All Fogged Up – Why is there no Sales Disclosure in Jewellery Valuations?

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Paul Nilsson

As I see it, jewellery valuation documents are a window through which Insurance Companies, Lawyers, Jewellery Owners, and others outside the Jewellery Trade look in, and as such it is crucial for the good of the Trade, and the standing of Valuers, that the window has a sound frame, and clear transparent glass.

Ethically speaking,  that window is pretty fogged up at present, especially in Australia and the United Kingdom. Many third party readers of jewellery valuation reports in those countries would be very surprised to learn that the Valuer can keep secret from them the fact that he or she was also the seller of the item in question and that he or she may have sold it for half what it is valued at.

Apparently, in the UK there is no provision in the rules or ethics of the Institute of Registered Valuers for a Valuer who is also the seller of the subject item to disclose that fact in their valuation. The situation is identical in Australia with the National Council of Jewellery Valuers only requiring the Valuer to verbally disclose their financial interest in the piece to the person they are preparing the valuation for (who will usually be the purchaser and therefore will automatically know anyway). Never mind that the insurance company the valuation is submitted to in support of an insurance claim, or the person who is looking at purchasing the item further down the track might consider that fact rather crucial to their decision making. In fact, if the same situation occurred in the domain of Real Estate the Valuer would be in front of the judiciary in very short order.

I discovered this rather glaring anomaly when we were asked to value a piece that had just been purchased in Australia and which came with a recent valuation from a Valuer of high standing. It was only when we contacted the Valuer to advise them, as a matter of courtesy, that we had identified a stone in the piece differently to their findings, that we discovered that the Valuer had also sold the piece and for half the valuation figure. I queried the Valuer as to why they had not disclosed that fact in the valuation and they advised that they didn’t have to. I then checked with the head of the National Council of Jewellery Valuers and they confirmed what the Valuer had told me.

This contrasts with the outcome of a recent occurrence in New Zealand with almost identical circumstances. A member of one of the NZ Jewellery Valuers organizations had valued an item six months before it was stolen and subsequently become the subject of an insurance claim. That valuation document also did not disclose the fact that the Valuer had sold it for half the valuation. In contrast to the Australian example, however, a complaint was able to be made to the NZ Valuers organization and the Valuer has now undertaken to include a disclosure statement in their valuations. Here is the relevant clause in the NZ Jewellery Valuers code of ethics –

Disclosure
Members are advised, that if an appraisal is requested, or is to be presented by them on any item, in which they have any form of interest, or intended interest, a clear statement of disclosure, shall appear prominently on the presented appraisal document.

Concurrent with these two incidents, and because of similar concerns in the UK, a Jewellery Valuer in Scotland by the name of Adrian Smith has gone about founding an international Association of Independent Jewellery Valuers,  www.aijv.org . This association seeks to identify and promote professional jewellery valuers who are truly independent by virtue of the fact that they do not buy sell replace broker or trade in any way in jewellery, stones, precious metals, or watches. Adrian sent invitations for membership to valuers associations in the US, UK, Ireland Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and many other countries. Australia is one of the countries from which no membership application has been received, let alone accepted. Is this because there are no valuers in Australia who do not also trade? If this is the case, wouldn’t you think that it would make documented disclosure, by the Jewellery Valuer, of financial interest in the subject item an absolute necessity?

If Jewellery Valuation documents are indeed a window into the Jewellery Trade isn’t it time for squeegees to be issued to the Australian Council and the UK Institute?

Posted in Buying and Selling, Jewellery Valuations | 7 Comments

Insurance of Your Jewellery – FAQ

Posted on October 31, 2008 by Paul Nilsson

Here is our FAQ page that answers many of the questions around the Insurance of Your Jewellery.

Why should my jewellery be documented and valued?
Two reasons. To ensure you are fully insured your jewellery items may need to be listed separately on your Contents Insurance Policy – a valuation is usually needed to do this. And at claim time the valuations provide proof you had the item, and evidence of its value.
Why are some items listed separately on my policy?
Most policies have limits for jewellery items that are not listed, usually a figure between $1000 and $3000 for each, but some are as low as $500. There is also usually a total limit for each claim of between $3000 and $20,000 irrespective of the number of unlisted items in the claim. Even your lower value items should be documented for you to be fully protected.
What does an effective insurance valuation of my jewellery look like?
It is a document that contains a good colour photo, a detailed enough description to allow a current value to be calculated without re-examination of your items, and a value or values for each that represent the amount the item should be covered for under the terms of the Policy. Photos alone are not enough to accurately establish the value of your jewellery in the case of burglary or loss.
Who should value my jewellery?
Ideally the valuer should not be the seller, or have any other financial interest in the items. If the seller does provide a valuation it must disclose that they sold it, and the amount you paid for it. An independent jewellery valuer should be able to accurately identify the gems and metals and provide a good description of their dimensions, weights, and quality. The valuer would ideally be a qualified gemologist and diamond grader but this is not essential as long as they have access to someone who is. Most importantly your jewellery valuer should have a good understanding of the basic valuation principles, methodologies, and ethics that apply to the valuation of any form of property.
What types of value are listed on an insurance valuation?
There are two ways your jewellery may be covered by your policy, which is why many valuations list two insurance values.
One is the Replacement New Value which is the amount necessary for you to purchase a brand new item of equivalent quality.
The other is the Indemnity Value – more recently referred to by insurance companies as “market value”, “present day value” and “current value” – this is the amount necessary to purchase an item of similar quality age and condition – ie the second-hand retail value.
What happens when I lose a jewellery item and file a claim?
The Insurance Company will require some proof of ownership, and evidence of the value of the item. Once the claim is accepted, the current value or values will be re-calculated from the item description in your valuation. If your cover is for Replacement, you will usually be issued with a voucher to purchase a new item. If your cover is for Indemnity the insurance company usually has the option of replacing as above, or paying you the Indemnity value in cash.
Doesn’t the insurance company have to pay what the valuation says?
No. When you send your valuation copies in to your broker or insurance company, it represents the amount you want your jewellery covered for, and forms the basis for the premium calculation. By accepting the valuation the insurance company is not promising to pay the valued amount. This is because they are insuring the item, not the valuation. Claims are settled on the value of the item at the time of loss. All of which is why the accuracy and detail of the description in the valuation is so important.
How do I know what cover I have for my jewellery?
Read the fine print of your insurance policy or ask your insurance company. Many policies that offer replacement on your contents exclude items such as cameras, sports equipment, and jewellery – paying only the second-hand (Indemnity) value. Most companies offer the option of upgrading to a full replacement policy for jewellery.
Why shouldn’t insurance valuations be used to sell jewellery?
They are misleading when used in a sales situation because they do not represent the amount similar items are actually selling for. Instead, the values are specifically calculated to ensure that you the owner are adequately covered. Because the values will usually be the limit of your Insurance Companies liability, they will tend to be on the high side.
If the item for sale is second-hand, the situation is even more misleading when the seller is using the replacement new value to advertise the “worth” of the item.
Are there other types of valuation for jewellery?
Yes.
A Market Valuation is the one to ask for if you want to know whether the price of an item is fair. It should report the most common price similar quality, age and condition items are actually selling for, in the market they are most commonly sold. For most jewellery the most common market is retail, as few sales occur between private individuals.
A Cash Realisation Valuation should give you an idea of what your net return would be when selling the item by the most appropriate means available, and allowing a reasonable time period to effect a sale. This valuation is often used as the basis for estate division.
A Replication Valuation tells you what it would cost for an exact duplicate of the item to be made. Except for one-of-a-kind items this value is always higher than Replacement New Value. Many jewellers and jewellery owners mistakenly believe insurance companies should pay for replication, whereas most contents policies only allow for replacement with an equivalent quality item
Questions or Comments Welcome.
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Beware the Misleading Valuation When Jewellery Shopping

Posted on October 27, 2008 by Paul Nilsson

The “Valuations Don’t Ring True” article in the Sunday Star-Times yesterday is to be welcomed. 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 is the only valuation company that 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 dealers 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. Thereby possibly misleading jewellery and diamond shoppers into believing they are getting a better deal than they really are.

Although we used to, we now no longer do 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.

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Why Get My Jewellery Valued for Insurance?

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Paul Nilsson

The saddest part of our job as jewellery valuers is when a jewellery owner gets burgled and we are asked to evaluate the jewellery loss only to find they have no valuation documents. This makes it impossible to establish a fair value for the items. Or they may not have been fully covered for the items in the first place. Then the owner starts to feel like they are getting “robbed” all over again by their own insurance company.

This is because insurance companies usually place limits on what they will pay for jewellery that they didn’t know you owned. There are two kinds of limits – a per item limit that is typically between $1000 and $2500, and a total loss limit that can be as little as $3000 but is usually more like $10,000. For items or collections over these limits to be covered they must be documented and specified on your insurance policy.

The person that has just suffered the burglary always says to us that they wished they had their jewellery valued but “we never got round to it”, or “we thought it would never happen to us”. We feel that you should get around to it before its too late. Jewellery is the prime target of thieves because it is small, easily transportable, difficult to trace, and relatively easy to turn into cash. Why hesitate to spend $25 to $110 having a precious jewellery item professionally documented & valued when you stand to lose $500 or $5000 or $50,000 by not “getting around to it”.

Some of the more modern home contents insurance policies have very high per item limits – $5,000 or $10,000. Some high-end policies even have no limits on jewellery. This is done by the marketing departments of the insurance companies to make it easy for high net worth individuals to take out the policy in the first place. There is no obligation to get jewellery valued before it is fully covered. It also tends to give the policy holder a false sense of security.

This is all very well – until claim time. This is when you find out that the claims department of your insurance company is going to require proof that you owned the jewellery in the first place, proof of exactly what the jewellery items were in terms of carat gold or other metals such as platinum and silver, and sizes & qualities of diamonds and gemstones, and proof of their value.

If you would like to “get around to it” right now its easy to get your precious diamonds and jewellery documented, valued, and fully insured at GemLab Jewellery Valuers

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Introducing the GemLaBlog

Posted on September 9, 2008 by Paul Nilsson

This the Blog of GemLab, New Zealand’s leading Diamond Grading Laboratory and Jewellery Valuation Company.

GemLab provides independent confidential accurate & unbiased information on diamonds, gemstones, and all types of jewellery. Whether you are looking at buying selling or insuring diamonds and jewellery we can help.

We specialise in Diamond Quality Reports, Jewellery Insurance Valuations, Pre-purchase reports, and advice on selling quality jewellery. We can analyse and value antique jewellery, modern jewellery, wristwatches, pocket watches, pearls, loose gems and diamonds.

Unlike most other jewellery valuers in New Zealand, GemLab does not buy or sell diamonds jewellery or watches, assuring you of a completely unbiased opinion.

In our blog we will be posting articles & comments of interest to jewellery owners, diamond buyers, jewellers, and insurance companies. Please feel free to ask questions.

Posted in Buying and Selling, Diamonds, Insurance, Jewellery Valuations | Leave a comment