May 19, 2007

Jewelry Insurance - Hints and Tips So You Don’t Get Ripped Off

Start Your Own Jewelry Party Business. Start your own home based jewelry business with this easy step-by-step guide.

As crime and drug use increases, the risks involved in having Antique and Estate Jewelry just lying around your home seem to treble. It becomes a nightmare and you find you are just not sure what to do.

Here are some timely pieces of advice, but by no means comprehensive. If you have special circumstances, it may pay you to go one step further and get some professional advice.

Tip! ) Always apply make-up, perfumes, oils or colognes before you put on your jewelry.

BALANCE AND COMMON SENSE…

If you collect Antique Jewelry and your collection has grown to more than ‘Just a couple of Rings’ you will have a double edged sword to handle.

In the first place you have two problems.

* You are an active buyer, so people know who you are.

* Insurance has put ‘Premiums’ through the roof.

Personally, we just Hate to see items collected and never worn.
Jewelry was made to adorn, so if you can, wear them.

But remember this is an open advert to the whole world that you have ‘Got some Jewelry’ at Home. It pays to be just a little aware!

YOUR INSURANCE POLICY…

Your Home and Contents policy ‘GENERALLY’ does NOT cover your personal Jewelry over a certain amount (this varies from company to company). Plus if you had to claim, the Insurance company may take a ‘premium’ from you (say $100) which they would DEDUCT from the final payout.

Tip! Online Jewelry Shops - you may also take advantage of the convenience afforded by technology by selling your products online. The great thing about online shops is you could reach a wide market without having to leave your house.

The remaining value may not cover one item in your collection, yet alone the ’sentimental’ value associated with your personal favorites.

Asia Wholesale Jewelry.

So you will have to list all of the items individually and get an Insurance Valuation certificate as well. Because ‘Sentimental’ value does not apply, only the replacement costs, you will have to ensure your qualified gemologist/jeweler/valuer understands why you are having an appraisal done in the first place.

This can get expensive as professional appraisals typically cost a flat ‘Take-in’ price of around $20 plus a sliding scale fee of approximately one percent of the final value.

In an item is valued around $1000 dollars, that fee is $10 + $20 take-in or $30 total. This is just for ONE item. Valuation Appraisals can cost up to $60 dollars or more so if you have a small collection, you may need a small fortune just to keep up with current prices.

The BIGGER your collection - The B I G G E R your cost!

Tip! Another common way of finishing sterling silver jewelry is nickel plating. Although nickel plating is illegal in some countries, most of the Italian silver jewelry sold in the market today is plated with nickel.

But if you don’t want a great outlay, you might just take advantage of the useful ‘Do-it-Yourself’ Online Jewelry Self Appraisal Kit at the Online Jewelry Appraisal Center at the address shown below, which is a great alternative.

This ONLINE database system calculates everything for you and prints out a descriptive Certificate and is hundreds of times more accurate and thorough than your local high street jewelers’ scribbled letterhead.

At such a low fee it’s money well spent. Indeed, if you just purchased something on eBay or Yahoo auctions, for example, you might wish to just confirm an approximate value by using this easy to use DIY Valuation Appraisal Kit.

Suppose you recently bought something from a local Dealer, on the Market or Antique Fair, why not get it checked. What’s the worst that could happen? For less than the price of a Big Mac and Coke it’s a Bargain, plus there are many other advantages to having your Jewelry done at the Online Jewelry Appraisal Center.

Your appraisal valuations should be re-done every couple of years as the price of Gold and Silver changes, as does the price of Diamonds and Gemstones and Antiques in particular.

Tip! Finally, take not of all the other expenses that is related to your jewelry making. This could include the rent of the stall in the trade fair you joined, or the website maintenance expenses, or the telephone charges you got from calling contacts.

We do offer an excellent reminder service to anyone who completes a ‘Do-it-Yourself’ Online Jewelry Self Appraisal Kit with us. This alone is worth the small fee as it relieves you of the problem.

But remember that if your Jewelry is lost or stolen, the insurance cover will only help replace your treasure with something of ‘COMPARABLE’ value.

It can’t buy you ’sentiment’ and it can’t buy you another Georgian Chatelaine to exactly replace the one you had. You may be able to get another ‘Similar’ item though, and that is better than the few dollars or so, you may have received from the Homeowners policy.

It pays to have an up-to-date Certificate. I can’t stress that enough.

Tip! Handcrafted Jewelry Parties at Home - this is where many successful handcrafted jewelers start out. They invite their friends for some snack or dinner one afternoon or evening.

If in doubt, talk with your trusted Insurance Company.

But even if it’s just for ‘Peace of mind’, the small price (less than a Cinema Ticket) is well worth the effort.

It’s a No-Brainer really.

There are several other SPECIAL REPORTS available through our eMail-on-Demand subscription box at the website, so please take some time to visit.

There is a timely warning on Security issues. It’s good advice, plus there is some great tips on Investing in Jewelry, Insurance guidelines and other notes on selling, Hallmarking tips etc, and they are being added to all the time.

Tip! Filigree designs are very popular. In keeping with this year’s innocent, teasing styles, delicate filigree jewelry designs are very popular.

And the best bit is they are FREE….

Thank you for taking the time to read this special report. If you thought it interesting, useful or found it helped you in any way I would appreciate your comments via email at the address shown below.

This is my personal email address and I read every comment - good or bad.

Alternatively: why not pass it on to a friend. I’m sure you can think of someone who might benefit from this useful information. Treat it as doing me a big favor. I will certainly appreciate it.

regards and please watch the road. David Foard F.G.A.A. Fellow of the Gemological Association of Australia and former member of JATVC - The Valuers Council (retired).

P.S.
If you administer a website or publish an ezine, please feel free to use this article as long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed below. Although it’s not compulsory, just send me an email at gemmo1@jewellery-antiques.com and let me know if and where you used it. If you need other great content - complimentary of course - then drop me a line at the email address given - ’cause I’ve got Gallons of the stuff….

Tip! Some silver jewelry has a black antique look to cater to certain consumers. These items are processed by putting the jewelry into chemical solution to oxide the silver before polishing and the pricing is similar to that of high polished ones.

David Foard has spent over 30 years in the Antique Jewelry Trade as a qualified gemologist and member of the Valuers Council. Get a FREE 3 part ‘Hallmarking Report’ on How to Identify your Jewelry Hallmarks at Home or Work by going to ==> http://www.jewellery-antiques.com and grabbing yourself a
fistfull of Hints - Tips and Secrets.

gemmo1@jewellery-antiques.com

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