Gem of a job

IN the living room of her Durham home, Patricia Negus opens a box. In neat compartments, in varying shapes, sizes and colours, are unusual stones with names like red spinel, beryl and apatite. This is Patricia’s gem collection, given to her by a now-retired local valuer, and it is her pride and joy.

“Beryl is a family of gem stones, including emerald and aquamarine,” explains Patricia, 45. “Ruby, emerald, diamond and sapphire are the main precious stones and the rest are less valuable, and less well-known. You can’t really put a price on what people like – it’s personal taste, really. I quite like red spinel – I like the unusual stones. There are hundreds of different types. Andalusite changes colour from green to orange.”

Having started at 20 working at a jeweller’s in Surrey, where she used to live, Patricia has spent her career in the trade. She progressed to assistant manager, taking on various roles including sales and invoicing, then, at 25, she embarked on a valuation diploma. This led to a year-long gemmology course, from which Patricia gained in-depth knowledge of the different chemical compositions and where stones come from.

She was hooked – yet it was only earlier this year that she fulfilled her ambition of becoming a fully-fledged gemmologist and valuer. Now she works independently, valuing jewellery for customers mainly at her home, although she also works at local jewellers’ and will take her equipment to a client if they prefer not to let an item leave them.

With insurance companies increasingly requiring professional valuations to validate policies on jewellery, Patricia is finding her services in demand. One of only 43 fellows of the Institute of Registered Valuers (IRV), she receives many of her commissions through the trade body’s website. The valuation process is lengthy and intricate, and each customer receives a full report including photographs and, if appropriate, recommendations for repairs.

“It takes quite a while,” says Patricia. “I want it to be perfect for the customer. Then there’s all the typing-up as well as photographs. You’re maybe looking at about seven hours – something like that. Single stones are generally the simplest. With smaller stones, it’s often quite difficult to measure them.”

Patricia works with a microscope, measuring the depth and diameter of stones. Each cut has its own formula for calculating carat weight, and she uses this to determine the item’s value, taking into account the price of the precious metal – normally gold or platinum – which fluctuates according to market forces.

When working with diamonds, Patricia has to weigh up other factors which affect the figure she arrives at. “The colour goes from D down to Z,” she says. “Once you get past K, it goes into "fancies", which are coloured diamonds. Bright canary yellow would be really valuable.

“I assess the colour and the clarity, which is the amount of inclusions in the diamond. If it’s heavily included – flawed – that’s going to stop the light reflecting through the diamond, so it’s not going to be as sparkly. People don’t realise what you have to do to get the value. I also assess the setting – the claws, the shoulder and the shank – and check the hallmark. If it’s got a UK hallmark, I can probably determine the year it was made.”

The purpose of the valuation dictates the level of detail Patricia goes into, with probate requiring less – and resulting in a lower figure – than insurance. For the latter, the specific policy is also a factor, with new-for-old replacement attracting the highest amount.

Being a fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, as well as the IRV, Patricia is subject to rigorous checks. “You have to abide by all the rules,” she says. “They’re very strict – they monitor you regularly to make sure the valuations are up to their standards.”

With some of the pieces she assesses worth many thousands of pounds, Patricia is careful to keep her address private and ensures her home is secure. Her most valuable item to date has been a £17,650 platinum ring with a single diamond of almost two carats, which she valued in situ, as the customer was reluctant to let it out of their sight.

Most of the jewellery Patricia sees isn’t new but has been in the client’s family for some time, meaning it has sentimental value. She personally prefers the unusual and quirky to the flashy and expensive. A lover of jewellery since childhood, she has a wide and varied collection.

“There’s not one thing in particular I like – I have rings, bracelets and everything,” says Patricia. “I pretty much like it all. I quite like unusual stones and I like the heavily flawed ones. People generally don’t like them, but, for me, they’re interesting. I like to look at them.”

If she ever got the chance to own something way beyond most people’s budgets, however, she admits she would jump at it. “I do like emeralds and diamonds, obviously,” laughs Patricia. “I wouldn’t say no to a big diamond.”

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