What Percentage of an Estate Jewelry Appraisal Should I Get on a Loan or Sale?

JB's Expert Jewelry Pawn Advice

I get a lot of questions from folks looking to do a short term pawn loan on large diamonds or high-end watches such as Rolex or Cartier.

Today I received an inquiry from a gentleman in the Heathrow, Florida area:

“I have several diamond estate pieces that I inherited from my Mom that just passed and was wondering what percentage of the insurance appraisal I could expect to receive on a loan or outright sale?”

I get this question posed to me several times a week. There is no way to accurately provide a price based on a retail appraisal. 

There are several factors:

1. Appraisals are done by taking wholesale value and marking up the price to a retail level which could be double or quadruple the wholesale price. So there no set multiple and I have seen it all over the place. 
2. A lot of diamond appraisals are not done to GIA standards and are over graded. This means they are worthless which makes the appraisal overvalued.
3. What was one time in fashion could be outdated in today’s market. Such jewelry has little to no market for resale other than to break up the item for the value of gold, silver or platinum and diamonds if high enough quality.

I hope this brief overview helps you understand the various reasons why you should come in person to see me regarding your estate jewelry and loans. I always strive to pay top dollar on jewelry loans and have done many pawn loans of over 25k over the last 30 years in business.

Contact JB today for a free expertappraisal on your estate jewelry. Call (407) 644-4653 or stop by our store.