auctioneer and was horrified when it sold again 2 years later for 10 times as much.

The story starts here if you want to read it http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098079/Lord-Coleridge-sues-Sothebys-valuing-family-heirloom-sold-300k-35k.html

The more I pondered this the more I considered the ethics of a seller valuing anything that they had an interest in and felt I had to put pen to paper (finger to keyboard in this case).

I have worked for large multiple Jewellers and valued for them, however the National Association of Goldsmiths under whose auspices I was registered, frowned upon valuers valuing items recently sold or valuing items which were to be sold by the valuer or valuers employer. If you broke this rule too many times or blatantly, Your precious Registration, for which one had worked so hard to obtain, could be taken away.

I worked for a large national valuation company and found they were valuing items for jewellers with no actual buyer in sight, again I refused to put my name at the bottom of any such document, despite being told this was "The XXXXXXXXX Way".

My view is that this could be construed as an Inducement to Buy, particularly the method which they were using to value some goods,for example items from the far east or Internet/TV companies were being willfully overvalued.

These considerations have led me to this post, Who Should Value Your jewellery?

Firstly the person Valuing should be a Qualified Valuer, note I said Valuer not Jeweller.

In the UK, this person should be a Member of the NAG and preferably a member of the Institute Of Registered Valuers (what was known until a few years ago as A Registered Valuer)
They certainly should have a Gemmological Qualification such as FGA, PJGemDip etc.
They should have the Professional Jewellery Valuers Diploma.
They really should be totally Independent of the seller.
I have seen many "Valuations" (known in the States as Appraisals) issued by the seller, particularly the type of sellers who congregate around Cruise ship ports. These documents are often for far more than the actual selling price.

Auctioneers, now this is a thorny subject, they are actually acting as a seller but many Auction Houses offer a Valuation Service, but their main income derives from Commissions when selling so can their valuations really be Independent? There are some who I would trust implicitly, others, some really big names here who get their "estimates" wildly wrong so how can they really be "valuers"?

By Photo via the Internet, Now this is really just plain wrong and I am really surprised that 2 Dragons from Dragons Den got involved in such a shady business. You cannot tell the difference between a First class Diamond, a moderately good diamond, a CZ or a Moissonite from a Photo, therefore you cannot VALUE IT. This is just a con. See also http://daviddupuy.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/new-post/ for a similar view from Ireland.

There are 3 images above, One is a moderate quality Diamond, One is Moissonite, One is a good diamond and one is Cubic Zirconium, Can you tell the difference, Because I certainly cannot and I've been a jeweller for 40 years. I certainly couldnt put an accurate value on them and thats what this company Claim to be able to do, I also note that the Priciple at this company is an Ex Auctioneer, which pretty much explains everything. By the way that is not the order of the images either.

So to sum up, make sure your Valuer is a Valuer, not the seller, connected with the seller or just someone who owns/manages a jewellery Shop.
Ensure they are qualified as a valuer and recognised as such.
If you must have an item valued by an Auctioneer, ensure you know exactly what purpose the value stated is for, eg, Insurance, Selling, Probate etc etc.

Make sure they are Independent, for advice on why Independence is so important visit http://www.independent-jewellery-valuers.org/ They will also be able to find a totally Independent Valuer in your area. The valuers fees will be transparent and you will know that these members Never sell or Trade in jewellery and have no interest in pushing the price up or down.

It is also worth noting that if you contact the Valuer Directly, rather than through a jewellers, you may even save money, as the jewellers will want a profit on the Valuers Fee, A point to strongly consider before trotting into the Jewellers and asking them to value it.

The order of the rings above by the way is CZ, Good Diamond, Moissonite, Commercial Diamond.

Thank you for reading.

What is Fluorescence?

2011-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

What is fluorescence?
Certain diamonds emit a subtle blue glow when exposed to ultraviolet rays. This interesting phenomenon is called fluorescence. Many light sources including the sun, fluorescent office lights, and "black" lights emit ultraviolet rays. In normal lighting conditions, fluorescence cannot be seen.

Different strengths of fluorescence can be exhibited in diamonds, brought about by the presence of sub-microscopic particles. It is one of the identifying characteristics of a particular diamond and can be seen sometimes in daylight and under some artificial lights due to the presence of UV radiation. The most common form found is blue fluorescence. The presence of fluorescence does often affect the price of a diamond, with strong fluorescence resulting in a slightly lower price. Occasionally strong blue fluorescence can result in a slight milky appearance to the diamond as mentioned above. It is therefore necessary to view such diamonds "in the flesh" as often, this slight milkiness cannot be observed.

The presence of fluorescence can actually be advantageous in certain diamonds. Lower coloured diamonds that are very slightly tinted in colour when viewed from the side, can appear much whiter when viewed table-top up, due to the presence of blue fluorescence. This itself can result in a slightly higher price on such lower colour diamonds due to this "improving" characteristic.

Observed in everyday life, fluorescence will probably not be observed by the wearer unless under certain conditions. At a nightclub for example, any one of a set of diamonds may be seen to "glow" when viewed under the UV lights. This is at no detriment to your jewellery and under normal conditions this not noticed.

In simple terms, fluorescence is the tendency for a diamond to absorb radiation from an ultra violet light and emit it as visible light. The most common colour of fluorescence is blue.

Grading Fluorescence

A diamond's fluorescence can be given a grade from "none" to "very strong", with faint, medium and strong in between.

Fluorescence can either be graded manually, or with the aid of machines

Most Diamond laboratories indicate the strength of fluorescence on their diamond certificates for identification purposes. The appearance of fluorescence in diamonds exposed to strong ultraviolet lamps ranges from very faint (barely perceptible) to very strong (a neon-blue glow). Some diamonds show no fluorescence at all.

In a minute number of cases, diamonds with very strong fluorescence and a special arrangement of clarity characteristics may look slightly "cloudy," but consumers rarely encounter such diamonds. Fluorescence may also have a slightly positive influence on the appearance of certain off-coloured diamonds, thereby making them more desirable to own.

Colour vs. Fluorescence

Blue fluorescence has the ability to "cancel out" or reduce the tint of more yellow (lower colour grade) diamonds. A GIA survey even found that more fluorescent, especially more yellow and therefore lower graded diamonds were favoured over their non-fluorescent counterparts.

Effect on Pricing

It is generally accepted that the greater a diamond's fluorescence, the less it will sell for. However in the UK, fluoescence is barely mentioned and often discounted from a price perspective.

Cloudiness or Oiliness Caused By Fluorescence

A very small number of stones with strong or very strong fluorescence appear "oily" or "cloudy". Whilst this is quite rare, it is always advisable to look at a stone with strong or very strong fluorescence before purchasing.

Other Colours of Fluorescence and Phosphorescence

Whilst very rare, diamonds can emit yellow or orange fluorescence, whilst some diamonds may even continue to glow after the UV light source has been removed. These diamonds display phosphorescence.

Buying Tip:

When looking at diamonds, ask your jeweller if you can observe the stone in a dark corner under UV light, remember that the phenomenon is totally harmless and can be great fun in a Night Club environment where your stone will glow with a magical brilliance. Dont reject the stone, enjoy it.

All NAG Registered Valuers and members of theAassociation of Independent jewellery Valuers (AIJV) will be able to advise if your stone is fluorescent or not