Beware the Misleading Valuation When Jewellery Shopping

Posted on 16 Nov, 2022 by Paul Nilsson

For too long now the jewellery buying public have been mislead by insurance replacement valuations being used by jewellers and other traders in advertising and in the sales process. GemLab has a strict policy of not valuing jewellery items for insurance when we know the valuation is going to be used in this way.

Many retailers, second-hand jewellery dealers, and auctioneers argue that they get an insurance valuation done so that the purchaser can immediately arrange insurance on their purchase. If that was the case, they would not be using it as part of the sales pitch. No, the real reason an insurance valuation is done on a diamond or jewellery item that is for sale is so it can be used in the sales process, and possibly mislead jewellery and diamond shoppers into believing they are getting a better deal than they really are.

Ever since 2006 we have refused to provide insurance valuations on unsold stock items – instead we offer independent Jewellery Quality Reports with no value reported, and/or Retail Market Valuations that reflect the prices that similar age, quality, and condition items actually sell for. We are proud that GemLab Reports on diamonds and jewellery are recognised as some of the most accurate in the industry.

We would suggest that you ignore the next insurance valuation that is presented to you when shopping for diamonds or jewellery, and that you ask for a GemLab Quality Report or a GemLab Retail Market Valuation Report instead. It could save you making a purchase mistake in the hundreds or the thousands of dollars.