About AZ Jewelry Appraisers

Learn more about why we are the right choice for you.

WHO WE ARE

The crafting of fine jewelry produces captivating works of art from the Earth’s most finite, precious materials. World-renowned gemologist Robert Connelly at Peoria’s AZ JEWELRY APPRAISERS reveres and respects the enduring craftsmanship and spectacular quality that upholds the brilliance of fine jewelry through generations.

Our dedication to upholding every piece and every collection’s utmost value flows from precisely that belief in the appreciation of fine jewelry’s most intricate details. Our respect for every owner’s personal attachment to their pieces sparks us to assess every item with industry-apex standards for integrity and accuracy.

ABOUT OUR FOUNDER

Robert Connelly GG (GIA), GD, AGA, NAJA, ISA AM has examined and appraised several thousands of pieces of exquisite jewelry the world over since beginning his exploration of the jewelry industry in 1989 as an international wholesale buyer and seller in Brazil and United States. A Graduate Gemologist finishing with at the top of his class with a 97% rating from the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, CA, he established AZ JEWELRY APPRAISERS in 2013 to serve a complete array of appraisal needs within the Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff areas following an educational global odyssey in gemology:

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    Robert Connelly GG (GIA) GD AGA NAJA ISA AM

    Practical experience in the jewelry industry both wholesale and retail

  • Wholesale buying in Minas Gerais, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Piauí, Brazil.  
  • Worked with cutters in Téofilo Otoni, Governador Valadares and Belo Horizonte, Brazil
  • Wholesale Buyer and seller in Brazil and United States since 1989
  • Appraiser on several Caribbean islands for local jewelry stores including Jamaica, Curaçao, St. Thomas and St. Maarten
  • Appraiser of jewelry, diamonds and gemstones since 1998
  • Worked and exhibited at Basel, Switzerland Show 2003
  • Attended Tucson Gem Shows and educational classes since 1989
  • Member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers
  • Accredited Member of The International Society of Appraisers
  • Member of The Accredited Gemologists Association
  • USPAP Compliant 2020-2021 extended through Dec 21st 2022

For your Replacement or Fair Market Value appraisal needs, Mr. Connelly is an unmatched consultant in the Phoenix area’s highest demand for divorce settlement, equitable distribution, estate probate and gemological valuation queries. You can bank on the most extensive attention to detail, the most urgent guaranteed turnaround times, and an appraisal executed with the utmost care and our trade’s most trusted techniques at your convenience.

You cannot assign a price to your indelible personal bond with your jewelry. Knowing the greater scope of the finery in its craftsmanship can illuminate a more profound admiration for its history. Let Robert Connelly and AZ JEWELRY APPRAISERS shine a light….

WHAT DO WE DO

Seasoned professionals of the jewelry and gemstone trades have traveled the world over and found few standards for diligent accuracy in appraisals as exceptionally, uncompromisingly refined as the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) in which Robert Connelly has rooted the AZ JEWELRY APPRAISERS reputation.

Since the 1980s, USPAP guidelines have been the reigning measuring-stick quality control standards for all real property, personal property, intangibles and business valuation appraisal analysis and reports throughout the United States and its territories. This code of quality wasn’t adopted lightly. The same joint committee of U.S. and Canadian appraisers that developed the USPAP also formed The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) with major industry and educational support to administer the regulations in the aftermath of the Savings and Loan Crisis.

SERVING WHERE WE’RE NEEDED

Mr. Connelly routinely travels with pride to Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff-area clients who value his face-to-face attention to detail, seeing to it that the jewelry under his discerning eye never leaves an owner’s sight. While you observe, he will evaluate your pieces with an array of our industry’s most trusted essential instruments and testing materials that travels with him to every appraisal:

  • Gemological microscope
  • Refractometer
  • Polariscope
  • Thermal diamond tester

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    Presidium Guage

  • Presidium gem tester
  • Metals acid testing kit
  • AGT3 Digital Gold & Platinum Tester
  • Master Color CZ set with colors E-N for comparing color in diamonds
  • Magnet
  • GIA ultraviolet cabinet
  • GIA mini-lab
  • Diamond tweezers
  • Presidium millimeter gauge
  • 16 megapixel digital camera
  • Natural daylight lamp
  • Photographing platform
  • Dichroscope
  • Spectroscope
  • 10x triplet loupe
  • Gram scale 
  • Carat scale
  • SmartPro Optimum-1 Tester
  • GIA Mini Laboratory

As a consultant in liquidation of old jewelry, Mr. Connelly will separate real gold and silver pieces from costume jewelry. We will also acid test any unmarked jewelry to determine the fineness of the gold.

In completing the appraisal, we will strictly buy only jewelry that we have not appraised personally. Both you and your insurance agent will receive detailed PDF copies of our appraisals.

To clarify the three primary types of appraisals we provide:

Replacement Cost(New):

The most common jewelry appraisals are retail evaluations written for insurance needs. This would be the cost to replace the jewelry with an item of equal quality and kind including custom making a piece of jewelry to match. This would be considered the current market price or the replacement value.

Replacement Cost(Used):

This value would be used when items are no longer in production or available. The secondary market is often used on estate pieces such as antiques.

Fair Market Value:

This evaluation is often done on estate pieces and is based on the price at which the piece will change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under compulsion to buy or sell and both having relevant knowledge of the facts. These prices are usually researched from documented prices from estate sales, secondhand stores, antique stores and auction houses.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

The prestigious accreditations and volume of experience that Robert Connelly GG (GIA) GD AGA NAJA ISA AM has built the AZ JEWELRY APPRAISERS practice upon mean far more than exceptional bullet-points to a resume.

To us, these are the paramount standards to which we aspire with every appraisal. They represent a responsible to our clients’ precious jewelry – for some pieces, a responsibility to works of art that have seen generations pass before them.

That’s why we’ll meet (and exceed) greater expectations of quality than you’ll find throughout the Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff areas.

Our expertise has been globally demonstrated:

INTERNATIONAL DEMAND

Few Arizona jewelry appraisers have cut their teeth as gemologists, appraisers and wholesale buyers and sellers in the competitive foreign marketplaces where Mr. Connelly attained his earliest experiences.

  • Practical experience in the jewelry industry both wholesale and retail Wholesale buying in Minas Gerais, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, Piaui, Brazil.  Worked with cutters in Teofilo Otoni, Governador Validates and Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
  • Appraised jewelry and loose gemstones for jewelry stores in the Caribbean including Jamaica, Curacao, St. Thomas and St. Maarten
  • Tri-lingual English, Spanish and Portuguese
  • Graduate Gemologist Diplomas from GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and BIG (Brazilian Institute of Gemology)
  • Worked and exhibited at Basel, Switzerland Show 2003

We leave a stamp of quality and commitment to accuracy wherever we ply our trade.

DEDICATION

The conclusion of your appraisal is the beginning of our commitment to a lasting relationship of service.

We value your ongoing trust in our integrity. That’s why, without exception, we will only purchase jewelry that we haven’t personally appraised. Every appraisal will conclude with both you and your insurance agent receiving a detailed PDF copy of our report.

CONVENIENCE

Our commitment to our trade is equaled only by our attentiveness to your convenience.

Mr. Connelly regularly travels to meet with clients and perform complete appraisals face-to-face, as befits their schedules. As always, your jewelry will never leave your sight. What’s more, we know that your time is as precious as any gemstone. We strive to complete every appraisal with the most efficient turnaround time in Phoenix or any other market.

At AZ JEWELRY APPRAISERS, you are more than our customer. You represent a long-term investment in the quality and value of jewelry destined to see generations to come. Diamonds are forever – so is the highest quality.