FAQ

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[efitems title=”How Do I Sell My Jewelry?” text=”Read our FAQ’s to get more information on selling your jewelry or fine diamond or colored gemstone. When we have strong interest in an item there is no better place to sell your jewelry or diamonds than J.S. Fearnley. Why? I cannot think of another jewelry or diamond buyer in the southeast that has the market reach and clientele of J.S. Fearnley. Dealers buy to sell to their market which for most buyers is their specific area of town. They rarely even have a city wide market little alone a world wide market. Even a place as big as New York city still does not compare with the market reach of J.S. Fearnley. New York is just one of our markets! We not only buy and sell at shows and events in premium locations all over the United States such as New York, Palm Beach, Naples, Las Vegas, and Aspen, to name a few, but also buy and sell throughout Europe and Asia. Travels to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, The Netherlands, and many other European countries are routine. J.S. Fearnley also exhibits at the biggest jewelry shows in Hong Kong and Singapore where people come from all over the world to buy. It is common for J.S. Fearnley to sell to clients from a dozen or more different country locations at a single show. So you can be assured that, if what you have is special, J.S. Fearnley will know where to market it and pay you top dollar for your piece. This is all you really need to know to make an appointment but for those of you that would like more information there is some valuable advice in the FAQ’s below. Steven Fearnley, the owner and founder of J S Fearnley, has tried to share some of his extensive knowledge in this area to help you in your process.”]

[efitems title=”When Should I Sell My Jewelry?” text=”We believe that if you have not worn your jewelry at all in the past two or three years you should seriously consider selling your jewelry or giving it away. Jewelry is to be worn or recycled, not sit in a drawer or safety deposit box. That does not do anybody any good. Assuming you are more interested in selling your jewelry than giving it away contact J.S. Fearnley to make an appointment to get a free evaluation. http://www.jsfearnley.com/contact-us/. Sometimes it is worth considering selling your jewelry if markets have dramatically increased. There have been times in history where metals or fine diamonds and colored gemstones have escalated to three, four and even five times their value in a relatively short period of time. Not all of these increases last as was evident with the gold, silver and diamond boom of 1979. The diamond prices of 1979/1980 have yet to be reached! Also, certain designers will have unusual hikes in interest and prices soar in a short period of time. If you have a piece of jewelry that you are not wearing often and you think it might be of interest in the market contact J.S. Fearnley for a free evaluation. It could be worth more than you think!”]

[efitems title=”How Do I Get Top Dollar For My Jewelry?” text=”Of course you want to sell for as much money as possible but top dollar does not mean selling at a ridiculous amount of money. Selling for top dollar means selling for the most that the piece is worth in a specific market. The transaction needs to be fair and most people are too smart to overpay. Hopefully you have a fabulous piece of iconic jewelry from a major jewelry maker or a very rare colored gemstone. If so, that would fall under rare or special so make an appointment with J.S. Fearnley and I think you will be very pleased with what we can pay you for your jewelry. J.S. Fearnley can actually often pay you more than a consumer in these cases. How? We are experienced and up to date in the different markets around the world because we are actually buying and selling in these markets constantly and know what is sought after and considered special. We know who our buyers and collectors are and who is paying the most. We can promise you if you have a gorgeous 5 carat ruby that is untreated and of Myanmar origin or an early 1900’s Cartier diamond bracelet, J. S. Fearnley will pay you far more than any other friend, relative, acquaintance, online buyer, or local professional. Why? Because we have Asian buyers and collectors for items like these that pay much more than any U.S. buyer. This is true for certain jewelry items from other fine jewelry makers of the world like Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, Bulgari, Harry Winston, Tiffany & Co, and many more, not just Cartier. If you have an older or exciting piece of jewelry from any of these jewelry makers, or a fine colored gemstone or diamond, do yourself a favor and make sure you allow us the opportunity to pay you more. Most people, however, do not have rare or special jewelry to sell. Normally, if you have a common piece of jewelry or diamond, it is best for you to sell directly to the consumer who is buying the jewelry for themselves. Unfortunately, these buyers are not always that easy to find and they can be expensive to find, difficult to work with, and even dangerous. You may not get as much selling to a fair professional buyer but it is a quick and safe way to sell your jewelry and you will have a much better experience than going to a pawnshop and walk away with more money. And if the jewelry you are selling is common than be realistic. It is best to be logical about what you have and not emotional. If you still have emotion involved with the jewelry or diamond you are considering selling than you should consider NOT selling it! If you have what most people have, you probably have a piece of jewelry that is old enough to be out of style, thus the reason you are not wearing it, but not old enough or rare enough to be special. In this situation you have to accept the fact that you are in the market of selling a second piece of jewelry that is not desirable to the current market. You will not sell for retail prices – not even close. In many cases you cannot expect even a wholesale price. If your item is available in the wholesale market, a market that a professional buyer has ready access to, that dealer is obviously going to pay you less for your used jewelry than he pays his suppliers for brand new jewelry. This only makes sense. If the item is out of style it may not have any resale market right now. We are always amazed at how many people bring items in for sale that they admit no one in the family wants, not even for free, and yet they are surprised when we tell them it is not a sellable piece of jewelry. A lot of jewelry is fashion based which means it is more like buying clothes, handbags, or shoes. It was not an investment. It was bought for the desire of owning the current look and if the look is no longer current there is no longer a desire to wear it. Do not despair though. Unlike your clothes, handbags, or shoes there is still a market value for the metal and gemstones. Hopefully you got just as much enjoyment from wearing the jewelry as you did from your other fashion accessories that you are now giving away or throwing out, and lucky for you, diamonds and gold are worth a whole lot more than cloth and leather! Although selling your jewelry for the metal and gemstone value is not an ideal way to sell your jewelry it sometimes offers you the most money and isn’t that what you are trying to do? Sell your jewelry for the most money you can get! It certainly is better than putting your jewelry back in its hiding place where it has been for the last decade or two. We have a favorite saying at J.S. Fearnley and that is that we know exactly how much your jewelry is worth in your drawer – zero! Of course, at J.S. Fearnley we much prefer to pay you a lot of money for a fantastic piece of jewelry but we recognize that is less common than you or I would like it to be. You never know what you have though so let J.S. Fearnley help guide you in your diamond or jewelry selling. You are never obligated to sell and the information is free so you have nothing to lose.”]

[efitems title=”Does J.S. Fearnley Buy Jewelry?” text=”J.S. Fearnley offers a free consultation to help you sell your jewelry, gemstones or diamonds even if it means referring you somewhere else. We are not a retail shop with retail hours so please call to make an appointment to avoid an unnecessary trip. We are in the heart of the affluent area of Buckhead, Atlanta and have safe free parking immediately in front of our shop. We will even escort you in if needed! We buy with immediate payment. Consignment or brokering is an option too and may actually be better for you. We will clearly outline your options allowing you to make an educated decision.”]

[efitems title=”Do I Need Diamond/Gem Reports, Receipts, Boxes, or Appraisals To Sell My Jewelry?” text=”Diamond and gem reports can be important if your diamond or gemstone warrants them however this is not usually the case and J. S. Fearnley, with several GIA gemologists on staff, can buy your diamond or gemstone without these reports. However, sometimes a report is prudent so if you think you should have one read the FAQ below titled Should I Have A GIA Report For My Diamond Or Gemstone? Receipts and boxes are good to have in most cases and in some cases essential. Receipts and boxes definitely add value when selling jewelry from one of the major jeweler makers of the world such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, Bulgari, Harry Winston, Tiffany & Co, just to name a few. In fact, if you do not have boxes and receipts for jewelry bought at one of these premium stores it would be worth your while to acquire them if you can prior to attempting to sell your jewelry. A current appraisal from one of these premium shops is worth having too but check the cost of these first. Some places charge excessive amounts so it might be more prudent to wait on acquiring this until such time that you have interest in your piece and an appraisal is requested. Some of these premium stores only offer paperwork stating that the jewelry is genuine but do not list a value. This is a certificate of authenticity not an appraisal but is still worth having if not too expensive to acquire. If your jewelry is not from a premium jewelry maker we would usually suggest avoiding the additional cost of an independent appraisal mainly because there are no jewelry appraisers, no matter what their education nor matter how many letters they have after their name, that have widespread recognition. And without that widespread recognition the appraisal will not be given much weight if any. And I say this as a qualified and respected appraiser with a GIA graduate gemologist degree. A professional buyer knows their market and makes offers based upon their market not based upon a piece of paper. Even if you are planning on selling to a consumer, be it online or face to face, these people are not looking to pay retail since they can do that easily without any risk or hassle. Most independent appraisals we see are at inflated retail prices to make you feel good – they are not even realistic retail prices little alone selling prices! This is of no help to you. Inflated appraisals or appraisals that do not reflect the market in which you are selling and usually just push potential buyers away and therefore can actually be detrimental to your ability to sell the jewelry. It is possible that a buyer may not vocalize their offer, an offer that could be your best and most acceptable offer, because they do not want to look like the “bad guy” if their offer is too far below the appraised value. Also, you can actually prevent yourself from accepting a fair offer because you cannot get your mind around the fact that you just got offered so much less the appraisal amount! Even if the appraisal is an accurate idea of retail pricing this does not tend to help much since you are not selling at retail? If you really want an appraisal for your own comfort I would suggest you find an appraiser that specializes in estate appraisals or fair market appraisals and inform the appraiser that you plan to sell your jewelry and want an indication of a realistic selling value NOT a retail value. This will most likely still not be what you can expect a dealer to pay but it should be a lot closer to reality and hopefully a reasonable indication of value if you were to go and try to sell to a consumer. But understand even this appraisal is not needed to sell to a professional buyer. To summarize, I suggest avoiding the costs of an appraisal if you plan to sell your jewelry to a dealer. If you want an appraisal for other reasons make sure you have the correct appraiser and they know that you are looking to sell the item and therefor you would like a Fair Market appraisal. The good news is that appraisals are not that expensive so if you feel better having one than go ahead and get that done.”]

[efitems title=”Should I Have A GIA Report For My Diamond Or Gemstone?” text=”In most cases this is not necessary but in some cases it is a very good idea. I would say the higher quality you suspect your diamond or gemstone to be the more likely it is that a gem report is helpful to you in obtaining top dollar. When selling to a professional buyer the gemstone or diamond should be loose and should have the original diamond or gem report associated with it present if you are hoping for the most money. Most people do not have these. We can still purchase diamonds and gemstones without these but with certain stones it is best for you if you have these documents. Do not waste your money on reports from laboratories or jewelry appraisers that do not have world wide recognition AND acceptance. With diamonds, the ONLY laboratory that meets this criteria is the Gemological Institute of American (GIA). In my opinion you are wasting your money using any other laboratory for a diamond report. I do not mean to be disrespectful to the other laboratories because there are some other good ones but when it comes to selling a diamond the GIA is the only one that carries weight. The reason for this is that many other labs frequently grade your diamond better than GIA and yet use the GIA grading system. Wait! You say I can get a better grade somewhere else!? Shouldn’t the diamond be worth more if I have a better grade? No, it does not work that way because those grades are not accepted by dealers and they totally disregard them. Once a buyer disregards the report, which they will with any other lab other than GIA, they will grade the diamond themselves and that is usually at a very safe and sometimes unreasonably low assessment especially if you are trying to sell to a dealer that is not a GIA gemologist. At J.S. Fearnley we have three GIA gemologists on staff so your diamond will be graded accurately. With colored gemstones the rules are the same but the laboratories are different and there are more to choose from that are widely accepted. Oddly enough, when it comes to fine colored gemstones, GIA is not in the top three widely accepted laboratories although still widely accepted. The top three most accepted gem report laboratories around the world are the American Gem Lab (AGL), the easiest to access in the United States, and the SSEF and Gübelin labs in Switzerland. With exceptional colored gemstones you may find that it is prudent to have a gem report from more than one of these labs but in most cases you will not have to worry about this. If you do not have a report, it is OK. In most cases, J.S. Fearnley can buy your diamond or gemstone without a report. In the cases where your diamond or fine gemstone does require a report we can guide you to the best lab options and help you obtain this with no money outlay from your pocket.”]

[efitems title=”How Do I Get Started Selling My Jewelry?” text=”Getting started is easy. All you have to do is make an appointment. If you are not local, we can start by emailing photos and descriptions. Our goal is to give you information at no cost to you and to help you make an educated decision. We will look carefully at your jewelry, gemstone or diamond and assess the current market interest if any, where those markets might be, and give you an idea of what you can expect to sell the item for depending on the different methods of selling available to you. When we have interest in your item we will make you an offer to purchase it immediately or an offer for consignment and explain the advantages and disadvantages to each. If we do not have interest we will try and refer you to other options. When we deem a piece is of interest but we believe more documentation is needed we can help you acquire this. If you have a signed jewelry item from a major maker but authenticity papers are required we can try to obtain these for you too. We can do the same for a diamond or gemstone in which a lab report is suggested. We will guide you to your best choices and let you know the costs upfront. We will even pay for all the costs involved in obtaining these documents providing that, if you choose not to sell, we are reimbursed for these expenses. However, if you prefer not to spend the time and effort on documents that is fine too. We can purchase your item without them and get all the necessary documents ourselves. Contact us today to start the process.”]

[efitems title=”Does J.S. Fearnley Take Jewelry On Consignment?” text=”J. S. Fearnley does take jewelry on consignment if we deem the jewelry to be of good value and the quality and type that we sell. Please contact us for quotes.”]

[efitems title=”Does J.S. Fearnley Do Repairs On Jewelry?” text=”J. S. Fearnley does not do outside repairs on jewelry. We may be able to recommend someone in your area though so feel free to contact us.”]

[efitems title=”Does J.S. Fearnley Offer Appraisals On Jewelry?” text=”J. S. Fearnley will evaluate jewelry verbally at no charge if you are looking to sell your jewelry. This free verbal evaluation is based upon our buying price not an insurance value. We do not appraise individual jewelry items for insurance purposes. J. S. Fearnley will do written appraisals for multi-piece estates. This value will be based upon what is requested which is mostly Liquidation, Estate or Fair Market evaluations. Please contact us for quotes.”]

[efitems title=”How Do I Get My Jewelry To J.S. Fearnley?” text=”You can set up an appointment to come into the shop if you are local to Atlanta or if you will be visiting Atlanta soon. You can look at our show date schedule. If we happen to be in your area in the relatively near future you can contact us for a show pass so that you can come show us your jewelry directly. You can call us or email us, and we can send you a shipping label to allow you to ship your pieces to us insured via Fedex or another carrier. Lastly, you can ship the items yourself however way you desire but please make sure that you have contacted us first to make sure someone will be present in the shop to receive your shipment timely.”]

[efitems title=”How Can I Get A List Of Shows At Which J.S. Fearnley Exhibits?” text=”Visit http://www.jsfearnley.com/show-dates/“]

[efitems title=”How Do I Get A Ticket For An Upcoming J.S. Fearnley Show?” text=”Visit http://www.jsfearnley.com/contact-us/ and fill out the form with your contact information and someone will get back to you. Or you could call the shop at 404-812-6464. Please note that we are frequently not in the office due to our travel schedule so it may be a few days before your call is returned.”]
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