FAQs

A valuation is an informed opinion based upon many years of experience allied to formal training in gemmology and other specialist areas of product knowledge.

Valuations need to be undertaken today to a very high standard; the highest level is represented by the National Association of Goldsmiths’ Institute of Registered Valuers . All N.A.G. Institute of Registered Valuers have proven their expertise to their peers, with formal gemmological qualifications and substantial experience within the industry. They must also conform to the requirements of equipment for gem testing/grading and hold a thorough library of reference material.Valuations carried out by a N.A.G. Institute Registered Valuer will be undertaken professionally to the prescribed standards and ethically, and liable to routine monitoring by the Association itself to maintain those standards, and will include; detailed descriptions, details of the assessment of diamonds,Hallmarking information, condition statement,provenance or research, if appropriate, visual images,values with the appropriate type of insurance qualification. C.Clarke is Ireland's first and only female member of The Institute.

You need to value jewellery for many different reasons. The main reason is for “insurance” in the case of your jewellery being stolen, lost or damaged and you may wish to replace it again with the same or similar piece .The other reasons would be for probate, divorce or for private sale. Presently, I do not value jewellery for private sale.

A current valuation can help to establish the merits of replacement goods in the event of a claim. It can also establish ownership in the event of recovered property being claimed. It can provide a full inventory of all the items of value owned; even items of relatively low value can be included in a checklist. Most importantly of all, it can provide a sound foundation on which to base a claim to insurers.

When you hire a valuer to value your jewellery you are seeking independent professional advice. The fees that are charged are to cover all the equipment, training, time that is required in order to complete a professional valuation to the highest standards .If you actually watch a jewellery valuer at work you will be very surprised at all the equipment, and time that it takes to value one item...it is nothing like The Antiques Road Show where they have completed all this work off camera, before they arrive at the value!

Most insurance companies do cover unspecified items up to a certain figure. However in the event of a claim problems can arise in establishing where in the range of €20 and €2000 your item falls. This can lead to delays, stress and an unsatisfactory settlement for you. It is far better to have all your jewellery valued even if it is under €2000. This way there can be no dispute as to the value of the piece.

I value all jewellery for insurance replacement purposes and also new (last 10 years) watches. I also value all jewellery and new watches for probate or divorce.

I do not value coins, silverware, old watches, scrap gold or jewellery that has been purchased in Ireland in the last twelve months.

Most registered jewellery valuers do not value jewellery that has been bought in their own country in the previous year so this is not unusual. If you buy a piece of jewellery from a jeweller, it is up to that jeweller to furnish you with all the correct information about the piece that you have purchased (size, colour, clarity etc.,) you should not have to pay somebody else to tell you all this information! In the past some jewellers might have under valued a competitors piece of jewellery and this would lead to conflict, so it is to try to avoid this situation. However, if you buy the item from an antique shop and you furnish me with all the information you were given then I will do a valuation for the item as many antique shops do not do valuations.

Yes, I was the first person in Ireland to introduce this service about 20 years ago and still operate this service today! Sometimes if I have some coloured gemstones I may need to keep them for a few hours to do some tests on them to fully establish or clarify exactly what they are, but I would inform you in advance if I have to keep them.

Yes, as an established jeweller in the city centre for over 25 years we, have full insurance cover for whatever we take in to our shop, so you need never worry about this aspect if you choose to leave your jewellery with us.

Now I can value any item of jewellery without a certificate, however I do not remove any stone to weigh it, so I work all weights out by measurements, which are estimated, weighs. If you were given any information about your jewellery I use this as a comparison to what I have estimated a piece to weigh. The same with the colour / clarity of a diamond, I use this information to see how it compares with my assessment of a diamond, it also helps me if I know which laboratory graded your diamond. I also need to take the numbers/date from your laboratory certificate and put it on to my certificate. I am not interested in how much you paid for the item, as I have to come up with my own value on the item.

All going well, it takes about half an hour for a ring and you can get your certificate later in the day or posted out to you the next day.

I have many files of cases of rings that have problems with either the stone not matching the cert., the diamond being enhanced (and the client was not told), rings falling apart, the metal not being what it is supposed to be etc., etc., etc....it goes on!!! In the past I would not charge my clients anything for doing most of the valuation and then having to stop because of some problems. However, I am unable to continue this service free of charge as it takes me a lot of time to go through a whole valuation and then the client decides to send the item back to the jeweller. So now I have to charge for the amount of testing/ time I have put in to the valuation before I discover the problem. The charge will be one third to half the cost of the valuation and the remainder can be paid when the new piece of jewellery comes back after fixing/change.

I conform to professional standards that require all confidential client information to be kept private and secure .I will never discuss your valuation with any other third party without your consent or unless compelled to do so by law. For security reasons I also never put any address on a valuation unless you request this yourself.

This question is really a question for your insurance company but in general you should re-value your jewellery about every two years. If there is a sudden high increase in the price of gold/platinum you may need to re-value sooner rather than later.

No you will not have to pay the same charges. The first time I value your jewellery you have to pay for all the testing, and photos but this information is then kept on file so you only have to pay a smaller fee for the actual valuation to be carried out again.

Yes it is cheaper to have a number of items valued together. Even three or four items together will cost less then all the items being brought in one by one. If you have bulk items please phone me for a quote.