Why Should You Have Your
Jewellery Valued?
Why Should You Have Your Jewellery Valued?
Your jewellery is more than just a collection of items; it holds memories, sentiment, and value that goes beyond its material worth. Valuing these treasures is essential for several heartfelt reasons:
- For Your Peace of Mind (Insurance): Knowing your jewellery is properly valued ensures you’re fully protected if anything happens to your cherished pieces. Insurance companies often recommend updating valuations every 3–5 years to reflect changes in market value, so you’re never left underinsured. It’s a way of safeguarding your memories.
- In Case of Loss, Theft, or Damage: The loss of a beloved piece can be devastating. An up-to-date, accurate valuation helps ensure you’re properly compensated by your insurer, allowing you to focus on recovering what was lost. Without one, you might face a pay-out that doesn’t fully reflect the true value of your treasure.
- Resale or Probate: When it comes time to pass down your jewellery or sell it, having an official valuation provides clarity and fairness. Whether you’re settling an estate or ensuring a loved one receives the rightful worth of a precious piece, an accurate valuation brings comfort and transparency.
- For Family Division: When sharing a piece of your history with family, having an official valuation ensures fairness and harmony, helping avoid misunderstandings and ensuring that everyone receives a piece of equal value.
- Private Sales: Whether you’re selling to a friend or someone you trust, a proper valuation keeps the process honest, ensuring that both parties understand the true worth of the jewellery being exchanged.
- Pre-Sale Report: Before parting with a beloved item, an official valuation provides a clear picture of its market value, ensuring you receive the respect and compensation your jewellery deserves.
FAQ
When sending an item in for valuation it must be submitted with the submission form, which can be found on our website. We would also ask you to supply any other relevant paperwork you have for the item, such as previous valuations, purchase receipts, service history and certificates. If you are submitting a watch, we would also ask to see the original box, if you do not want to send the original box or paperwork, photocopies and images will be fine. If you do not have this information we can still provide a valuation for you.
For trade customers who’ve made bespoke items we would ask you to provide as much information as possible i.e. carat weights, known grades, manufacturing prices etc.
We can provide valuations for jewellery items, watches, silverware (including trophies, canteen, trinket box etc.), chains of office, Sovereigns and Krugerrands and precious metal pens. Please note we value sets as individual items.
We do not value clocks including carriage clocks. We can only value the Sovereigns, half Sovereigns and Krugerrands, these will be valued on the precious metal content only. If you would like a coin valued based on its rarity you would need to contact a valuer that specialises in coins.
Please contact us if you require a valuation on Ivory, Coral or anything else not listed, we would need more information before confirming we can value the item.
We can’t provide an updated valuation without assessing the item again. We are part of the National Association of Jewellers who guidance we follow on practices and procedures relating to valuations, regulations state that we must always see the item we are valuing. Our valuations state that the item has been physically seen and assessed on the given date on the valuation. Our valuer will also check the condition of an item, which can affect the value, it is important that the valuation reflects the items on the day it was assessed by a valuer.
Insurance companies ask customers to renew their insurance valuations every 3 – 5 years however we cannot state anything specific – the customer should always check they are adequately covered and all documents are as required for their own policy. You may also be required to get new valuation when moving to a new insurance company, please check with your insurance company on their requirements.
If you have moved address we can update the details on our system and if necessary provide a hardcopy of your valuation with your new address. We would advise that any valuation over 5 years old would be out of date and it would be best to have the item re-valued.
To notify us of your change of address, you can email us at customerservice@theassayoffice.co.uk
We can amend the details on our system free of charge, if you require a reprint a document transfer fee will be applied.
If you have sold or passed your item on to someone you can authorise a change of ownership. The original owner or shop needs to contact us via email to confirm the item is no longer in their possession and provide us with the new owner’s details. We would advise that any valuation over 5 years old would be out of date and it would be best to have the item re-valued.
To notify us of your change of ownership, you can email us at customerservice@theassayoffice.co.uk
We do charge a document transfer for this service.
We can provide a reprint of your previous valuation and send this to you via email or post. We would advise that any valuation over 5 years old would be out of date and it would be best to have the item re-valued.
To order a copy document, you can email us at customerservice@theassayoffice.co.uk
We do charge a document transfer for this service.
If you have lost or had an item stolen, you can contact us via email at customerservice@theassayoffice.co.uk and inform us of the loss, we can note this against your valuation on our system. If you require an update valuation on an item that has been lost or stolen we can provide this as long as we valued the item previously. The post loss valuation will need to be completed by the original valuer who assessed the item; please contact us so we can confirm which valuer previously valued the item and if we can complete a post loss valuation. The valuation will be presented in the form of a letter and will be based on the details given on our previous valuation with an updated insurance value. This valuation can then be supplied to your insurance company to help process the claim, we would advise speaking to your insurance company beforehand.
If you require a post loss valuation please email us on customerservice@theassayoffice.co.uk
We do charge a document transfer for this service.
Our watch valuations are based on a visual inspection only. Our valuations are not a guarantee of authenticity as we do not check the movement. We do ask that all watches be submitted with the guarantee/warranty, purchase receipts, service history if applicable and the original box. If you do not want to send the original box or paperwork, photocopies or images will be sufficient.
We do not value without supporting paperwork watches from Jacob & Co, Franck Mueller or Hublot.
If your watch is discontinued, the valuer will look at the second-hand market or a nearest new alternative value, the valuer will choose the most appropriate method. If your watch is current but on a waiting list, we would look to the second-hand market to find a suitable replacement value. Often with watches on a waiting list the second-hand value is higher than the current retail price and original box and papers can add a premium to the second-hand value.
The working condition and the watch’s overall condition may have an impact on the value, this will be considered alongside it’s age and the appropriate valuation approach.
