As crime and drug use increases, the risks involved in having Antique and Estate Jewelry just lying around your home seem to treble. It becomes a nightmare and you find you are just not sure what to do. Here are some timely pieces of advice, but by no means comprehensive. If you have special circumstances, it may pay you to go one step further and get some professional advice. BALANCE AND COMMON SENSE... If you collect Antique Jewelry and your collection has grown to more than 'Just a couple of Rings' you will have a double edged sword to handle. In the first place you have two problems. * You are an active buyer, so people know who you are. * Insurance has put 'Premiums' through the roof. Personally, we just Hate to see items collected and never worn. Jewelry was made to adorn, so if you can, wear them. But remember this is an open advert to the whole world that you have 'Got some Jewelry' at Home. It pays to be just a little aware! YOUR INSURANCE POLICY... Your Home and Contents policy 'GENERALLY' does NOT cover your personal Jewelry over a certain amount (this varies from company to company). Plus if you had to claim, the Insurance company may take a 'premium' from you (say $100) which they would DEDUCT from the final payout. The remaining value may not cover one item in your collection, yet alone the 'sentimental' value associated with your personal favorites. So you will have to list all of the items individually and get an Insurance Valuation certificate as well. Because 'Sentimental' value does not apply, only the replacement costs, you will have to ensure your qualified gemologist/jeweler/valuer understands why you are having an appraisal done in the first place. This can get expensive as professional appraisals typically cost a flat 'Take-in' price of around $20 plus a sliding scale fee of approximately one percent of the final value. In an item is valued around $1000 dollars, that fee is $10 + $20 take-in or $30 total. This is just for ONE item. Valuation Appraisals can cost up to $60 dollars or more so if you have a small collection, you may need a small fortune just to keep up with current prices. The BIGGER your collection - The B I G G E R your cost! But if you don't want a great outlay, you might just take advantage of the useful 'Do-it-Yourself' Online Jewelry Self Appraisal Kit at the Online Jewelry Appraisal Center at the address shown below, which is a great alternative. This ONLINE database system calculates everything for you and prints out a descriptive Certificate and is hundreds of times more accurate and thorough than your local high street jewelers' scribbled letterhead. At such a low fee it's money well spent. Indeed, if you just purchased something on eBay or Yahoo auctions, for example, you might wish to just confirm an approximate value by using this easy to use DIY Valuation Appraisal Kit. Suppose you recently bought something from a local Dealer, on the Market or Antique Fair, why not get it checked. What's the worst that could happen? For less than the price of a Big Mac and Coke it's a Bargain, plus there are many other advantages to having your Jewelry done at the Online Jewelry Appraisal Center. Your appraisal valuations should be re-done every couple of years as the price of Gold and Silver changes, as does the price of Diamonds and Gemstones and Antiques in particular. We do offer an excellent reminder service to anyone who completes a 'Do-it-Yourself' Online Jewelry Self Appraisal Kit with us. This alone is worth the small fee as it relieves you of the problem. But remember that if your Jewelry is lost or stolen, the insurance cover will only help replace your treasure with something of 'COMPARABLE' value. It can't buy you 'sentiment' and it can't buy you another Georgian Chatelaine to exactly replace the one you had. You may be able to get another 'Similar' item though, and that is better than the few dollars or so, you may have received from the Homeowners policy. It pays to have an up-to-date Certificate. I can't stress that enough. If in doubt, talk with your trusted Insurance Company. But even if it's just for 'Peace of mind', the small price (less than a Cinema Ticket) is well worth the effort. It's a No-Brainer really. There are several other SPECIAL REPORTS available through our eMail-on-Demand subscription box at the website, so please take some time to visit. There is a timely warning on Security issues. It's good advice, plus there is some great tips on Investing in Jewelry, Insurance guidelines and other notes on selling, Hallmarking tips etc, and they are being added to all the time. And the best bit is they are FREE.... Thank you for taking the time to read this special report. If you thought it interesting, useful or found it helped you in any way I would appreciate your comments via email at the address shown below. This is my personal email address and I read every comment - good or bad. Alternatively: why not pass it on to a friend. I'm sure you can think of someone who might benefit from this useful information. Treat it as doing me a big favor. I will certainly appreciate it. regards and please watch the road. David Foard F.G.A.A. Fellow of the Gemological Association of Australia and former member of JATVC - The Valuers Council (retired). P.S. If you administer a website or publish an ezine, please feel free to use this article as long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed below. Although it's not compulsory, just send me an email at gemmo1@jewellery-antiques.com and let me know if and where you used it. If you need other great content - complimentary of course - then drop me a line at the email address given - 'cause I've got Gallons of the stuff.... |
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