Giving Thanks for You!

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At this time of year, we pause to reflect on our blessings, and are grateful for good health, good friends and family, and good business. We sincerely appreciate all of our established and new clients who have entrusted us with the identification, appraising and valuation of their fine jewelry. Our client base is wide and includes clients from Beverly Beach, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, DeLand, Deltona, Edgewater, Flagler Beach, Holly Hill, Melbourne, Mims, New Smyrna Beach, Oak Hill, Orange City, Orlando, Ormond Beach, Ormond-By-The-Sea, Palm Bay, Palm Coast, Ponce Inlet, Port Orange, Port Saint John, Rockledge, Sanford, South Daytona, Titusville, and Viera.

We thank you all and wish you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving.  Thank you so much for your support. Be safe, have fun, and gobble till you wobble!

Jeanne Hawk Fine Jewelry Appraisals Has Relocated to Daytona Beach!

By | New Location | 214 Comments

Kress Building Resized

 

Our new office is located downtown in the historic Kress building, amid the Riverfront Shops. If you haven’t been downtown lately, you don’t want to miss all the renovations and growth that are happening.

The Beach Street Esplanade district is the core of Daytona Beach’s Riverfront and is undergoing a major face lift. Considerable Beach Street improvements have already been made, including widened pedestrian sidewalks, sculptural gateway elements, night lighting, and mature landscaping. Beach Street was modified to reduce lanes from four to two. This provides additional on-street parking with angled parking on the river side of the street as well as on the business side. Within the Esplanade district, the northern end of the Riverfront Park along the Halifax River has been undergoing a $25 million transformation. Planned renovations include a botanical garden, wedding venue, a splash pad, and interactive fountains.

The Riverfront Shops are located along historic Beach Street between Bay Street and Orange Avenue. Over 60 locally owned shops, business services, restaurants and unique entertainment attractions await you in a bustling, vibrant waterfront setting. Beach Street attractions include the Halifax Historical Museum and the Veterans Museum and Education Center. Downtown area attractions include Marina Point, Halifax Harbor Marina, the Sweetheart Trail, and the Jackie Robinson Ballpark, home of the Daytona Tortugas.

Valentine’s Day and Jewelry

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Valentine’s Day is considered the most romantic day of the year in the United States. When people think of Valentine’s Day, thoughts of love, marriage, and proposals come to mind. Each Valentine’s Day we give flowers, chocolate and jewelry to those we love. We do this in honor of St. Valentine. But who is “St. Valentine”?

Some people think that Valentine’s Day is based on the Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration held on February 15th. In 496, Pope Gelasius declared the holiday a Christian feast day celebrated on February 14th and called it St. Valentine’s Day.

Different legends identify who St. Valentine is. One story is that St. Valentine was a priest who served during the third century Rome. He married young couples in secrecy due to a ban on marriage by the reigning Emperor Claudius II. When the emperor found out, he had the priest imprisoned and later put to death. The young couples who St. Valentine married visited him in prison and gave him flowers and letters.

Another legend is that Valentine was a prisoner who fell in love with the jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death, he sent the first ‘Valentine’ to his beloved when he wrote her a letter and signed it “Your Valentine”. Cards are still signed this way today.

We may never know the true origin of the man named St. Valentine, but one thing is for sure. February has been the month to celebrate love as long as we can remember. And often that love is expressed with gifts of fine jewelry.

Diamonds are popular as well as red gemstones, typically rubies.  Ruby is the red variety of corundum. All other varieties, including colorless, are called sapphires. Pearls are also popular. Jewelry purchased for Valentine’s Day is often romantic in design, with hearts topping the list.  Heart designs with diamonds and pearls are common as well as diamonds and rubies.

Diamonds are valued based on the 4C’s – color, cut, clarity, and carat. The most important of these is cut, because cut determines how much light is reflected back to the viewer’s eye. In other words, how much brilliance, scintillation or “bling” the diamond has.

Some people value size (how many carats) over the other C’s. Others value the overall quality of the diamond over its size. Whatever route you choose, it’s critical that the diamond is graded properly to ensure you are paying an appropriate price for it.

Diamonds and rubies are precious gemstones and generally cost more than semi-precious gemstones.  While rubies are quite valuable, they are expensive to purchase. Many people who want a red colored stone at a lower cost purchase a garnet instead, which is a semi-precious gemstone.

Garnets come in a wide variety of gem types and colors, with many cutting options. Garnets are a set of closely related minerals that form a group, resulting in gemstones in almost every color.

Pyrope and almandite are species of the garnet group and range in color from orange- red to slightly purplish red to strongly reddish purple hues. Pyrope can rival ruby’s red. Fine pyropes from Arizona are easily mistaken for good-quality ruby. The best pyrope gemstones are a highly desirable intense pure red, and like ruby, are colored by chromium. Almandite typically has a dark tone with orangy red hue.

Most red garnets, including the popular rhodolite, are mixtures of pyrope and almandite. Rhodolite is the most valuable of the red garnets. Hues range from dark purplish red to to a light reddish purple.  Jewelry designers favor rhodolite in their designs due to its rich purplish red hues, relative freedom from inclusions, and availability in large sizes.

All garnets are not alike in quality or value. Make sure you have your garnet examined by a competent gemologist appraiser who can identify what type of garnet you have and tell you its value.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Here’s the Dirt on Jewelry Cleaning!

By | jewelry cleaning | 107 Comments

The easiest and most effective way to clean fine jewelry at home is with soap and water. Precious metals, including silver, gold, and platinum, are safe, as well as all gemstones, including opals and pearls. Put a few drops of mild dishwashing detergent in a small bowl and add some warm water. Agitate the mixture until soap bubbles form. Place your jewelry in the soap mixture for five to ten minutes.

Remove any pearls and opals from the liquid and rinse them under warm running water (seal the drain with the stopper first!) Lay pearls flat to dry before storing separately in cotton bags. Silk thread is used for stringing pearls and stretches when wet, so it is important to let the pearls lay flat until the thread dries completely.

For routine care, cultured pearls should be wiped with a very soft, clean cloth after each wearing. Opals should not be stored in lockboxes or safe deposit boxes as they can dry out which causes crazing, fracture lines within the opal. Jewelry stores place small beakers of water in any display case containing opal. At home, olive oil can be used to oil the opal and keep it from crazing.  Some jewelers and Opal dealers believe that oiling opals does not help to preserve them, but my clients have had good success with this technique.

For jewelry that is not set with pearls or opals, use a soft-bristle toothbrush to scrub any dirt or buildup on the metal and/or gemstones. Rinse jewelry under warm running water. Let dry on a clean, soft cloth.

Amber should be cleaned with warm soapy water using a soft cloth and no toothbrush. Rinse the amber then dry carefully. Lightly polish the amber with olive oil. Remove any excess oil.  Using another soft cloth, restore polish to the stone. Be careful cleaning amber. It is very soft (2 to 2.5 on the Mohs scale) and can be scratched.

Some jewelry that hasn’t been cleaned in a while will require a second or third cleaning. Clean jewelry not only sparkles and looks better, but can keep your jewelry safe. Debris in your jewelry can loosen prongs and settings, in turn causing gemstones to loosen and sometimes fall out.  So take time to clean and protect your jewelry.

Jeanne Hawk Fine Jewelry Appraisals has officially opened in Titusville, Florida!

By | New Location | 240 Comments

Jeanne Hawk Fine Jewelry Appraisals is located in the All Points professional office building on the Indian River on US1 (S. Washington Avenue), and provides gem identification and jewelry valuation services. Other services include diamond grading, colored gemstone grading, market value estimations, quality assessments, and consultations. The service area includes clients from the space coast area – Titusville, Mims, Port Saint John, Rockledge, Cocoa, Merritt Island, Port Canaveral, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Viera, Indialantic, Palm Bay, New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach – and Orlando. Do you have jewelry with metal or gemstones you can’t identify? Jeanne can identify the metal and the gemstones in your piece and let you know the item’s value. Do you want to know the current market value of your jewelry, or do you need an appraisal so you can insure the item? Do you have old gold jewelry and need to know its value? Are you handling an estate and need the estate jewelry valued? Jeanne is your local jewelry valuation expert. Call Jeanne Hawk Fine Jewelry Appraisals today at 321-408-8244 for an appointment. Jeanne is eager to meet your needs and exceed your expectations.

All active and retired military receive a 10% discount.

Jeanne Hawk Fine Jewelry Appraisals Relocates to Florida!

By | New Location | 64 Comments

all-points-building-aerial

Proximity to aging parents and a desire to return to the South prompted my husband and I to leave California.We recently relocated to Florida and are living on the Central Coast, also referred to as the Space Coast. Steve is settling into his new job while I am busy setting up my jewelry appraising office in Titusville. I expect to be open for business by the end of the month. I’ve always dreamed about living and working on the coast in Florida. I marvel at how blessed we are to make that dream a reality.

In California I did a lot of appraisal work for several local jewelers and their clients.  While I did many appraisals, much of my business involved identifying gemstones and valuing estate jewelry. I also had many clients who were settling loved ones’ estates and needed their jewelry valued or appraised.

Some of my clients in California have asked if I can do appraisal and valuation work for them from my office in Florida. The answer is, yes, I can. Interested clients can mail their jewelry pieces to me. I am fully insured to send and receive jewelry shipped via mail. Please contact me for details.

I am excited about opening my business in Titusville. I’m eager to provide the same level of professionalism and quality service that I did in California. I look forward to establishing new client and jeweler relationships in Florida and exceeding the expectations of my clients.

Happy Birthday September Babies!

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Sapphire is the official birthstone for the month of September and is the gemstone suggested for fifth and 45th wedding anniversaries. Sapphire has been popular since the Middle Ages but gained global appeal in 1981 when Princess Diana was engaged. Her ring was designed using a 12 carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 14 round brilliant cut diamonds set in 18 karat white gold.

Famous for its glorious blue color, sapphire is a variety of the corundum species. Due to its natural trace elements, sapphire comes in a range of colors including yellow, pink, purple, green, orange, white, colorless, and brown. When the trace elements are iron and titanium, the corundum is blue sapphire. Only a few hundredths of a percent of iron and titanium can cause the color, and the more iron the corundum contains, the darker the blue.

Are You Sure Your Jewelry Is Covered?

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Most jewelry appraisals are done for obtaining insurance coverage. If you have jewelry to insure, then you will most likely need an appraisal. Consult with your insurance agent for more information. An insurance appraisal is used to determine the retail replacement value of a jewelry item. Most insurance companies provide a minimum amount of jewelry coverage under a client’s homeowner’s policy. Other insurance companies require a separate personal properties policy for coverage. Check with your insurance agent to see what is covered and how much. For any item valued at $1,500 or more, we recommend that it be insured. Most engagement rings and wedding sets fall into this category. Also, if you have any item that you consider to be priceless that means a lot to you, it is strongly recommended that you insure it. Talk to your insurance agent. You will be pleasantly surprised at how affordable it is to insure your jewelry.

Appraisal versus Valuation – What’s the Difference?

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An appraisal is a detailed, written analysis of a jewelry item, including gemstone identification, grade, measurements, and weight. Additional testing is performed on diamonds ½ carat in size or larger, such as plotting and fluorescence. The appraisal report explains how the gemological testing is done, what equipment is used, definitions of replacement value, the approach to value, and the market selection. The value of the item is listed, which is influenced not only by the quality of the gemstones but also the quality of the item’s craftsmanship. Appraisals are usually done for insurance purposes and sometimes to determine fair market value (FMV).

The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts. The buyer is assumed to be the ultimate consumer or end user of the property. FMV can be retail, auction, wholesale, or scrap, depending upon what is considered to be the most appropriate market that the property is sold in.

A valuation is typically not written and includes identification and analysis of the gemstones and metal in the item, as well as its quality. Most valuations are done to determine fair market value.

Appraisal and Valuation Appointments – Here’s The Scoop

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All appointments are scheduled at your convenience. At your appointment, we will clean, identify, measure, weigh, and grade your jewelry. You will leave with your jewelry. Payment for any services is due at the time of the appointment.

Jewelry is photographed for all appraisals. The appraisal is completed after the appointment. You will receive the appraisal report via email within 7-10 business days, if not sooner. Printed copies are available for an additional fee. Most appraisal appointments are scheduled for one hour. Longer appointments may be needed for multiple or complex items.

Valuation appointments are scheduled based on the type and amount of jewelry you have to be identified and valued. Typically we start with a one hour appointment and you prioritize the order in which items are analyzed. Often clients bring more jewelry to the appointment than expected, which is fine. We always leave time in our schedule to accommodate our clients and with their approval, extend the appointment. Most valuations are done at the appointment. When valuing estate jewelry, sometimes additional research is required, particularly for period items. In this case, the jewelry is photographed for further research.

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