Jewellery Valuation
At Nicholas Muston our team have years of experience in jewellery valuation in London and the South East. We undertake home visits in London, the South East and throughout the country and can broker a sale direct to a collector, dealer or via the most suitable auction room to achieve the highest price on your behalf.
The market for jewellery and diamonds is always strong. We take the utmost care when valuing your pieces and offer laboratory testing to help you realise the true value.
If you require a jewellery valuation for sale, probate or insurance purposes we can provide professional, confidential and independent advice via our team of RICS accredited valuers.
We specialise in jewellery and are regularly appointed by solicitors to undertake jewellery valuations for probate purposes. We are also recommended by the leading firms of insurance companies to undertake valuations for insurance purposes.
The market for jewellery is always strong with diamond set pieces often achieving premium prices, historically helped, in no small measure, by the hugely successful 1947 De Beers advertising campaign ‘Diamonds are Forever’, which suggested that diamonds represent eternal love. Consequently, diamonds will always be in demand and hold their value, with luxury design houses like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron being particularly sought after. We are experts in jewellery valuations in London and the South East.
When appraising diamonds, most people are familiar with the criteria that affect the value which is generally referred to as the four Cs – cut, clarity, colour and carat – but an even greater factor to consider these days is whether the stone is natural or synthetic. In the last twenty years there has been an influx of synthetic stones which historically only used to be for smaller stones of under one carat in size but with the advance in manufacturing techniques even large stones are now being artificially produced.
Understandably buyers are more cautious than ever and increasingly require the reassurance provided by a gemmological certificate which will confirm if a diamond is natural. Therefore, for larger stones, we remove any doubt by partnering with one of the leading companies in the country to have the jewellery laboratory tested and certificated before proceeding with a sale.
As we work on a commission basis it is in our interest to achieve the very best price for our clients through our vast network of private collectors, dealers and auction rooms throughout the country.
If we broker a sale to a collector or dealer then we charge a 10% commission (no vat on top) on the price achieved. If we arrange the sale through an auction room then you are not charged anything extra, by way of commission, by the auctioneers but out of what they earn they pay us an introductory commission.
A lot of plain gold or damaged jewellery might be more suitable to sell to a bullion dealer. As we sell so much silver and gold, on behalf of our clients, we are paid the very highest price, generally this is about 20-25% higher than the general public will be offered but we only take a 10% commission (no vat) from the price achieved for this service, subject to a minimum charge of £50.
Why get a jewellery valuation with us?
We were recently asked to sell several beautiful pieces of diamond jewellery with one of them being a large emerald cut diamond ring. We had the stone laboratory tested and certificated. It confirmed the stone was natural and weighed 3.1 carats, was a J colour and was VS1 (very slightly included).
We always strive to achieve the very best price for our clients so on this occasion we found a private buyer for the ring at an impressive £17,000 and for the remaining jewellery, after factoring in the various expenses of auction, a sale directly to a dealer proved the most cost effective.
If you are looking to sell any jewellery, please get in touch for an expert valuation from a RICS accredited valuer.
