I recently had a client write and ask me about Jewelry Appraisals after their Jewelry was resized. The easiest way to explain how a Gemologist Valuer would appraise this item is calculated below. I trust it will serve some use for those in a similar situation. Here is their question with my answer below...
Gold Ring Appraisal After Resizing Question: Hello, My spouse had a ring made for me, without knowing my ring size, and had it made a size 7.
12 OUNCES EQUALS
The appraisal was done at that time and the ring weighed 6.7 grams. I had to have it resized down to a size 5.5, it then weighed 6.18 grams.
I recently had to have it resized up to a size 6.5 and it still weighs 6.18 grams.
This was all done at the original place of purchase.
This last resize is a bad job as there is a divot and you can see where it was resized, also an emerald has been chipped. It is a gold band that is (was) fairly thick all the way around with stones only on the top.
How does the change in weight affect my original appraisal if I were to resell the ring?
I'm quite disheartened by the bad resize job and no change in gold weight, is that normal?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me. :-)
Answer: G'day and many thanks for your question.
Now the first thing is you didn't mention WHAT QUALITY of Gold the Ring was made from? If it was made in 9ct or 12 kt - it would have a very different value than a ring made in 18ct or 22k for example.
However, in this case - the ring only weighed 6.7 grams to start with and was later weighed again as being 6.18 grams. This is a difference of just 0.52 grams (just over half of one gram).
Assuming middle ground at around 12 or 14 karat - the difference in the gold quality is minimal. We calculate it like this...
One ounce of PURE gold roughly equals 32 grams (pure gold being calculated as 24 carat). Oh and BTW - if you see I am switching between ct or kt (carats and karats) please read my earlier articles on the Jewelry Appraisal Center relating to gold quality here.
So we can calculate gold (listed today) as being US0 per ounce - so we divide that figure by the 32 grams in order to see what one gram is worth. That is 930 / 32 = 29.0625 dollars per gram.
BUT then we have to divide it again by the PURE gold quality of 24 carats to find out what 1 carat gold is worth...
Stay with me here - it's really easy once you get used to it.
That is: 29.0625 / 24 = 1.2109375 dollars for one gram of one carat gold quality.
Next we have to multiply this by the ACTUAL GOLD QUALITY of the ring (we suggested 12 carat because the person who requested this information didn't tell us) so that is 1.2109375 * 12 = 14.53125 dollars but as this was only half a gram in weight, would be approximately bucks.
Phew!
Now that is a base figure of course, because it doesn't take into account manufacture, wholesale and retail mark-ups, yet alone the taxes from our friendly governments - DON'T START ME!
Finally then - the appraisal difference wouldn't be much more than about dollars - AT MOST - so we really would ignore it, as it would have been taken into account when rounding up or down the final price.
I would however be more concerned with the damage to the Emerald - but that's another story.
The other concern from the client was that there was no change in the weight after resizing back up. This would be due to the fact (it sounds like anyway) that the ring had a piece cut out when it was sized down (hence the loss in weight) but would have been stretched when it was resized up again. This is quite normal practice and accounts for the NO CHANGE in weight when going back up a size or two.
It's not the best way - but is standard practice.
Finally - our client was concerned about the resale price should he want to resell it. How does this effect his 'Appraisal Value' he asks.
Well sadly he is mistaken as to what an Appraisal is really for - and it has NOTHING TO DO WITH A RESALE PRICE!
It is for REPLACEMENT WITH A SIMILAR ARTICLE BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY IN THE EVENT OF THE ITEM BEING LOST OR STOLEN...
There - Now I've blown the lid off the whole Shebang.
How to Value Your Jewelry Mistakes 12 OUNCES EQUALS
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