Appraisals

[Dreamer_D]

And at least our amounts are "only" ~$1k different -- imagine how quickly the errors grow when you're talking 20-25% in rare and large stones like 2ct+ unheated rubies!

I'm glad you got your replacement in the end, but what a mess

No doubt! It was a mess but I’m happy with the end result in my situation so alls well that ends well I guess. But it was a ridiculously stressful 6 months dealing with that mess.

 

[mamalovesgems]

Don't place too much stock in any one valuation. It's not like a house appraisal where you're like "Woah, what am I missing?!"

A decade ago, I had one appraiser that I really liked and trusted for colored stones. He was a no-nonsense senior gemologist in the best appraisal-only shop in town. I know this in part because one fancy store tried to prove a point by pulling out an appraisal from this place, which did all of their behind-the-scenes assessments. Before I knew much, I would use him to "backstop" any online purchase. He, of course, had access to the annually-updated online resource that everyone uses that shows price/ct for various ct ranges for heated or unheated Ceylon, Burma, or other, and in qualities of commercial, good, very good, fine, extra-fine, etc. So although it looked objective, it ultimately was quite subjective. I would call him and swing by with a gem and a decent report (usually) and he'd look at it under the 'scope and various lightings for < 5 min. It was always a verbal consult (no written report) and it seemed fun for him so I practically had to force him take my money. Now, I trust my subjective (idiosyncratic) preference more than his objective opinion -- it's more important that I love it than that it be objectively excellent.

But to your point, and before I started working with him, specifically, their shop valued an online purchase of ours so high that my spouse refused to wear it. It was maybe 5X what we paid and, to this day, it lives in the safe deposit box (even tho' that "high" appraisal price would not drop any jaws on this forum now). Shortly thereafter, I found a much smaller sapphire with a super-open and vivid medium-blue color in a petite all-original Deco mounting. That ring was from a local vendor -- their SA actually called me because she knew I was looking. I took it to the same appraiser and everyone in the shop loved that ring. I actually dropped that one off -- and they all gathered 'round when I came to pick it up. But, and here's the important part, they (disappointingly) valued that ring at right about my purchase price (which had seemed fair and was not very high a dozen years ago) because it was a smaller stone and their algorithm did not adequately factor in the super-desirable color that we all could see or the iconic little mounting. (I've been chasing the color of that sapphire ever since with no luck.) So everyone in the shop was madly in love with that ring -- and even said "We hate to see this one leave!" -- but did not value it very highly. So there can be a big disconnect between highly covetable stuff and highly valued stuff -- even though they should track together. In a fire, I would save the way less expensive ring over the "valuable" one in a heartbeat -- and so would anyone in that shop that appraised both rings.

Also: I'm sure you know but there is a big difference between "replacement value" for new-ish jewelry and "fair-market value" for vintage stuff. The latter is based on actual online comparables and is much closer to real-world pricing, imo. And these are different from insurance valuation and valuation for equitable distribution from an estate. I did the last for a half-dozen things as executor of a family member's estate because I wanted all the heirs to be on equal footing when we "chose." Those valuations were startlingly low -- almost eBay pricing. But at least we were all working from the same low benchmarks.

I asked this appraiser how they do appraisals and they do not use the gem guide or similar resource. They look at same day dealer prices for well priced and high priced similar stones, quality, size and dimensions and apply their markup to the wholesale price. So yes, they certainly offered to find me lower priced stones, since they can buy wholesale...

 

[LilAlex]

They look at same day dealer prices for well priced and high priced similar stones, quality, size and dimensions and apply their markup to the wholesale price

But how would they know these data? This must be the same service that everyone uses, I would think. There is no central clearinghouse to which all colored stone sales are submitted. And how much of this price (or value) is determined by the market vs. drives the market is never clear. How many (let's say) excellent unheated Burma sapphires > 5 cts sell each week in a publicly visible transaction? There is just no good way to accurately price non-commoditized goods. At least for antiques and decorative arts and classic cars, everyone agrees on the "thing" and just quibbles over the condition (and maybe how many are out there). For gems, the "thing" isn't even defined.

 

[mamalovesgems]

But how would they know these data? This must be the same service that everyone uses, I would think. There is no central clearinghouse to which all colored stone sales are submitted. And how much of this price (or value) is determined by the market vs. drives the market is never clear. How many (let's say) excellent unheated Burma sapphires > 5 cts sell each week in a publicly visible transaction? There is just no good way to accurately price non-commoditized goods. At least for antiques and decorative arts and classic cars, everyone agrees on the "thing" and just quibbles over the condition (and maybe how many are out there). For gems, the "thing" isn't even defined.

I asked how they came up with the appraisal. They were looking at actual dealers they buy from (and the current inventories for sale) and adding their stores markup.