News

The safest way to clean a gemstone is decided by more than how hard it is. Hardness tells you how easily a stone scratches, and the Mohs scale ranks that from talc at 1 to diamond at 10, a system the USGS traces back to the Austrian mineralogist F. Mohs in 1822. But hardness says nothing about whether a stone will survive an ultrasonic bath. Topaz sits at 8, harder than most stones in your box, and GIA still says to keep it out of steam and ultrasonic cleaners. This guide covers both halves: what scratches what, and what actually...

When someone dies, the Canada Revenue Agency treats everything they owned as sold at fair market value the moment before death, a rule called deemed disposition. The CRA's own page on the subject confirms this applies to capital property broadly, which includes personal belongings like jewellery, not just real estate and investments. That single rule is why an estate executor often needs a formal jewellery appraisal even when nobody plans to sell a single piece. Why an Appraisal Matters for Probate If jewellery is significant enough to affect the estate's overall value, and family heirlooms often are, the executor needs...

Most home and renter's insurance policies cap jewellery coverage at a few thousand dollars total, which means a single engagement ring can easily exceed what a standard policy pays out. To schedule a specific piece for its full value, Jewelers Mutual Group notes that most insurers require a current written appraisal, not a receipt, not a verbal estimate, a signed report from a qualified appraiser. Here is what that report actually needs to contain, and why the date on it matters more than most people realize. Why Insurers Want a Current Appraisal, Not a Receipt A receipt tells your insurer...

A written jewellery appraisal usually costs between $50 and $150 per item, whether it is billed as a flat fee per piece or an hourly rate for more complex work, according to Jewelers Mutual Group. What you should never see on a legitimate appraisal invoice is a fee calculated as a percentage of the piece's value. The American Society of Appraisers prohibits contingent and percentage-based appraisal fees outright, because a percentage fee gives the appraiser a direct financial incentive to inflate the value they report. That one rule is the fastest way to tell a credible appraiser from one you...

Jewelry isn't the biggest holiday gift category by volume. Clothing, gift cards, and toys all outrank it, according to the National Retail Federation's winter holiday survey. But it's the category people remember years later, and it's the one that gets more popular with age, before that, one age group stands out: shoppers 18 to 24 are more likely than any other group to buy jewelry as a gift, with 30% planning to give it this season, per the same NRF data. If you're shopping for someone in that range, or you just want a gift that outlasts the wrapping paper,...

Valentine's Day 2027 falls on Sunday, February 14. Jewelry has been the top gift category by dollar amount for ten years running, according to the National Retail Federation's 2026 holiday survey, which found shoppers plan to spend close to $7 billion on jewelry for the day, ahead of every other gift category. That doesn't mean you need to spend big. It means a well-chosen piece of jewelry reads as more thoughtful than most of the alternatives, at almost any budget. This guide is organized by price so you can find something real without guessing. Under $150: Small and Personal At...