Specific Features in Your Jewelry

Part 8 of the mini-course
"How to Value Your Jewelry
at Home or Work"

© by David Foard F.G.A.A.; all rights reserved

Now we've had a couple of days to get over our last lesson, Settings and Finishings in Jewelry, which covered the procedures and practical factors in Setting our jewelry, it is time to check the worksheets once again, just to compare notes.

You can see my handwritten worksheet. No need to print it out if you don't want to, as it's just for conformation that we are both on the right track.

If you are finding yourself falling behind, there is no need to rush. These lessons can be printed out for you to follow over the next few weeks or months if you want to. There is no final exam or conclusion. It is simply an explanation on the methods used by Valuers today.

Last time we also covered briefly:

• That the Setter charges a 'Price per Piece' fee.


• Smaller stones are less expensive to set.


• Counting the number of gems to get the 'Finishing' price.

The general concept of price is based on the 'Risk' a Setter takes when doing his work. A less expensive gemstone, but with more tendency to break or shatter, could cost more than a Diamond. This helps explain why a brooch or watch strap set with hundreds of diamonds in Pavé pattern (which means 'like a pavement' by the way) is less risk than a design with Opal or Emerald, both of which can break easily if set wrong.

Information like this can help at auction, when a large colored gem set item fetches more than the diamond encrusted pendant. If you were buying to break it down, of course, that wouldn't matter.

So what can we expect today? -

• Special features which can influence price.


• Extra information for the Description section.


• Other items which increase or decrease the final figure.

In order to do that we need to look at individual items of jewelry to see why they have their own special needs.

Let's begin by looking at the 'groups' jewelry comes in, because they each have their own special considerations. By breaking down jewelry in this way, we have a better chance of methodically working through the features which affect price.

They can be loosely categorized into the following headings.

• Rings


• Bracelets and Bangles


• Brooches and Pins


• Chains and Necklaces


• Pendants and Medallions


• Men's Jewelry


• Earrings


• Miscellaneous Items (which do NOT fit the other groups).

Note: Rings are also broken down into subcategories such as Diamond rings or Dress rings, Wedding Bands and Eternity rings. These basic descriptions only affect the information on the Certificate. None of them DIRECTLY affect price.

But they each have special features which can. For example:

• Diamond rings and Dress rings can have fancy shoulders


• Wedding bands and Signets are frequently engraved


• Eternity rings are often 'Curved' of 'Fitted' to another ring


• Carving will effect price during manufacture


• White gold which has been Rhodium plated, costs more.

These are just a few of the features Valuers look for when appraising jewelry. Hallmarks too are important, as is the 'Origin' of the item.

On the worksheet you will see the four columns headed 'Fine,' 'Good,' 'Medium,' and 'Poor' - which are used here to affect price too. We ALWAYS use 'Good' as the average quality to any given selection.

Therefore: Good = Normal.

Because we base everything on 'Good' we can then increase or decrease the price from there. So how so we do that?

Okay, so let's take a practical example before we continue.

In this case we have a ring and we have valued the mount at $200 dollars, plus it is graded as 'Normal' or 'Default' in our thinking. This grade we have marked as being 'Good' so the price remains at $200 dollars.

Should we see in the 'Wear' column that we have DOWNGRADED it to 'Medium' we can DECREASE the price by a fixed percentage, say 10 percent less. The ring mount now will be valued at $200 less 10 percent ($20) = $180. Easy.

If the ring was damaged and we grade it as 'Poor' we can go down a further 10 percent (or 20 percent total) which equals $40. The price now is $160. This principle works throughout the Worksheet.

To the right of 'Good' is 'Medium' (down 10 percent) and 'Poor' (down 20 percent), while to the left we can go UP to 'Fine' and add 10 percent.

Everything is based on these simple rules. From Normal go up 10 percent or down 10 percent or 20 percent, which holds true throughout our examples.

TIP: Every Valuer may work with his or her own rates - for example, in 5 percent jumps or 7 percent. Whatever they are comfortable with and what works for them.

So what else can affect this scale in pricing?

As mentioned in the 'Rings' example. If an item is engraved - go down one grade (it is generally considered NOT good to have an item engraved).

Fancy scroll shoulders, go up one grade.

Art Deco go UP one grade.

UGLY items (YES UGLY) Downgrade. It happens.

Victorian or Edwardian all UPGRADE.

Items from South East Asia - May downgrade if the quality is not so good.

There are hundreds of very subjective reasons to do this, and that is one of the reasons no two Appraisal Certificates will be the same (although they should all be within 20 percent of each other).

See if you can 'Brainstorm' other reasons...

Here are a few to think about:

• Finger sizes may be very small or extremely big


• White gold is coming back into fashion - Upgrade?


• Item is made in Italy.


• Bracelet or Chain is very short.


• A Brooch has a 'barrel' clasp.


• A Chain only has a 'Bolt ring clasp'.


• There is a Safety chain attached.


• Jewelry is part of a Set (what if there is some missing?)


• Bangle is dented and hollow

The subject of increasing or decreasing the price is based on experience and takes many years for the Valuer to be happy with. But by using this simple method, we have begun to systemize the process which takes lots of the guesswork out of the equation.

Now that we have looked at 'Special Features', I want to swing back to our Sapphire and Diamond Ring to see how this information will affect our bottom line.

As mentioned in a previous lesson, I didn't want to transfer the price of the Mount Subtotal to the bottom of our worksheet for the very reason we have discussed today.

While we have ticked the 'Good' default column (therefore no change) under the 'Wear' section, we have made a couple of other observations.

Firstly that the item is of 'Antique' style. Not really an antique because it is not 100 years or more in age. This particular ring has a FULL UK Hallmark which shows it was made circa 1909. Too early for Art Deco and too late for Victorian.

However; these two items would, in my opinion, upgrade it in price. The Hallmark by 10 percent and the Antique or Vintage style, by a further 10 percent. We can't account for the carving on the shoulders as we have already calculated for that in the labor charges. So what do we do now?

In the blank area at the bottom left, make a note of the reasons for your upgrade and transfer the new price to the Mount Final Figure. That is: Mount Subtotal: $285.21 plus 20 percent upgrade = $342.25

Next time we'll take a quick tour down the 'Gemstone' lane to understand why the 4 C's can be used for all gemstones, not just diamonds.

Go on to our 9th and final lesson in this series, 'Where is All the Value in Jewelry?

P.S. If you are really serious about getting a Valuation Appraisal done quickly and easily with minimum effort....

Then go to the Valuation Appraisal Centre, at the address shown below, and discover just how easy it is to value your own jewelry plus produce a Certificate on your own Printer at home or work.

Author David Foard, a Fellow of the Gemological Association of Australia (F.G.A.A.) and former member of The Valuers Council (JATVC), is retired ("Ha..." he laughs). He is working harder now than at any time in his life, especially over the 30 years he spent in the Antique Jewelry Trade as a qualified gemologist and member of the Valuers Council. Now he concentrates on the "three R's" of Readin', Ritin', and Re-ritin' articles, courses and free report newsletters at his Online Jewelry Appraisal Center website.

David says, "All of the calculations and procedures done throughout this series of articles are built into our Online Jewelry Valuation Self Appraisal Kit, which does all the work for you. Why? So you don't have to. Simple...

"If you are really serious about getting a jewelry valuation appraisal done quickly and easily, then go to our Online Jewelry Valuation Self Appraisal Kit to value your own jewelry and reproduce a certificate on your own printer at home or work. Couldn't be any easier.

"Our online jewelry valuation self appraisal kit uses behind-the-scenes calculations that work with your answers to a set of multiple choice questions to derive exactly 'What's it worth'. Easy, eh? We use this system ourselves.

"Regards, and please watch the road."

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