What’s it Worth?

When dining with my wife or friends on the island, it is a rare occasion I don’t get noticed by some of my clients - you know, me being “jeweler to the stars” and all that. It usually begins with, “we just got back from a vacation on the islands (Jamaica, Antigua, Bahamas, whatever) and we bought this piece of jewelry and were wondering if you could tell us what it’s worth?” First of all, in this dimly lit restaurant I can barely read the menu, let alone do an accurate “appraisal” on an item I can barely see. My answer is to bring it by the shop where I can properly analyze it. I have to bite my tongue when I say this. I should have just said “It’s worth what you paid for it!” And then resume my romantic interlude with my wife. Remember folks, I sell jewelry and they are customers of mine - the last thing I want to do is give them the bad news that they got taken over the coals on their purchase (90% of the time, that is the case). Telling the brutal truth results in unhappy people who are now alienated towards me or figure I’m full of what makes the grass grow or an incompetent appraiser or maybe they figure I’m just a bit jealous they did not buy it from me! All and all it’s a dicey situation that’s hard to handle. If I humor them and pretty much lie to avoid them being disappointed about their purchase I have now compromised myself as a professional appraiser. Believe me that little white lie will come back and bite me in the behind if and when it is put down in black and white when professionally appraised at a fraction of what they paid. Now I truly look like an idiot.

Sometimes the answer is cut and dried. For instance, a mass-produced Italian made 14 karat gold rope neck chain can be weighed and calculated at the current gold market price. Let’s say it weighs 20 grams, the retail price could be between $1,500 and $2,000. That’s kind of a ballpark figure because it all depends on when and where you purchased the item. If the chain was purchased ten or so years ago the purchased price would have been around a third of that. So compared to buying it today back then it was a sweet deal.

Now jewelry containing diamonds and precious gems are a different story. The pieces have to be analyzed and broken down to current market prices. Take for example a six-carat platinum and diamond tennis bracelet. What’s it worth? Just looking at it on a ladies wrist and coming up with a price is like looking at a house on Marco Island from a satellite photo and estimating its cost!

This is where the experience of a qualified jewelry appraiser is required and that is going to cost you money for his or her time and experience. An appraiser knows the difference between junk, good, better or best quality jewelry. The advantage I have over other jewelers is I design and create jewelry. I build tennis bracelets from scratch regularly so I can come up with a very accurate figure. First is the cost of the platinum bracelet, then the cost of fifty .12 point round diamonds of fine quality and next add the labor to set all of the diamonds in the bracelet, polish and finish then simply add the average profit factor and I then have a very accurate cost of that article.

The weight and craftsmanship of the platinum bracelet, plus the quality of the diamonds are important factors in estimating the price of a six-carat tennis bracelet that costs anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000. The $10,000 price tag would contain diamonds of questionable or lower quality.

Sadly, the tennis bracelets I have seen come in my door as of late for insurance appraisals are of deplorable quality, both in construction, diamond color and clarity. To make matters worse people are paying way too much money for them.

It constantly puts me in an awkward situation because folks want to know the value of the “deal” they got while on vacation. Sorry, but if you don’t want to hear the cold hard facts about the purchase you probably shouldn’t ask me. As an appraiser I have to call it as it is, or compromise being a professional. I’ve seen folks spend $20,000 for a really bad quality diamond that I could only appraise for $6,000. It’s tough to look someone in the eye and tell them their “deal of the century” isn’t worth a hill of beans.

At a sit-down appraisal that’s why I charge a certain fee. Analyzing a half a dozen pieces of jewelry for insurance purposes can take hours; lots of times I find pieces had been over estimated resulting in higher insurance premiums. It makes no sense to insure a ring for $12,000 when it can be replaced today for $7,000.

During many verbal appraisals I have the uncanny ability to turn smiling faces into frowns. To avoid such scenes I sometimes will just say “it’s pretty and what a nice memento of your trip” and leave the truth of its horrendous quality to some other jeweler. As I mentioned before, by telling the truth I end up being “the bad guy” and lose a customer!

Hey, I’m not the one who sold you that dog of a bracelet while you were shopping inebriated in St. Martin.

What’s it worth? I see movie stars and celebrities spending millions on a single engagement ring when I know darn well if I had the same quality ring in my store it would be around $300,000! If they are that rich and naïve or just plain dumb enough to pay that kind of crazy money on a three-carat diamond ring - congrats and all the power to the jeweler who made that sale! He made several years’ salary, a new house and a Porsche in one sale! 

More questions…

How long should a watch battery last?? 

Might as well ask me how long does love last? Every brand of watch has its own kind of movement inside. Obviously, that watch you bought at the flea market for two bucks is worth less than the cost of installing a new battery. It’s a cheap watch, it contains a cheap Chinese or Korean movement, and you are on your own on that one - six months to a year if you are lucky and that’s if the strap or hands don’t fall off beforehand. 

The best watches are Swiss made. My Tag Heuer goes three to four years without a battery change, some Seiko’s and Pulsars can last for a couple of years, most Japanese made watches seem to need replacing once a year. Also note a watch with bells and whistles such as lighted dials and multi dials or a watch with a malfunction (water or dust intrusion) can drain a battery. Most Timex’s use special lithium batteries that have more voltage to accommodate lighted dial functions. The more you use the light the faster you use up the battery. If your cheap watch drains in a few months, you got what you paid for - either keep buying batteries or toss it! If your watch was expensive, see a watchmaker. Something is amiss.

More questions answered next time…

Richard Alan Is a designer/goldsmith and owner of the Harbor Goldsmith, Marco’s go-to jeweler since 1994. He has been in the jewelry business for over 50 years, celebrating over 26 of those on the island. He welcomes your questions about “All That Glitters” www.harborgoldsmith.com, 239-394-9275. Harborgoldsmith@comcast.net.