Independent Jewellery Valuations by Michael Inkpen FGA

On Wednesday I visited Michael Inkpen at his new office in Exeter, just to see what his set up is and have a chat.

On arrival I found the parking very easy and close to his premises. I did get a little lost due to interesting directions on the AA website. The receptionist at the office very kindly guided me in though. When I entered the building, through a nice secure airlock type system of doors, I was greeted by the receptionist and led to a comfortable seating area. Michael came out from his office and met me in a warm and friendly manor. After a brief introductions on both sides we went to his office.

Whilst Michael was telling me of his history in the trade, from an apprenticeship in London and working at the bench, through to owning and running a retail jewellers in a small Devon town to his current position of Independent Valuer at Michael Inkpen FGA. Michael truly does understand jewellery, more than many valuers, or retailers for that matter, do. Most valuers I have come in contact with have never made real jewellery, maybe a little tinkering here and there, but not making a quality piece from start to finish. Michael has. I have always believed that the best way to understand something is to have a go. This is quite evident in every word that comes from his mouth, that this is not just a job, its his passion.

Whilst listening to his fascinating history, I was looking around his office at the various books and equipment. All the usual things are there: Loupe, Diamond light, Refractometer etc. Then there is his photographic light box. When I was looking at it, I was thinking that it didn't quite look right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was only when Michael was showing me this that he explained he had taken it apart and reconstructed it so it worked better. Michael vs Jessops. Michael is the winner. He has a lovely little fibre optic that  fits on the end of a Maglite torch. He seems to see the possibility of improvement in everything. If you're designing a piece of equipment for gemmology, you might want to give him a call before putting it on the market!

His tinkering doesn't stop there. He was quite happily showing me a piece of appraisal software he uses and all the adjustments he's made to it. Re-writing and adding to a piece of professional appraisal software should surely be wrong, but I can see why he's done what he's done and I believe he's absolutely right! There is a piece of coloured stone grading software linked to it for more accurate colour description, avoiding the traditional "pigeon's blood" ruby (I've often wondered if that refers to fresh or dried), commercial blue sapphire and all the other misleading terms. This is the computerised version of the GIA gemset  grading system. When I occasionally photograph a piece of jewellery, I spend alot of time trying to "clean up" the image with Photoshop. Tidying the background, removing apparatus for holding items, making sure the colour is right and so on. Michael has his photo editing so nicely set up, that a whole load of operations are performed in sequence with one click!

The document you get at the end of it is professionally produced in a folder that is as tamper-proof as you can get without being a bank. The glossary of terms is customised to each valuation, so you don't get pages and pages of information you don't need. The descriptions are nicely laid out in an easy to read format and in a more technical "data sheet" style for ease of access to statistics. As well as a small thumbnail sized image next to the description, there is a larger image gallery, which is very useful.

All in all, I'm impressed. He has a very professional approach with very reliable systems in place. Nice to deal with too. For any member of the public reading this, give him a call. For any retailers. Shouldn't you be selling jewellery, not staring down a microscope? Check him out at http://www.jewellery-valuer.co.uk/

Take care,

Damian

Cheaper alternatives for jewellery tools.

For a while I have been considering purchasing a heated pickle tank. For the unfamiliar, a heated pickle tank keeps your acid or safety pickle warm/hot to aid the removal of oxides from precious metals after heating or soldering. They are very handy as a warm pickle will work much faster than cold, speeding up your work.

The thing about them is, they're expensive. I recently discovered a cheaper alternative of a baby's bottle/food warmer. If this is used with a small Pyrex beaker (try ebay), it provides a perfectly suitable solution for smaller amounts of jewellery to be pickled. You must keep an eye on the temperature and as always with corrosive substances, be careful.

How did I discover this? I'm expecting to become a dad for the second time shortly and my wife and I have been bringing out all the baby paraphenalia. I had to do a quick soldering job and was just about to make up a new batch of pickle with hot water when I spotted the warmer on the side and decided it would be a good idea. My wife disagrees! After an ear bending I've decided to use it when she's not around!

Hopefully I will be able to give you some other ideas at different stages.

Take care,

Damian

Independent Jewellery Valuers. Good or Bad?

Independent valuers have started to "crop up" more frequently in recent years and are regarded by many traditionalists to be inferior. An independent valuer (I.V.) is someone who is set up to valuations and not a lot else. An I.V. can't, by definition, be employed by or strongly affiliated with a retailer or manufacturer.

The traditionalists say "How can an I.V. be in touch with current prices and trends when they aren't directly connected with the retail trade?", and I confess I was one of them. If you're in retail, you are directly connected to current trends, manufacturers prices, maybe even the experience of dealing in secondhand and antique jewellery. They're isolated, locked away in an office somewhere guessing at prices. When your that distanced from the cutting edge, how can you be even close to right? To be independent, you can't really phone the person that sold it recently and say "How much?". They've got to be inferior, right?

Then I look at my situation. In my retail role, I deal with sales, repairs, estimating, advertising, marketing, buying, more selling, handling phone calls, dealing with insurance claims, training staff, doing the displays and everything else.When have I got the time to research values, markets, treatments and synthetics, methods of manufacture through the ages and all the other things that make a competent valuer. I just happen to be one of those sad people that is so passionate about the trade and my part in it, I am often working and researching well into the night.

An independent valuer is able to focus on all of these things and more. Some of the most respected gemmologists in the world are valuers and appraisers. It gives them an opportunity to hone their skills on a daily basis. They can be constantly looking for tricks where retailers can get lazy, being used to relying on what their suppliers say rather than looking for themselves. How do they keep up to date? Monitoring data. Paying attention to shifting markets subscribing to some of the best price lists available and using some great software. Not only this, but also they offer more services than your average jeweller's undertaking more than insurance valuations. They have not got a vested interest in the final value and tend to charge set fees rather than percentage based fees, so no incentive to over inflate your valuation.

Where most jeweller's offer a simple colour description and sometimes, but not always, a photograph, specialist valuers almost always include a photograph and very often a way of describing and communicating colours. Adrian Smith (http://www.adrian-smith.co.uk/) a valuer in Scotland has even gone so far as to purchase a piece of equipment that analyses and presents in a graphical form how a diamond handles light. I spend a lot of time explaining this to customers, but now he can show them! For the most part I think traditional jewellers doing things in house would not see this kind of purchase as a viable investment when there is stock to buy. This is what puts them ahead. Where I work we have a very simple darkfield microscope that cost about £250 and just about does the job, but the lighting isn't very good. In gemmology lighting and observation are of paramount importance. Where I usually use this once a week an appraiser would use it everyday, so it's worth spending more on a good one.

Just re-visiting the colour communication aspect. An american appraiser has recently contacted me regarding the testing of someones ability to perceive colour. It is now commonplace to have a test on colour perception every couple of years. After passing this test, you are issued with a certificate confirming you have a good recognition of colour. It might sound odd, but would you want someone who is colour blind to a degree valuing your precious Ruby or Emerald? This is a test available in the U.K. and more valuers are taking it, particularly people that value all the time (i.e. independent valuers). Another important point. How many traditional valuers go to these lengths. If you do I would be interested to hear.

The report you get from an independent valuer or one of the larger valuation companies lists in a very technical manor everything that is deemed worth mentioning and can be many pages long as the example on Michael Inkpen' s website (http://www.jewellery-valuer.co.uk/) . This is not to my taste as I prefer to see things laid out in an easy to read format made up of sentences. It's purely a taste thing. The report style has all the necessary information and probably more than the "story" style and would be better to have.

The important thing to remember is a valuation shows its true worth when things go wrong and the more detail you have, the less fighting you have to do with an insurer, solicitor, executor or whoever else. From a public point of view, I.V.'s can usually produce a more comprehensive report for you and make life easier in the event of an insurance claim for example.

From a trade point of view. Are you really the best person to be doing this? Would you rather shave a little off your insurance policy by not needing the liability cover. You could put money into stock that would otherwise need to be invested in subscriptions, equipment and software. Save the time needed for research and continued learning (never stop learning though). If you don't do things in house, by using an I.V. you won't be sending customers to another shop to spend their money. Think about it.

Below I have listed some reputable Independent Valuers and their general locations, if it's of help.

South West England: Michael Inkpen http://www.jewellery-valuer.co.uk/

Scotland: Adrian Smith http://www.adrian-smith.co.uk/

North West England: Georgina Deer http://www.valuemyjewellery.co.uk/

Ireland: Padraic Lavin http://www.jewelleryvaluationsireland.ie/

One of those posts that could go on forever. Even though we do valuations in-house where I am, I don't think it's the future. I think I could re-visit this one again. Please feel free to comment as this is all about sharing information.

Take care,

Damian

ALERT Keishi pearls entering the Natural Pearl Trade.

The Swiss Gemmological Institute(SSEF) has recently had several lots of pearls submitted for testing and certification. Many natural pearl dealers have become suspicious of the amount of natural pearls suddenly passing through the trade. After testing by various means the conclusion is that these are cultured Keishi pearls. To read more please see www.ssef.ch/en/news/news_pdf/newsletter_pearl_2010May.pdf . Yet another example of where good communication amongst the gem community is essential in combating the less scrupolous members of the trade. Take care, Damian

Independent Valuations in the South West U.K.

Independent jewellery valuations: A valuation by someone who has not got a vested interest in the outcome. A pretty essential thing I would say. If a valuation is provided by someone other than an independent valuer, they may have an interest in calculating a higher or lower figure to suit their ends. This may just be my simplified view, but I think it's important. Also, if someone is focused on just one area (valuations) they are more likely to keep up to date with all the latest tricks being used by the more dishonest members of the trade, such as treatments. Working in a retail environment, I don't have as much time to focus on these aspects as I would like. Many "in-house" valuations are carried out by people that aren't dedicated valuers. Anyway, I'm getting into a blog that I am going to write at a later date. The purpose of this post is to let anyone reading this in the South West of England know that Michael Inkpen FGA(http://www.jewellery-valuer.co.uk/) has now moved to Exeter. If you are not familiar with Michael, he has a wealth of experience in jewellery valuations. He has worked in retail and has the respect of many people in the trade (even though he doesn't realise how good he is). Many thanks to Adrian Smith (http://www.adrian-smith.co.uk/) for keeping me informed of this VERY important development. More to come shortly! Take care, Damian