Speaker 1: Welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host, Melanie Young,
Speaker 1: and I like to empower women like you to make
Speaker 1: confident choices about how they choose to live and how
Speaker 1: they choose to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about something that's topical for
Speaker 1: so many reasons and something many of us don't think about,
Speaker 1: which is protecting your valuables. We know how we want
Speaker 1: to protect our health and our loved ones, but what
Speaker 1: about your possessions and your valuables. And why this comes
Speaker 1: to light so much now is that my heart simply
Speaker 1: breaks when I hear the stories about the so many
Speaker 1: people who have lost everything in the California wildf fires,
Speaker 1: including family photos and memento. I was, in fact, the
Speaker 1: most number one thing they talk about is losing photos
Speaker 1: and important family mementos. There are also personal effects and
Speaker 1: of course valuable things like art and jewelry and your silver,
Speaker 1: and things that are often not replaceable or could be replaceable,
Speaker 1: but you may not have the proper documentation in place
Speaker 1: to make that happen. So I live in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: It's a high hurricane zone, and I moved here in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Before that, I lived in New York
Speaker 1: City and had two apartments, both of which were burglarized.
Speaker 1: I actually tell people I became an official New Yorker
Speaker 1: when I was burglarized burglarized, and I learned to have
Speaker 1: like six locks on my door. What I learned from
Speaker 1: the experience when I had Renter's insurance, because I'm big
Speaker 1: on getting everything insured, is that I was not sufficiently
Speaker 1: insured for my grandmother's jewelry, which I inherited, which broke
Speaker 1: my heart because I learned from the experience that I
Speaker 1: had not had a jewelry schedule which would have enabled
Speaker 1: me to claim my insurance properly. And that really stung
Speaker 1: and it stay with me for the rest of my
Speaker 1: life and wherever I've lived. Whenever I have acquired a
Speaker 1: piece of jewelry, the first thing I do is I
Speaker 1: would get into a praiser to make sure I had
Speaker 1: all the necessary documentation. The sad thing about the wildfires
Speaker 1: is everybody lost everything, including their documentation. And I read
Speaker 1: and heard that if your items are in a bank
Speaker 1: vault and a safe, it doesn't mean they're covered by
Speaker 1: the FDIC. Cringe because I used to keep all my
Speaker 1: jewelry in a safety deposit box thinking that that was
Speaker 1: okay and I could take it off my insurance. It's complicated,
Speaker 1: and boy, the insurance companies are making even more so.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. If you love and value something,
Speaker 1: protect it, keep documentation in safe place, floodproof, and have
Speaker 1: up to date appraisers. It's so important, but we don't
Speaker 1: think about that sometimes when we worry about the cost.
Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about that today so that
Speaker 1: you can decide what makes sense for you to protect
Speaker 1: your beautiful things so you can pass them on to
Speaker 1: the people you love. And so we're going to be
Speaker 1: talking with today on Fearless, Fabulous You. Ed O'Brien he
Speaker 1: is a certified appraiser for more than thirty years. He
Speaker 1: trained with a Gemological Institute of America, the GIA and
Speaker 1: Diamonds and Colored Stones. It's a comprehensive education to ensure
Speaker 1: that every appraisal conducted by Ed is performed with the
Speaker 1: highest level of professionals and precision. Now that's important because
Speaker 1: I have heard stories of people that didn't go and
Speaker 1: select the proper people or maybe sold, you know, tried
Speaker 1: to sell jewelry to someone who was rably not authorized
Speaker 1: to deal and they ran into some problems. You don't
Speaker 1: want to run into problems when it's something precious. So
Speaker 1: we're going to talk to Ed about what steps you
Speaker 1: should take if you want to protect your valuables. Ed
Speaker 1: welcome to Fearless Fabulous You, thank.
Speaker 2: You, Melanie, Thank you for having me today.
Speaker 1: Before I want to start, I just want to let
Speaker 1: everybody know for full disclosure, that Ed O'Brien appraised a
Speaker 1: lot of my jewelry that I inherited from my mother
Speaker 1: and she did not have up to date appraisals, which
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about, so I couldn't get anything
Speaker 1: a prey. I couldn't get anything protected by a jew
Speaker 1: jewelry insurance coverage program because she didn't have up to
Speaker 1: date appraisals. So I found Ed through a service, I think,
Speaker 1: and he had very high marks. So full disclosure. I
Speaker 1: have worked with Ed, and I invited him on because
Speaker 1: the whole thing with the fires just really shook me.
Speaker 1: So anyway, I do recommend him. He's based in Connecticut.
Speaker 2: Right, Yes, I'm based in the New Haven area, but
Speaker 2: he came.
Speaker 1: To New Orleans. He travels, and he came and it was great,
Speaker 1: So Ed, welcome. I just wanted to get that, you know,
Speaker 1: full disclosure out. So Ed, let's talk about what you
Speaker 1: should look for in an appraiser and are there different
Speaker 1: kinds of appraisers that you must consider?
Speaker 3: Okay, uh yes, I think that you have to find
Speaker 3: an appraiser that is qualified, somebody who is knowledgeable of
Speaker 3: market trends, somebody who has a credentials such as g
Speaker 3: i A or National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. You really
Speaker 3: need somebody who can look at a piece, knows how
Speaker 3: it's manufactured, knows the manufacturing process, knows the you know,
Speaker 3: replacement value in the retail value of it, and knows
Speaker 3: what the actual costs would be should you have a loss,
Speaker 3: you're able to have enough insurance to replace it. I
Speaker 3: mean there are many things that do go into an appraisal,
Speaker 3: such as market fluctuations, that things change all the time.
Speaker 3: What it's worth, you know, five years ago, might not
Speaker 3: be what is what that item is worth today. So
Speaker 3: you really need to make sure you find somebody who
Speaker 3: knows the industry.
Speaker 1: I think it's important and to under also in the
Speaker 1: score is I learned like a lot of the appraisal.
Speaker 1: Appraisals I had were over ten, fifteen, even twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five years old. That didn't fly with the jewelry company.
Speaker 1: With the I used Jewelers Mutual because it was recommended
Speaker 1: by my renter's insurance. Because renters insurance will only cover
Speaker 1: so much. Homeowners is a different ballgame. Okay, with homeowners
Speaker 1: you can ask about jewelry coverage and art and everything else,
Speaker 1: but renters you're a little limited. So I actually ended
Speaker 1: up going to Jewelers Mutual, which was recommended by people
Speaker 1: to do a whole separate insurance policy. And I want
Speaker 1: to bring that out because they would not talk to
Speaker 1: me until I had appraisals.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you should really update appraisals at least every three years.
Speaker 3: Might recommend two years, because again, things do change. Currently
Speaker 3: right now in the market, we're going through a phase
Speaker 3: where lab created diamonds are very popular, so it's kind
Speaker 3: of dropping the value of natural diamonds. So if you
Speaker 3: have an appraisal for say one carrot time and that
Speaker 3: you got ten years ago, it would not be current
Speaker 3: market value now, and you also might be paying higher
Speaker 3: insurance rates for that because the prices have come down
Speaker 3: a little.
Speaker 2: You really should update your appraisal at least every two years.
Speaker 1: What is the appraisal process, what do you have to
Speaker 1: bring to the table, and what should you expect the
Speaker 1: appraiser to do and provide you in terms of documentation.
Speaker 3: Okay, all you really need to bring is the item
Speaker 3: and the jeweler and the appraiser should inspect the diamond
Speaker 3: or any of the stones or even the carrot of
Speaker 3: the metal into a full inspection and then they will
Speaker 3: determine a value that's current to today's prices in the market.
Speaker 3: And you should get a detailed report itemizing all the stones,
Speaker 3: all their clarities, their collar, the grade of each and
Speaker 3: every individual stone in the item, whether it be a
Speaker 3: bracelet and necklace spring, the metal, whether it's ten car
Speaker 3: fourteen care platinum. And then you should get a detailed
Speaker 3: description of the item, something that say you should have
Speaker 3: a loss and lose that piece. You should be able
Speaker 3: to read that narrative and replace that item and know
Speaker 3: exactly what that item is just by reading that narrative.
Speaker 2: And it really has to be a detailed description of
Speaker 2: each item.
Speaker 3: Pictures also should be included if whenever possible. I don't
Speaker 3: you know, It's not always necessary, but a picture on
Speaker 3: the appraisal is always something to look back should you
Speaker 3: have a loss.
Speaker 1: I think pictures are essential and I have had. I've
Speaker 1: worked with many appraisers. I worked with the praisers when
Speaker 1: I lived in New York. I had appraisers in Tennessee.
Speaker 1: When my mother would buy me jewelry. You gave me
Speaker 1: a very detailed appraisal with photos and detailed commentary. And
Speaker 1: I think you spent like five hours in my house.
Speaker 1: It was great because you actually came, you were in
Speaker 1: New Orleans and ended up you know, coming, and it
Speaker 1: was really comforting because I didn't want have to take
Speaker 1: my stuff anywhere. It was great. But I'm going to
Speaker 1: say that even if listeners, if you choose not to
Speaker 1: get anything appraised or not, I do recommend it. If
Speaker 1: it's valuable, you should be taking a photo of everything
Speaker 1: in your house where it is, whether it's on the wall,
Speaker 1: on the floor, on a shelf, and a jore that
Speaker 1: you do not want to lose, and you should create
Speaker 1: a spreadsheet or a list because when disaster strikes, you
Speaker 1: need to have documentation. I have done that with every
Speaker 1: room in my house. So the photos are really important,
Speaker 1: and I keep them in the cloud because obviously and
Speaker 1: if you are evacuating, you should be able you should
Speaker 1: have that any printouts with you. But you should keep
Speaker 1: everything also in a cloud because if your house does
Speaker 1: burned down, everything is gone correct and.
Speaker 3: That is so important too to keep the appraisal documents
Speaker 3: somewhere where they're safe, where they're fireproof, they're waterproof. But
Speaker 3: also keep them if you can, and ever possible, off
Speaker 3: site of your location, because say your house.
Speaker 2: Burns or there is a flood or a fire, you
Speaker 2: want to be able to get to that.
Speaker 3: So a safety deposit box the cloud is very uh,
Speaker 3: it is a very good idea. I recommend that highly
Speaker 3: also be able to you have to think ahead, like I,
Speaker 3: should you have a loss, you have to be able
Speaker 3: to get to that documentary.
Speaker 1: Well, we learned when that when unfortunately, when the Pacific
Speaker 1: Palisades burned down, so did the banks. And it's a
Speaker 1: bit of a mess. So because the everybody lost everything
Speaker 1: in the safety deposit box and I learned it was
Speaker 1: not covered by the bank. So are there do you
Speaker 1: know of any apps or anything that deals specifically with
Speaker 1: keeping your documents secure. I'm sure there are some I
Speaker 1: don't know if of them myself, But do you know
Speaker 1: of any that you would recommend?
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't know of any specific, but there there are
Speaker 3: many wallets where you can keep that. Also, your insurance
Speaker 3: company should should have a copy of it on file,
Speaker 3: you know, should you ever need to get to it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what I do is I have I have a
Speaker 1: print out, I have a print out I have in
Speaker 1: the cloud in my in my in my cloud, the
Speaker 1: Microsoft cloud, and I'm probably going to find a wallet also,
Speaker 1: And yes, you're ensure should have detail as well, right.
Speaker 3: And you can't have any shared unless it's in praise,
Speaker 3: so it's kind of a catch twenty two. You have
Speaker 3: to have it appraised here, you know, so in case
Speaker 3: you have a loss, your insurance company will have a
Speaker 3: copy of that.
Speaker 1: What kinds of things do you feel? Obviously it's really
Speaker 1: up to the person, But do you feel really important
Speaker 1: to have a praise right now? You actually caught me
Speaker 1: with a lab diamond comment because I think I have
Speaker 1: a natural diamond that probably is over a praise now
Speaker 1: based on that, and I'm paying a hefty price tag
Speaker 1: to have ensured. What do you what are things that
Speaker 1: are examples and not just jewelry.
Speaker 3: Also, I think anything of value, anything at least in
Speaker 3: the jewelry, I say anything over say a thousand dollars
Speaker 3: fifteen hundred dollars value anything as you acquire new gifts
Speaker 3: or new pieces. But you should also have your art
Speaker 3: a praise. Any important and valuable art should be a praise. Collectibles,
Speaker 3: there's many collectibles out there that have very high value.
Speaker 3: They should be a praise. Should you ever have a loss,
Speaker 3: you know, you should be insured. You know, anything that
Speaker 3: you're going to have to down the road prove the
Speaker 3: value of, you know, for insurance purposes to recoup any loss,
Speaker 3: or you've.
Speaker 1: Been replacement right, Because there's loss and there's replacement. And
Speaker 1: I'm going to just say it's a big difference because
Speaker 1: insurance can cover you for loss, but in order to
Speaker 1: have it your jewelry or your fine art or whatever covered,
Speaker 1: it has to be a replacement value insurance policy schedule correct.
Speaker 1: And I learned that when I was robbed, I didn't
Speaker 1: have replacement. I had replacement, but I didn't I mean
Speaker 1: I had lost, but that replacement right, And.
Speaker 3: That's why it's so important to have your appraisal was
Speaker 3: updated every few years. You know you couldn't inherit a
Speaker 3: diamond ring that you could. You know that's very high
Speaker 3: value in replacement right now where you have it under appraise,
Speaker 3: you know you'll never be able to replace it for
Speaker 3: what you have and ensured for, so you have to
Speaker 3: keep that current at current retail price.
Speaker 1: And you said every three years, maybe three to five.
Speaker 1: I think it's five years. I don't know every insurance.
Speaker 1: This is something you listeners need to discuss with your
Speaker 1: when you're shopping around for insurance. And you know, we
Speaker 1: all know that home insurance right now is tough. You
Speaker 1: need to ask how do you handle fine art, jewelry
Speaker 1: collectibles because every insurance is different.
Speaker 3: Correct, And like I said, I recommend two to three
Speaker 3: years having everything updated. Some insurance companies will go as
Speaker 3: far as five. But you ought to make sure you've
Speaker 3: got that question.
Speaker 1: So you do know, and you're you specialize in jewelry appraisals,
Speaker 1: do you do other kinds of appraisals?
Speaker 2: I do silverware, silver silver sets, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: I don't do art.
Speaker 3: I pretty much specialize in the fine jewelry, in metals,
Speaker 3: like serving sets, things like that.
Speaker 1: You know, I le've talked discussed it because I inherited silver,
Speaker 1: and you know, the appraisals are like from when my
Speaker 1: mother was married, which is over sixty years ago, so
Speaker 1: and silver has fluctuated. I'm in the process of getting
Speaker 1: all that addressed as well. And also it's not just
Speaker 1: to protect it, to keep it and hopefully pass it
Speaker 1: down or whatever, but also if you choose to sell something.
Speaker 1: I mean I have been in what I call the
Speaker 1: selling of my mother's items for a while and I
Speaker 1: couldn't price anything properly. Or when I would take it
Speaker 1: to an auction house and they would give me an estimate,
Speaker 1: you don't know somebody's joshing with you or not, because
Speaker 1: everybody's going to low ball you. And if you say
Speaker 1: I have the appraisal, they may say, well, yeah, but
Speaker 1: that's an appraisal for replacement. But we all know that.
Speaker 1: You know, in wholesale it's differ. You'll get a lot
Speaker 1: of pushback, but at least you have that appraisal. Particularly
Speaker 1: if you're selling something, whether you're selling it yourself invaluable
Speaker 1: or eBay or first DIBs, you can say I have
Speaker 1: I just did this. You could say I have an
Speaker 1: appraisal or an authentic letter of authentication, and that protects
Speaker 1: you when you were selling something directly or through a
Speaker 1: third party.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, especially if you're selling to an auction house
Speaker 3: or something like that.
Speaker 2: You need to know the value so they don't take
Speaker 2: advantage of you. You know, and there are a lot
Speaker 2: of companies that do that.
Speaker 3: So at least you're not going to get the full
Speaker 3: retail replacement value, but you know the cost of it.
Speaker 3: And you're right, a letter of authenticity that's a tough
Speaker 3: word to get out right now. That's helping the value
Speaker 3: of selling it privately also, and.
Speaker 1: That's important, particularly if you don't know. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to give some scenarios. I had a squash blossom that
Speaker 1: couldn't find any markings on it, but I was able
Speaker 1: to get a letter of authenticity so I could sell it. Uh,
Speaker 1: you I learned when you came into praise of my
Speaker 1: joy A piece two pieces I just kind of like
Speaker 1: snubbed at and didn't think they were worth much actually
Speaker 1: became worth more than I realized.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that quite often happens.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was very surprised by that, and yet not funny.
Speaker 1: Not funny the quote diamond earrings that my mother gave
Speaker 1: me with great fanfare for my birthday, ended up to
Speaker 1: be cubic circonias, which you know, my mother has passed.
Speaker 1: But a did my mother tried to pass them off
Speaker 1: to me as diamonds that knew they were czs or
Speaker 1: did the store sell her czs instead of diamonds. We'll
Speaker 1: never know, but I kind of cringed thinking about that,
Speaker 1: because I would hate to know that my mother thought
Speaker 1: she was giving me diamonds and they were CZ's. That
Speaker 1: was a big surprise.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I mean you could take comforted it was
Speaker 3: a dot, you know.
Speaker 1: But but if I had gone to a do A
Speaker 1: or I mean a jeweler's mutual where I use and
Speaker 1: said I have you know, or somebody that said, oh well,
Speaker 1: just appraises for whatever, or tried to sell them, it
Speaker 1: could have been really messy. So you know, again the
Speaker 1: value of getting appraisals is one to protect things that
Speaker 1: you cherish and don't want to lose, and you want
Speaker 1: to make sure that if something happens, whether it's lost, stolen, damaged, displaced, whatever,
Speaker 1: you have documentation and appraisal. But also if you go
Speaker 1: to sell something, you know that you can you've got
Speaker 1: a backup to say, I know this is the real
Speaker 1: deal right.
Speaker 2: Right in for internity.
Speaker 3: You know, whether you're looking for the monetary value of
Speaker 3: it or you want to replace it, it's it's important
Speaker 3: to be able to have it at a level that
Speaker 3: you can replace something.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really really important. Are there other scenarios that
Speaker 1: my listeners should weigh in when they're working with an appraiser.
Speaker 2: Currently?
Speaker 3: Uh, I think a lot of people are going towards electronically.
Speaker 3: Electronic is okay as long as you have the proper information.
Speaker 3: A lot of times you don't have to travel, you know,
Speaker 3: to have you Julia appraise. You know, the process does
Speaker 3: not take that long it should take electronically should take
Speaker 3: a day or two if you send it somewhere or
Speaker 3: you're on site, typically about one to two weeks. It's
Speaker 3: not really a hard process. Again, I'm doing electronically all
Speaker 3: over the country and a lot of a lot of
Speaker 3: people are these days. That also is accepted by many
Speaker 3: insurance companies, So I.
Speaker 1: Would uh, so you would be contented by your website,
Speaker 1: which is objewelers dot com. Ob as a boy, and
Speaker 1: then I would upload photos that I take with my
Speaker 1: phone onto your website and you would be able to
Speaker 1: do the evaluation that way. I are you have to
Speaker 1: send specific photos. I would think you'd have to send
Speaker 1: anything as market as close up, side, yes, et cetera.
Speaker 3: As many photos as you can, with as much detail
Speaker 3: as you can. If you when you're updating, it's even easier.
Speaker 3: Just getsend a copy of the old appraisal with the
Speaker 3: photo and then that has the information we should have
Speaker 3: the information needed and then really just detailed like you're right,
Speaker 3: markings front, backside.
Speaker 1: I think the old appraisal is important. I still have
Speaker 1: the old appraisals. Even though I got everything, I still
Speaker 1: keep the old appraisals and builds a cell because that
Speaker 1: kind of tells a history of the item.
Speaker 2: Correct. Anything will make you right and it's important to
Speaker 2: the appraiser.
Speaker 3: Also all that information should you have it, it's it's
Speaker 3: not necessary. If you don't have it, pictures are fine,
Speaker 3: you can go from there.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: My advice would be if you buy something or your
Speaker 1: gifted ask I mean every time my mother give me a
Speaker 1: piece of jewel, I'm say, did you get praise? Because
Speaker 1: with the piece of joey should come in appraisal. Uh,
Speaker 1: and and and data sale because it does make a
Speaker 1: difference when you were if that person is no longer
Speaker 1: with you. I had to go through a lot of
Speaker 1: things in my mother's estate, my grandmother's joy. We just
Speaker 1: did it with my mother in law, and I mean
Speaker 1: she's still alive, but we're right now doing it with
Speaker 1: some of her boxes of jewelry. And it made keeping
Speaker 1: that documentation is so.
Speaker 2: Important, it really is.
Speaker 3: And anything you know a receipt you can just go
Speaker 3: from from that, that can be the documentation documentation you
Speaker 3: send with the photos.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I also think it's important to clarify you were an appraiser,
Speaker 1: so the services you provide are appraisal services. You don't well,
Speaker 1: I don't know, so what about people who have like
Speaker 1: I had. We had a big box of jewelry mishmash,
Speaker 1: and we just wanted to know what what we could
Speaker 1: just sell just get rid of. Do you do that?
Speaker 2: Yes? I do a thumb brokering for certain pieces.
Speaker 3: A lot of dealers and we can broke a jewelry,
Speaker 3: we can buy scrap gold.
Speaker 2: I do a lot of that.
Speaker 1: I want to share an experience, so we have done
Speaker 1: that a few times. I've done it through a jeweler.
Speaker 1: I won't say who. I don't know if I've got
Speaker 1: the best, but you know, I have to trust them.
Speaker 1: But we recently did it down in New Orleans with
Speaker 1: somebody who did a great job, and I had to
Speaker 1: I had to giggle. It's giggle, not giggle, right, funny,
Speaker 1: not funny. My husband went with a big thing of coins.
Speaker 1: You know. I dragged him in because I'm like, we
Speaker 1: got to get rid of these boxes. And we had
Speaker 1: I've sorted and went through the box of his mom's
Speaker 1: just box of jewelry and a suitcase of jewelry and
Speaker 1: a box of coins. And we learned the coins were
Speaker 1: all fake, which is kind of depressing. We learned that
Speaker 1: a lot of the bits and pieces of jewelry, bits
Speaker 1: and pieces and some that we wouldn't have, we didn't
Speaker 1: see any visible markings. There was gold in them on
Speaker 1: silver sure. And you know, so we left with a
Speaker 1: nice wat of cash. So don't throw it away. Don't
Speaker 1: just start giving it to donate here, there and there.
Speaker 1: Take it to someone who can look through the bits
Speaker 1: and pieces, and I mean bits and pieces, and some
Speaker 1: of its bits and pieces or full pieces, and you
Speaker 1: may end up whether it's through ed or someone local,
Speaker 1: but I think it's important also to trust the person.
Speaker 1: So I found you you had I think it's one
Speaker 1: of those job sites. I was just looking because I
Speaker 1: didn't know who to go to New Orleans. Everybody quotes
Speaker 1: you all sorts of prices, which is a whole another thing.
Speaker 1: The prices can vary very much, and it can also
Speaker 1: very based on volume. But you had a lot of
Speaker 1: recommendations and that made me feel good. And then you
Speaker 1: also were willing to be in New Orleans. You swung through,
Speaker 1: so it worked out great and I had a great experience.
Speaker 1: If you live anywhere that you may not have appraisers,
Speaker 1: you can say, go to someone who lives elsewhere and
Speaker 1: do an online appraisal. And I would urge you not
Speaker 1: to settle. And I'm going to say that because in
Speaker 1: I won't say my formers where I used to live.
Speaker 1: But somebody was just one of the well known, high
Speaker 1: visibility people in the business of buying and selling gold
Speaker 1: has just been arrested.
Speaker 2: Right, You do hear a lot of that. You have
Speaker 2: to check.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you need to find people that have gold reputations.
Speaker 1: They have to be solid gold reputations. So get referrals,
Speaker 1: ask to see examples of appraisers appraisers. It don't necessarily want.
Speaker 1: You know, your jeweler may not be the best person
Speaker 1: depending on who your jeweler is asked to see how
Speaker 1: they appraise. Because I've had jewelers, some give me good appraisers,
Speaker 1: some not in terms of appraisals, right.
Speaker 3: You have to keep in mind also, you know the
Speaker 3: price for appraisal. A lot of people do percentages of
Speaker 3: the value. You should really try and stay away from
Speaker 3: that because I think that leads to the poss ability
Speaker 3: of overinflated appraisals, you know, just.
Speaker 2: Shack up the price, but then you're also paying higher insurance.
Speaker 1: So that can be very Yes, per peace, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about the diamond I mean I had the
Speaker 1: appraisal for the diamond ring. I'm now thinking I should
Speaker 1: have had it reappraised by you because I'm concerned I'm
Speaker 1: paying way too much. And you just brought up that
Speaker 1: point that lab diamonds are cutting into natural diamonds, which
Speaker 1: was kind of a shocking thing for me to hear
Speaker 1: from you. So that's important too, because many people are
Speaker 1: giving diamond engagement rings who're buying diamond tennis bracelets, and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of diamonds circulating on the resale market
Speaker 1: or invaluable or live auctioneers. There's a lot. In your opinion,
Speaker 1: do you have an opinion on lab versus natural?
Speaker 3: Well, I think natural is probably always a better way
Speaker 3: to go, but the price point is, you know, much higher.
Speaker 3: Lab created diamonds are big the other the exact same
Speaker 3: composition of a diamond just created in a lab. But
Speaker 3: you know, the natural is probably always the better way
Speaker 3: to go because it is the real thing. But again
Speaker 3: we're we're talking probably you know, five times the price.
Speaker 1: So what about other stones? Are there other stones of
Speaker 1: that are increasing in value that we should be aware of.
Speaker 2: Tanzanite is always, uh something that increases in value. They do.
Speaker 3: There are lab created gemstones also, sapphires, rubies, emeralds. They're
Speaker 3: doing those lab created these days. They have to be
Speaker 3: careful of that. But as far as natural stones.
Speaker 2: I think right now, tanzanite is something that's increasing.
Speaker 1: Interesting cyber tanzanite. That was my engagement ring. My engager
Speaker 1: is tanzanite. What about gold virtine? Carrot versus eighteen carrot
Speaker 1: versus I think you get you price the ten carret.
Speaker 1: You said that was actually what's the difference.
Speaker 3: The difference is the amount of gold, the percentage of
Speaker 3: gold versus alloys in the piece. If you're wearing a
Speaker 3: piece every day, I would recommend fourteen care because it's
Speaker 3: a little harder and more durable. Ten carrots even more
Speaker 3: durable than fourteen carre the higher you go. The eighteen
Speaker 3: carrot twenty twenty two carre is much softer, doesn't wear
Speaker 3: as well, but there's a higher percentage.
Speaker 2: Of gold within the metal. So that's what you know.
Speaker 3: Carrot is the percentage of gold in the actual metal.
Speaker 1: So what it says gold filled, is there a value
Speaker 1: because there is gold in it if you just want
Speaker 1: to like get rid of it.
Speaker 3: Goldfield is it's very low value, so you need a
Speaker 3: lot of it to see any any kind of you know,
Speaker 3: substainful money.
Speaker 2: But yeah, there's there's gold and gold field.
Speaker 1: And I learned that when I went to go get
Speaker 1: rid of stuff. I was like, wow, it's gold filled.
Speaker 1: There's some money, you know, like you know, And I
Speaker 1: underscore this because a lot of people just go and
Speaker 1: do estate sales and or go to them or do
Speaker 1: them or yard sales and declutter and they just say,
Speaker 1: I just want to take this stuff and get rid
Speaker 1: of it. And they need to understand. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of companies out there that will gladly
Speaker 1: buy your jewelry for a low price so they can
Speaker 1: resell it elsewhere. See that's why it's really good. I
Speaker 1: mean they advertise all the time in New York. And
Speaker 1: some people just are in an emotional state where they
Speaker 1: just want to get rid of stuff, or maybe they
Speaker 1: just need money. Yeah, but you got to do your homework.
Speaker 1: And I know when you need money and you just
Speaker 1: want to get rid of something, I know how hard
Speaker 1: that can be. You just want to take whatever, but
Speaker 1: you got to do your homework.
Speaker 2: You got to do your homework right. And gold is
Speaker 2: very high right now.
Speaker 3: So a scenario that I come across a lot is
Speaker 3: somebody has a broken say class mind of chain.
Speaker 2: They'll get it replaced at a jeweler.
Speaker 3: You should always ask for that broken part back because
Speaker 3: it could be valuable just that piece. The jeweler will
Speaker 3: keep that and I'll tell you about that. You know,
Speaker 3: go and sell it and yeah, make money. As you know,
Speaker 3: it's kind of something you should always even little parts
Speaker 3: are can be valuable.
Speaker 1: I want to just touch on that because it's also
Speaker 1: important when you're asking a jeweler to reset something. I've
Speaker 1: heard stories. In fact, my facialists said that when they
Speaker 1: got the mother's diamond ring back, it wasn't a diamond
Speaker 1: anymore in there when they gave it to a jeweler.
Speaker 1: So you've got to be very careful about that. What
Speaker 1: should you be doing if you're taking some jewelry into
Speaker 1: get repaired.
Speaker 3: If it's a say it's a diamond ring or something valuable,
Speaker 3: that's another reason why you should have an appraisal to
Speaker 3: prove what you get back is what you gave them
Speaker 3: when you take it in. If you don't have an appraisal,
Speaker 3: you should really try and you know, like not like
Speaker 3: document something on the diamond that you can point out
Speaker 3: later or recognize later to make sure it's the same one.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, hear horror stories like that all the
Speaker 2: time in the industry.
Speaker 3: I don't know if it happens as much as everybody says,
Speaker 3: but you know, it's something you have to be careful.
Speaker 3: And again, an appraisal would prove what you're brought in
Speaker 3: is what you get back.
Speaker 1: Well, how would you know, you'd have to take it
Speaker 1: somewhere else to have them check it, because you're not
Speaker 1: going to check it at the jeweler, right, So.
Speaker 2: You'd have to have the appraisal done friar.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but then when you get the ring back, you
Speaker 1: don't know if it's the same ring. How do you know?
Speaker 1: I mean, if it looks like you're the ring that
Speaker 1: was appraised, how would you know that it's not authentic.
Speaker 1: You'd have to go somewhere to have them check it again.
Speaker 2: Right, You have to have somebody check it again, right,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: If it's that valuable, you should, you know. I think
Speaker 1: the point about getting the piece of broken chain back,
Speaker 1: et cetera. I think that's so important. A lot of
Speaker 1: people don't think about that, you know. Or if you're
Speaker 1: getting a new setting for a ring or ear rings,
Speaker 1: Let's say you're going from clip back to pierce or
Speaker 1: pierce to clip back, ask for the pieces back, right exactly.
Speaker 1: I think I had to do that once. I think
Speaker 1: that that's really a great point. And what about silver,
Speaker 1: same thing sterling versus nine two five? What are the
Speaker 1: differences there? That?
Speaker 3: Again is the amount the amount of silver also in
Speaker 3: the in the metal and you should always get that back.
Speaker 2: Also, going back to your point on having your.
Speaker 3: Your diamond switched or anything like that, you should always
Speaker 3: look for a jeweler that can do things while you wait,
Speaker 3: and there are a lot of them out there. Even
Speaker 3: if you have something reset, they order the mounting, then
Speaker 3: you come in and they'll set the stones while you
Speaker 3: while you watch. So so if.
Speaker 1: You take something in this broken class, but they'll say, well,
Speaker 1: we'll we'll call you when it's ready.
Speaker 3: Yeah, something as far as that, like soldering a chain
Speaker 3: or fixing a class is, I would think that would
Speaker 3: be fine. They aren't going to take your a little
Speaker 3: bit of gold, I would imagine much. They're very unscrupulable.
Speaker 3: But a diamond ring, so you have a valuable diamond
Speaker 3: ring something you should wait for and if they tell
Speaker 3: you that they're going to send it out or call
Speaker 3: you in two weeks, take it somewhere else where you
Speaker 3: can do it while they wait.
Speaker 2: And there are a lot of jewelers out there that
Speaker 2: do do that. If they're a good jeweler, they'll be
Speaker 2: able to do it while you wait.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's such a great point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like you said, I've been in the business
Speaker 2: thirty years. I have a shop and we do everything
Speaker 2: while you wait.
Speaker 3: We had cameras on the benches at one point with
Speaker 3: big monitors so people can watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just want to point out on Obi you
Speaker 1: have obijewelers dot Shop as well as obijewelers dot com,
Speaker 1: and you have jewelry for sale. You also have custom
Speaker 1: made jewelry that you can do, you said, and other
Speaker 1: consulting services. So that's good to know as well for
Speaker 1: anyone shopping around. And you gotta be careful. And I'm
Speaker 1: going to say, I'm sure in my life I have
Speaker 1: made some costly mistakes because we have. As I've talked
Speaker 1: to as I listened to you, I'm older and white
Speaker 1: and more careful. Now I'm going to say this everyone
Speaker 1: listening when you were in what if you were buying
Speaker 1: jewelry or selling jewelry, take your time with it, don't
Speaker 1: rush it. And I know that many people, including me,
Speaker 1: sometimes we'll buy something in a fit of passion or
Speaker 1: anger or whatever's emotion and it could be too good
Speaker 1: to be true. We all go online and look, we're
Speaker 1: all on eBay and Facebook, Marketplace and all the on
Speaker 1: site things. You've got to be really careful. You definitely
Speaker 1: have to know what you're looking for and trust where
Speaker 1: it's coming from because it can be too good to
Speaker 1: be true. And on the flip side, if you're selling something,
Speaker 1: you need to make sure you have an authenticity factory.
Speaker 1: I just recently went through this, not with jewelry, but
Speaker 1: with a designer bag. In a designer bag had the
Speaker 1: designer box and had the designer everything, and I think
Speaker 1: I bought it at a charity auction. It was so
Speaker 1: long ago, but I never used it, and I sold
Speaker 1: it on eBay and the buyer's like, it's fake, and
Speaker 1: I was like, huh, and I couldn't you know, because
Speaker 1: then I probably bought it fake. So I just nipped
Speaker 1: it in the buds to send it back full reef
Speaker 1: and whatever. But the lesson I learned with it, and
Speaker 1: I am taking it to the designer's store to have
Speaker 1: them authenticate it for sure. But just there was that
Speaker 1: one moment where she said, well, I have one just
Speaker 1: like it and it's not the same, and I said,
Speaker 1: I'd like to see a photo of yours before you
Speaker 1: send mine back, because you know, immediately I'm like, are
Speaker 1: you switching me out? So there's a lot of things,
Speaker 1: and I don't know what it looks like. It came back,
Speaker 1: it looks fine, but I am taking it to the store.
Speaker 1: But what I learned from the experience is if you
Speaker 1: are going to go and try to sell some of
Speaker 1: your precious things online because you need to make money
Speaker 1: in eBay or whatever, get necessary paperwork, take the time
Speaker 1: and do it and factor it in that into the
Speaker 1: price if there's a cost, because you don't want to
Speaker 1: get tripped.
Speaker 2: Up, right. Yeah, it's so important to be educated on
Speaker 2: what you're selling or buying.
Speaker 1: Yeah, do your homework and time, and also go and
Speaker 1: look at this. You know a lot of the prices
Speaker 1: are inflated. Uh, so go and I'm gonna say because
Speaker 1: I learned this, you know, go to the soul section
Speaker 1: to see what things are being sold for. There's several
Speaker 1: There's one for subscription called Worthpoint that I recommend Live
Speaker 1: auctioneers invaluable eBay summer subscriptions.
Speaker 3: Some are not.
Speaker 1: But do your homework to see what things are selling for,
Speaker 1: and again, if it is a value, get an appraiser.
Speaker 1: I do have another question. We talk about fine jewelry.
Speaker 1: Can you appraise find vintage jewelry that may be costume,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of costume jewelry. Now that's actually
Speaker 1: a value. Is there a way to appraise that or
Speaker 1: is that another process?
Speaker 3: No, that's something we are praise all the time. Really, Yeah,
Speaker 3: vintage constume jewelry we can do.
Speaker 2: You know a lot of that.
Speaker 3: The metal is a different metal, different stones, but you
Speaker 3: have to find somebody very knowledgeable on that also.
Speaker 2: But that's definitely something possible and something we can handle.
Speaker 1: Well, that's important as well as I'm thinking about some
Speaker 1: of the pieces I have because I ended up with
Speaker 1: a lot of vintage jewelry and I've become self educated
Speaker 1: in the process. But knowing that you can do vintage
Speaker 1: jewelry as well as fine as I'm already thinking about
Speaker 1: some pieces the next time I utilize your services that
Speaker 1: because I'm seeing their market value. The resale value is
Speaker 1: quite high.
Speaker 2: Yeah, some of the Turn of the century or our
Speaker 2: Deco pieces, or.
Speaker 3: During the depression that was very popular, but those pieces
Speaker 3: have become very valuable.
Speaker 1: I hope every everybody listening is taking all this in
Speaker 1: because I truly believe that for people out there, particularly
Speaker 1: if you are inheriting or cleaning out a house or
Speaker 1: you're going to an estate sale or you're thinking about
Speaker 1: a gig business where you're selling online. This is good
Speaker 1: information to understand. There is value in many things you
Speaker 1: have that you may not realize and you don't know
Speaker 1: until you get someone to work with you to give
Speaker 1: you an honest fare appraisal.
Speaker 2: Exactly. And if you have a gig business, if something
Speaker 2: that can be factored right into.
Speaker 1: The price exactly. And I have done that, is I
Speaker 1: factored in appraiser costs. And because I want to show
Speaker 1: that and say I can send you if you purchase this,
Speaker 1: you will have a copy of the appraisal. You still
Speaker 1: have to go get a new appraisal because it's under
Speaker 1: your name.
Speaker 3: But at least you have that backup, right, especially if
Speaker 3: you're looking to ensure it. It has to be under
Speaker 3: your name and you're you know, assured in a specific
Speaker 3: address spot. Yeah that's very important.
Speaker 1: Yeah, very very important. And like I said, I have
Speaker 1: used worked with Ed. He gave me a very detailed appraisal.
Speaker 1: It was it was a process. I had a lot
Speaker 1: I have. I ensure with jewelers mutual. I have no
Speaker 1: affiliation with them. It's just that when I went to
Speaker 1: and every state is different, Every insurance is different. Louisiana
Speaker 1: is tough to get insurance, period. So I bit the
Speaker 1: bullet and went with Jeweler's mutual because it was the
Speaker 1: best I could do for what I had with all
Speaker 1: this appraised jewelry. And then as I go and decided
Speaker 1: to sell some of it, I can more confidently do
Speaker 1: it working through an auction house or trying to resell
Speaker 1: it myself, whatever you have ed do it for you.
Speaker 1: You just you need to know when you go to
Speaker 1: resell something, if you're having a third party do it,
Speaker 1: You've got to find out what the costs are involved,
Speaker 1: because there's specific costs for selling it auction, and there's
Speaker 1: specific cost if somebody's reselling for you, and you need
Speaker 1: to work that out in advance, and heaven writing right exactly.
Speaker 1: And also if it doesn't sell, how are you gonna
Speaker 1: pick it up? If it's you know, there's that's a
Speaker 1: whole other topic, but it all starts with knowing what
Speaker 1: the value is exactly. Well, and I really enjoyed talking
Speaker 1: to you. What how can my listeners find and is
Speaker 1: there any parting words you want to say share?
Speaker 2: Just that you can contact me through ob Jewelers.
Speaker 3: We do electronic appraisals, but like we did yours, we
Speaker 3: also do travel throughout the country. I'm always on the road.
Speaker 3: You know, usually specific number of pieces make that worthwhile.
Speaker 3: But any questions, it's Obejewelers dot Com. I'm always available.
Speaker 1: You know, something I want to tell my listeners is
Speaker 1: if you live in a city where you may have
Speaker 1: some friends who have items. You know, it is a
Speaker 1: lot for to travel, but it can make it worth
Speaker 1: his while and you help you and your friends if
Speaker 1: you say, look, I have a great appraiser if you
Speaker 1: have items to be a praise, let's make a date
Speaker 1: and let's contact him, and then it makes it worth
Speaker 1: it for you to come to that market if you're
Speaker 1: you know, sweeping through. So that's another way to do it.
Speaker 1: And then you are helping your friends out as well
Speaker 1: because they can come and hire ed while he's in
Speaker 1: town if they want to do it in person. But
Speaker 1: like you said, like you said, you can do it
Speaker 1: online as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and there are many times we'll go to you know,
Speaker 3: I'll go to a city where there's you know, somebody
Speaker 3: all five items here, five items there. I'll spend a
Speaker 3: couple of days traveling, you know, going through those clients.
Speaker 3: So it's not like doesn't all have been one place.
Speaker 1: Well, You've really provided a lot of good information that
Speaker 1: I hope will help my listeners find peace of mind
Speaker 1: as they decide how to protect and preserve their fine
Speaker 1: valuables as well, because we want to do that. You
Speaker 1: want to protect your health, you want to protect your wealth,
Speaker 1: you want to protect your loved ones, you want to
Speaker 1: protect what you have and own. Because everything is so
Speaker 1: uncertain right now. So the most certain thing you can
Speaker 1: do is get appraisals and insurance and know where everything
Speaker 1: is in your documentation and you're not desperately trying to
Speaker 1: find all this in moments of chaos exactly.
Speaker 3: And I would like to offer anybody in California and
Speaker 3: the fires any help.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm very happy to help, So just reach out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my heart just breaks. I have two friends who've
Speaker 1: lost everything. It's just really upsetting. And for all of
Speaker 1: you in California who are suffering, my heart, our hearts
Speaker 1: go out to you. We want to help and for everyone,
Speaker 1: and whether it's the Carolinas and the floods, I've loved
Speaker 1: friends and who were hit by Hurricane Helene as well.
Speaker 1: I hope that if anything, this show can help you
Speaker 1: as you rebuild your life.
Speaker 3: Exactly, and if I can guide anybody through the process,
Speaker 3: just reach out and give me, give me a call,
Speaker 3: contact me at Obijewelers dot com.
Speaker 2: I'd be glad to help.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Ed O'Brien, I've really enjoyed talking
Speaker 1: with you. Thank you for helping me get through the
Speaker 1: process as well, and I hope for everyone listening this
Speaker 1: has been another enlightening show. I'm fearless fabulous you because
Speaker 1: remember you have many choices in life. Please choose being
Speaker 1: fearless and fabulous. Thank you,