APPRAISALS at PEARLS4LESS.COM : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Our products are analyzed by independent G.I.A Certified Gemologists from both the West coast and the East coast. These gemologists are recognized in the industry, having worked in the field for over 15 years. They painstakingly inspect all our jewelry and assign to it a value. As you browse our product catetories, you'll find links to these appraisal certificates which will make you even more comfortable in buying from Pearls4Less.com. We normally mail the copy of the appraisal, which is a reference to the value of similar item sold in a high-end jewelry stores.

Unlike other online jewlery stores, our appraisals are done by independent appraisers, not internal appraisers. That Gemologist works for a local high-end jewelry store, and he does not work for us. Be careful of cerficates of appraisal coming from the seller themself, with their company name on it. It does not carry any weight with insurance companies. Please let us explain:

If you want an original appraisal, you can contact a professional appraiser. The charges usually vary from $120 to $150 for each item. The most credible professional appraisers are the ones who only do appraisals with no jewelry selling. Normally, they will have a gemologist (could be the appraiser himself) analyze the item. They will take a digital photo of the jewelry, and list all the essential aspects of the jewelry according to arule book. After that, they will provide you with a range of normal selling prices – from the Internet to the upscale retail store. The same item could also sell at different prices in different areas of USA. At this point they will ask you how much you paid, and they will arrive at an appropriate value for insurance purposes. This will be based upon a combination of their experience and ongoing price research in the marketplace, and the price you actually paid.

Because there is no single “right price” for any diamond or item of jewelry, they think it is appropriate to discuss the fairness of a price in terms of range. Bottom line, they can't come up with an absolute value. So we suggest you don't tell them the price you paid for, because you actually bought the item at a wholesale price from us. We suggest you let the appraiser come up with their own research value range, otherwise they will be affected the price you paid. If they are a professional and claim to be very good, then let them do their best job of inspecting the product. Ultimately, the insurance company requires a single value and the appraiser will provide one in the finished appraisal. Remember, the more value you want to insure, the higher premium you will pay the insurance company. So the appraiser will build into the value how much you are willing to pay for the premium. However, with that kind of thorough and professional appraisal done from a credited appraiser, you will be sure that your item will be replaced by the insurance company for the value insured if anything happens to it. Remember, you might also have to have the item re-assessed every year or two so as to keep the price updated to market values