Why You Should Have Your Jewelry Appraised and Reappraised

Appraisals ... Your jewelry is your most precious belonging and it is sentimental at the same time. The loss of it would be devastating because the story behind each piece is irreplaceable.

Some of you have antique one-of-a-kind pieces that could only be replicated by a master jeweler. Some of you have pieces from Grandma that you were admiring all your life and she left it for you when she passed; the piece is embedded with memories of her and your childhood. 

Many of us have pieces of jewelry that are associated with a life-changing person or event and relive that moment or remember that person when we wear them. If anything should happen to these pieces you know you will be devastated. We cannot avoid the tragedies of life. People have sentimental jewelry lost or stolen all the time. 

Take for example, a loyal customer of mine, Bud. He had a to-do list up to the sky (sound familiar?). Somewhere towards the bottom of the list was getting his treasured jewelry appraised. "I'll get to it next time I see Izzy," he'd say. Or "I just don't have time right now, but next time." And so it stayed on the bottom of his to-do list. 

Like so many others, Bud became a victim of theft before he got his jewelry appraised and insured. His insurance gave him nothing and Bud was out of $15,000 in sentimental jewelry. Bud attested to me that he'll never make that mistake again. Now he has every piece he buys from me appraised before he even takes it home. 

It is unfortunate when life's lessons are so expensive. Another customer of mine, Susan, had an extremely valuable collection of jewelry. Not only did it include very sentimental pieces that she had gotten from family members who had passed, but it also included one-of-a-kind antique pieces that cannot be easily replaced. Susan hadn't gotten her pieces appraised in about a decade.

When she came in we discussed the risk of being under-appraised. I explained to her that the price of gold and diamonds has sky-rocketed in the last few years. If something should happen to her jewelry, her insurance would only pay her what her old appraisals said, and she'd be stuck spending a fortune to replace her pieces. 

She came in last week to get her entire collection reappraised. Lo and behold, many of her pieces had tripled in value. You cannot avoid life's unfair mishaps - they are a fact of life. So at least have your pieces properly insured with an up-to-date appraisal to make sure your insurance pays you the right amount for your jewelry.

Don't we do that for our houses and cars and even make sure our life and health are properly insured? Don't take my word for it – Bud says it was "devastating" to realize he'd never have those pieces again – gone forever. Folks, we have seen gold go up in value by 300% since 2008 and diamonds are just the same. So when's the last time you had your jewelry appraised?  Perhaps it's time to schedule a visit to your local appraiser and don't delay just "get it done!"

- A message from your neighborhood jeweler, Izzy at