Are you interested in selling or 
pawning jewelry but are unsure what to expect of the appraisal process? Windy City Jewelry & Loan wants to demystify jewelry appraisal to help you understand your options.
The value of each piece of jewelry is determined by several factors. These factors include the weight of the metal, weight of the stones, clarity of stones, color of stones, whether they are precious or semi-precious stones, cut of the stones, and others. Furthermore, the jewelry’s designer, manufacturer, desirability, style and popularity also come into play when valuing a particular piece. As you can gather, the appraisal process involves a more detailed evaluation than just pricing the piece based on type of metal or stone. That’s why we use licensed appraisers.
The jewelry appraisers in Elgin at Windy City Jewelry & Loan are all GIA trained and certified, which offers various benefits for you. Their certification means that all major insurance will accept their reports. This helps give a dollar value to the insurance policy so you can insure based on the value of the piece, much like you would a home or a car. Their training means that they can navigate the complex market factors that also go into appraising your piece of jewelry, from the traded open markets for precious metals to price trends in shopping retailers as well as manufacturing costs. Assessing what people are actually spending on jewelry allows our jewelry appraisers to determine the “Replacement Retail Value” or “Replacement Market Value” of your piece.
Whether you bring in jewelry, watches, or antiques, we provide you with a written appraisal that includes a picture of the item, a detailed description and the “Retail Replacement Value”. The appraisal process applies to both selling an item and pawning an item. If you need cash fast, but don’t want to permanently part with your item, then a pawn loan is a great alternative. Your item will be appraised the same way, but we’ll keep it as collateral against a cash loan. Once you repay your loan, you’ll get your item back. It’s a win-win!
Jewelry appraisal is a complicated process. If you have any other questions about how Windy City Jewelry & Loan assesses the value of items, please reach out to us at 847-622-7296 or stop by our pawn shop today to speak with one of our Elgin jewelry appraisers in person!