[Jewelry making - Article 00262] - Re: [Orchid] A large collection of unwanted faceted stones

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>     Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can sell such a
>     collection without becoming a stone dealer myself? 

    Just a few thoughts to consider. 

    If the major auction houses such as Christies or Soothebys won't
    handle this, could it be because the overall quality of the gems is
    below that normally considered desireable? If this is the case, it
    occurs to me that the donation may have been made to the metals
    department with the knowlege that the stones were on fairly low
    desirability and quality, or in other words, of student quality. The
    donation may have been made with the idea that these would be ideal
    for students to be using as practice for setting, or for student
    work. If that is the case, is it in keeping with the intent of the
    gift to dispose of the collection? And is it reasonable to expect
    someone to pay for a collection of marginal quality stones? 

    All that is just supposition, of course. the collection may not
    match any of those "worries"... But if indeed the stones are of
    fairly low quality or value, their best use might actually have been
    as items to be given to the metals students for use in their class
    work at some level. 

    The other thing I notice in your post is the statement that the
    stones were appraised by a GIA certified appraiser. That raises a
    flag. GIA does not teach, or certify, appraisers. They train
    gemologists, which is not quite the same thing. They have, at times,
    taught brief seminars in appraisal technique, but most of what they
    do is teach gem grading. GIA students learn to evaluate the quality
    of the stones, and their identity, but not to specifically determine
    the true market value. While many GIA trained gemologists are indeed
    competent appraisers, and perhaps certified by one or another of the
    appraisal organizations, etc, The GIA diploma only verifies expertise
    in gem identification and quality evaluation, not skill in
    appraising. Appraising is a different skill, requiring the
    determination of the appropriate value for an item, as well as
    determining the market level at which that value should be stated for
    a given use. This can create major misunderstandings, if your
    appraisal was determined for a different use. For example, if your
    appraisal determines what the replacement cost would be for the
    stones for a retail level buyer, which is generally the highest price
    level you could find, then your expectations of what this collection
    is worth is vastly different from what you can expect to sell it for.
    Be certain that the valuation you are basing your expectations on, is
    stating a value for liquidation purposes, or auction proceeds, rather
    than a retail purchase price, or you will be basing your actions on
    wrong assumptions of the collection's value. 

    Beyond that, if you wish to sell stones like this, I'd suggest
    learning to put things on Ebay. It's fairly easy to do, you can sell
    things in groups or singly as appropriate, and once you've got the
    basic template of how to do this worked out, other than slight
    rewrites of the sale page and different photos for different lots, it
    might not be all that difficult, especially if you can find student
    help with the project... Alternatively, of course, there are the
    major auction houses. Probably better than local ones. Christies and
    Sootheby's are the two biggest, I think. But as I say, if they won't
    take it, find out why. If the quality is just too low, then ebay may
    be your best and most lucrative sales venue. Broken up into smaller
    lots is likely better as well, than selling the whole collection as a
    single lot, unless it's a truely unusual collection that should be
    kept intact for some reason... 

Peter Rowe
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