Insurance & Estate Appraisals

About Appraisals

An Insurance Appraisal is a an informed professional opinion of a piece of jewelry providing both the current replacement value and a full comprehensive description.

The primary purpose if this type of appraisal is to provide your insurance company with information to base their annual premium on and to establish the value for replacement should a loss occur. Therefore the appraisal should be neither over stated or understated and should represent the fair market value for replacement within a given geographic region.

An Estate Appraisal is an informed opinion of a piece of jewelry providing a full written description and value of what any willing buyer might pay for the jewelry. The value can vary substantially based upon condition, style, and availability, as well as other extrinsic values. Many pieces of jewelry have greater sentimental value than economic value.

The primary purpose of this type of appraisal is to establish the asset value for an estate both for distribution and tax purposes. In some cases an estate appraisal is used to determine asset value for divorce settlements. An estate appraisal tends to be much more subjective, therefore utilizing a respectable experienced professional familiar with the retail environment is essential.

Appraisal professional fees should be hourly based and not based on appraised value. (Most appraisers can appraise two to three uncomplicated pieces in an hour. Complicated items, ones with numerous stones of various sizes can take an hour or two alone). An estimate should always given.

What does Burque Jewelers Appraise?

Below are just a few of the items we have successfully appraised at Burque Jewelers. Ranging from simple jewelry pieces to flatware and complex & detailed items of value.

Benefits of a Burque Appraisal

  • Each appraisal is custom and personalized.
  • All jewelry is identified, tagged and logged in front of the customer.
  • Each piece being appraised is photographed to capture complexity and uniqueness that words sometimes do not adequately describe.
  • All appraisals are embossed and laminated for security. Two additional embossed signed copies are provide for your insurance company.
  • All appraisals are maintained on our computer database for future reference. Complete Confidentiality is maintained.

Capabilities that set Burque’s apart!

All appraisals are done by appointment with one of our professional staff.

We use current state of the art diagnostic equipment.

  • Variable power binocular microscope.
  • Polariscope to determine double or single refractivity.
  • Calcite Dichroscope used to determine refractivity
  • Slide Micrometer to calibrate size.
  • Refractometer to determine refractive index.
  • Electronic Diamond and Gram scales.
  • Full spectrum lighting.
  • Calibrated master stones for color grade.
  • Reference manuals and current subscriptions for up to date industry price value equivalents.
  • Professional colleagues and gem lab network.
  • Registered with the Gemological Institute of America Gem Trade Laboratory in New York.