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
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