The significant events of our lives, birth, marriage, professional promotion, are often symbolized by a gift or the purchase of precious objects: a ring, a watch, an ornament.

The more years go by, the more difficult it becomes to update the value of these assets.

How to have your jewelry appraised and who to contact?

Getting organized

Take a little time. Simply start by checking that the watches are in good working order, that the clasps are in good working order...

• Clean the jewelry by dusting it with a clean cloth and possibly running it under water before observing it with the naked eye and in daylight.
• It is the first gesture of the gemmologist who is about to study the stone. So don't hesitate to observe your jewelry and the colors of the stones, ideally in the morning light.
• Same thing before a major purchase! Don't hesitate to leave the store. The stone may appear lighter or a shade of a secondary color. These details are not visible in even the most sophisticated retail environment.

Then to go further, you can get a magnifying glass that magnifies 10 times. This is the basic conventional instrument to look for details not visible to the naked eye on the surface and inside the gems.

Other magnifying glasses and microscopes with higher magnification can complete this first essential step. The object or the stone must be looked at from all angles from above, below and from each side.

At the end of this step, you can make an inventory of the most remarkable pieces and take close-up photographs showing the hallmarks.

Sometimes, purchase or repair invoices, notarized attestations for inheritances, certificates of authenticity specify the origin, composition, materials used, weights.

Find out more

There are several professional organizations of reference:

• Gemologists, graduates of the Institut National de Gemmologie de Paris or other recognized international organizations such as the Gemmological Association of London or the GIA in the United States.
• For unmounted stones, the laboratories of Expertise such as the French laboratory of gemmology, which deliver certificates specifying the characteristics of the stone: natural or synthetic and the treatments, sometimes the geographical origin.

Experts, members of a professional Union or Chamber:

• French union of experts, CNES (National Chamber of Specialized Experts),
• National Union of Antique Dealers
• jewelers who are members of the HBJO federation (Watchmaking, Jewelry and Goldsmiths).

Encrypt

The value of the jewelry may vary depending on the purpose. 

I keep the jewel

Expertise by a professional can be useful

• to check the limits of the jewelry or precious objects guarantee of his insurance contract.
• for sharing. 

I sell 

There are different ways to sell your precious objects: 

• Dealers, specialists and antique dealers 
• Public sales rooms
• Platforms and websites

You must not forget the costs of commission, advertising, shipping ... On the Internet, sales are also commissioned.

Instagram has become a powerful sales channel.

I transmit 

In this case, the auctioneer's price is the best document to produce in order to avoid disputes. 

Need a personalized help ? do not hesitate to contact me