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Be careful of jewellers charging you 5-10% of the
value of the jewellery item as payment for valuations!
Come speak to the people that believe in fair trade
and good business ethics!
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Your insured jewellery items probably mean nothing
without one of these, and people only seem to need them when it is
already to late... Don't be caught without one, and whatever you do,
do not let an unqualified manufacturing jeweller value your items! We
also recommend that you revalue your jewellery as least once every 12-18
months. The insurance company sure is not going to inform you when the
price of gold is up or down and that your jewellery item is under insured.
Before you entrust your most valued jewellery to any Workshop, always ask your Jeweller for his or her Trade Certificate,
Precious Metal Working & Mounting Certificate and Gold License
if it is not clearly displayed in the Shop area. Will you let anyone but
a qualified heart surgeon operate on your heart? Then why let
unqualified people work on, or value your jewellery?
Also check with your Jeweller if you need photographs with your
valuation certificate.
Hope to see you and your jewellery soon!
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LETTER WE SENT OUT
TO INSURANCE CO'S IN OUR AREA. YOU MIGHT ALSO BENEFIT FROM READING IT...
In recent months we noticed a shocking increase of Insurance related
questions, valuations and people wanting valuation certificates on
jewellery that is stolen, lost or damaged, and sometimes (in my
opinion), fraudulant claims. Another problem we are experiencing is the
amount of people coming into our shop trying to sell jewellery items.
With no proof, I dare not say it is stolen goods, but I cannot
help but wonder about the ownership of some items.
We have many other problems facing the jewellery industry, but here are
the seven most common problems that we face and deal with when dealing
with insurance related issues:
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Deceptive Advertising/Inflated Jewellery Prices
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Unqualified Jewellers
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Jewellery and Art, Knock-off & Costume Jewellery
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Hand-made, Machine-made, Quality and Workmanship
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Damaged Jewellery
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Lost Jewellery Items
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Claims pay out, but not to the Jeweller
1. Deceptive
Advertising
Some Jewellers, specially Retailers and Chain stores, have price
increases before they have a sale, or they increase their prices during
specific times of year (Christmas, school holidays ect.) The client is
happy because they received a fantastic 50% discount on the item, and
with a valuation certificate that reflects the inflated price, it can
only be a good thing to insure the item. Right? When such a claim is
made with the insurance company, the Insurer is sometimes paying out
more than is necessary and/or the Manufacturing Jeweller is
scrutinized when providing a true replacement value on the item after it
is lost.
2. Unqualified
Jewellers
There is an unsettling amount of Jewellers without any form of
qualification or formal training. These people work on customer
jewellery and write out valuation certificates. By Law, Jewellery
Business Owners do not need a qualification, but let me ask you this:
Will you let anyone but a qualified heart surgeon operate on your heart?
Then why let unqualified people work on or value your jewellery?
Example:
A customer came to our shop to have her rings sized.
Before she came to us, she went to another jeweller for a valuation. The
one item was valued at
R 16 500,00, the other at R 15 000,00 We had to tell the customer that
the one item was brass & cubic, not gold & diamond, and the other is
worth less than half that, even at a premium boutique mark-up pricing
structure.
3. Jewellery and Art,
Knock-off & Costume Jewellery
Traditionally cut stones in familiar-looking jewellery are the norm,
but there are jewellery items that can only be valued by people
dealing with such rare pieces on a day to day basis. The most well known
“Jewellery-Art” pieces must be Faberge Eggs by Peter Carl Faberge. In
2004 a collection of 9 of these eggs was bought at $ 10 000000.00 per
item. The value is not only in the raw materials, but also in the
age, craftsmanship, history and originality of
these unique pieces. Knock-off Faberge Eggs can be bought on the
Internet for next to nothing with ridiculous valuation certificates. Be
sure to investigate suspicious-looking valuations, and if the need
arise, please contact a professional art- or antique dealer or a
jeweller who can be trusted. Even if they cannot value the piece they
might be able to give you advice on how to proceed. Spending a couple of
rand on a second opinion or a phone call, might save your company a lot
of money.
Example: We
recently had someone in the shop looking for insurance advice on an item
bought on the net. It was a relatively decent looking piece – but
costume jewellery none the less. Glass and Gold-plastic plated pewter.
The valuation certificate with it was a piece of work, describing the
cut, clarity, colour and inclusions of the piece of glass. A breakdown
of the weight, carat and manufacturing history of the item was included.
It was a very professional, top of the line valuation! (The packaging
was fantastic as well!) The only thing it needed was real gold and
stones that was insurable!
4. Hand-made,
Machine-made, Quality and Workmanship
The quality of the material used and the workmanship of an item play a
very important role in the value of the piece. A diamond is a diamond,
yes, but a flawed diamond, or a badly cut diamond can be as valuable as
a piece of glass. The Diamond Sales Ad in the local newspaper is
sometimes worth more than the actual diamonds being sold in the
advertisement! If not sure, always think of this: There is no such
thing as a cheap, good quality diamond! Also, always ask for the
receipt and the valuation certificate! If they do not
correspond, there might be a problem.
Programmed machines
can be used to design and make and mass produce a jewellery item. More
often than not, such items are less expensive than hand-made items…
depending on who is doing the hand-manufacturing and the pricing...and
the quality of the items…and, and, and!
Because jewellery
valuation, evaluation and pricing is not a pure science and therefore
subjective, estimates of replacement value may vary from one
manufacturing jeweller to another. Such variances may not constitute
error on the part of any of the jewellers, but will say a lot about
their profit margins and overheads or pricing structure or in some cases
even their business ethics. Where possible, never accept the first
replacement quote or valuation received from a customer that is claiming
from their insurance!
5. Damaged
Jewellery
Never assume a jewellery item cannot be repaired! Even a broken,
unfixable gold item is still worth its weight in gold. A claim that
jewellery is damaged must always be investigated. Also make sure
that recommendations, suggestions, advice and quotes come from qualified
Manufacturing Jewellers
Example:
Client came in to get a quote on an antique jewellery item that was
damaged. We were asked to quote only on the ‘replacement value’
because the ‘fix-the-item-quote’ would have been a lot less than
what the customer wanted to be paid out for! Our advice: Dealing with
damaged jewellery claims, always ask for quotes on fixing
and replacing and in some cases request before-and-after
photographs from the Manufacturing Jeweller.
6. Lost
Jewellery Items
Beware of lost/stolen jewellery items! The customer loses the jewellery
item, or claims that the item has been stolen. NEVER pay out a
‘stolen-item-claim’ without a case number from the police or at
least 3-4 quotes from manufacturing jewellers with the case
number on the quotation/valuation.
Example:
A customer came in for an Insurance claim regarding
a jewellery item that was specified and lost – “Can we please give a
replacement value on the piece for the insurance company”. We did,
and +/- a week after we gave her the replacement valuation she phoned us
to let us know that she found her jewellery item. Did she receive the
money from the insurance company? I don’t know…
And this brings me to the point that distresses me endlessly and is
responsible for more than one gray hair:
7.
Claims pay out, but not to the Jeweller
Stop paying Jewellery Insurance Claims over to the customer! Pay it
to the Manufacturing Jeweller on completion of the job!
As a rule we don’t charge for quotations and valuations on insurance
claims, because if the valuation is reasonable and fair to everyone
concerned we will stand a very good change of getting the job. Doing
such valuations and quotations sometimes involves a lot of time & cost
on behalf of the Jeweller. If proper or standardized procedures are not
being following by Brokers/Insurance Companies (for whatever reason) it
may affect everyone concerned in a negative way!
Example:
Customer came
in for a valuation on an antique piece that needed maintenance. We did
the valuation, the customer received payout and the client came to us
and said: ‘You will have to wait before you go ahead with that job. I
spent the money, I will pay you as soon as I can.’ Needless to say – we
are still waiting for the customer to come back. Never pay Jewellery
insurance claims over to customer! |
