Our goal is to provide the most professional and comprehensive appraisal documents possible for use in establishing insurance policies and for use with trust and estate structuring or planning.

We provide a professional gemological identification laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment, for the proper identification and grading of diamonds and colored gemstones.  This is a first step in developing an accurate assessment of value, regardless of the type of appraisal or documents being issued. 

We stress that you should see what we see and learn how to identify your own diamonds and gems by their unique physical and optical characteristics.  This will eliminate all doubt in your mind as to the identity of your stones. 

Insuring valuable merchandise can be a complex issue and settling a claim for items that have been lost, stolen, or are severely damaged can be a daunting and frustrating process.  Very accurate documentation can make that process much, much simpler by providing invaluable information about the missing items so that reasonable and acceptable replacements can be acquired or a reasonable and acceptable settlement can be achieved.  Without this type of documentation, you are essentially at the mercy of an insurance company and whatever is written in their fine print.

For those who are planning for the future distribution of their jewelry items and timepieces, it is vitally important to have them documented clearly and concisely, including technical details, gemological grading, and good photography, so that when the time comes to turn those family heirlooms over to the next generation, there are no doubts about the identity of the items and which items go to what specific heir.

Quality appraisal and identification documents can eliminate a vast number of problematic situations which can arise.  Our aim is to make your life, and that of your heirs, much simpler and stress-free as possible.  Our motto is:

“The more you know, the better off you will be.”

There is great value in efficiency.  Accurate, up-to-date documents make everyone’s life easier. 

There are many different types of appraisals and their content and form can alter drastically depending upon the legal scenario that’s involved. Values are assessed in completely different ways as well. Appraisers don’t like those facts but we can’t change the legal reality.

An astute, competent appraiser is going to ask you a number of questions at your initial meeting in order to qualify your needs and clarify what steps need to be taken in order to produce the proper types of documentation. The appraiser will want to know things such as: “Is this for insurance purposes?”; “Is this for the establishment of a trust?”; “Is this a divorce situation?” and so forth.

“It sure is pretty…but what the heck is it???”

That’s a question that appraisers hear every day. And it’s a good one simply because a very high percentage of our clients truly don’t know what they own! Either they were given an item, found it, or inherited it, and they have no clue as to its true identity. If you own something, and aren’t sure of just what it is, you are in very good company!

Identifying unknown gemstones is a big part of the appraiser’s job…the gemological/scientific side of the equation. If you don’t know what something is, you surely can’t be effective as an appraiser! Most people don’t know it, but gemstones are simply crystals of certain minerals, or rocks of various types, created by Mother Nature (often times under some very unusual and rare geologic conditions or circumstances) and which are then cut and polished by humans to accentuate and show off their beauty. Because of their unique & unusual origins, or genesis so to speak, they turn out to be radically different than most other rocks and minerals.

Once all that vital data has been established and verified, the appraiser can then proceed with researching your products effectively. Values can then be determined and assessed with confidence and common sense.

A thorough appraiser will look for what are referred to as “comparables”: items that are either identical to, or very similar to, the items in your collection. It is rare to be able to find the exact item. Generally, the appraiser must locate items that are manufactured in similar fashion and have similar types of components of comparable quality.

In the case of one-of-a-kind, custom items, or very old/antique items, it is necessary to look into estate sales, auctions, and so forth, for listings of items that would have similar characteristics to your items. Sometimes that’s a very easy process and sometimes it’s a long, drawn-out nightmare ordeal which can take weeks or even months for very rare items. If you have such an item, be patient and allow the appraiser to do the research necessary to assess a value correctly: taking a “shot in the dark” at a value is not a good idea!

Once all that vital data has been established and verified, the appraiser can then proceed with researching your products effeYour documents will contain a lot of seemingly unintelligible information: weights, grades, sources, serial numbers, measurements, descriptions of one kind or another and so on and so forth.

All that data is important, and could be a “lifesaver” should you ever need to have a replacement built, or found, due to a loss of some type. It could also aid law enforcement greatly if a stolen item is recovered. Proper identification and documentation of seemingly minute/obscure details could easily lead to a conviction of the bad guys and you getting your original item back!

A proper appraisal will include many things, depending upon the items involved, above and beyond all those details mentioned above. It should also include very good photography: “A picture is worth a thousand words…”, right? Major gemstones should have identifying “plots” or diagrams demonstrating their physical characteristics and any identifying marks.

Once your documents are complete you can then proceed properly and confidently with whatever your situation requires.

Your appraiser will keep copies of everything for many years. They should be kept completely confidential and never be discussed with anyone without your written permission or a valid court order.