Insurance

A jewellery valuer should have a mixture of hands-on experience in the jewellery trade and qualifications resulting from extensive study, kept upto date by reading periodicals and by attending conferences, training courses and trade shows. The main qualifications are FGA, PJ Gem Dip and PJ Val Dip, which are currently the only specialist British qualification for jewellery valuers.

The written valuation certificate should comprise an appraisal, a detailed description of the item and a valuation should be accompanied by notes to the valuation, an explanation of terminologies and the basis of valuations. It might also include photographs. It is quite normal for a professional valuer to spend an hour over a single item.

You do have to pay for this work and not all valuers charge in the same way. As an hourly charge, £40 would be considered reasonable plus between £20 and £35 for the first item and a discount on subsequent items. There might also be a surcharge on high-value items.

Valuation for Insurance

A valuation for insurance purposes states the money an insurance company would pay if the item had to be replaced as new at some time in the future. If this sounds a little vague, it is. Insurance valuations can never be exact, it depends on the current value of gold and gemstones, the original cost of the gold or gemstones, brand name, history, quality of workmanship, condition, rarity etc.

Valuation for Probate

Probate values (used for the calculation of Inheritance Tax) are required by Revenue & Customs to reflect the growing value of an item in a free market. A valuer will understand that a lower valuation is preferable to the customer but will also be aware that Revenue & Customs might subsequently might hold the valuer to account if the probate valuation and the sale price differ wildly.

Valuation for Auction

An auction valuation is really an estimate as to how much an item might fetch at auction. The price of gold today and the gold market value are factors more relevant with this type of valuation. You could be lucky and get more, you could be unlucky and get less - it depends on who is bidding. Estimates are often embarrassingly inaccurate when bidders enter into a bidding war and bid several times the estimate.