Pav & Broome Fine Jewelry

Appraisal software designed by a jeweler for jewelers

Jennifer Walker, a second-generation jeweler and family member, has been conducting appraisals for Pav & Broome since 2012. Describing herself as “not real technologically savvy,” Jennifer averages about two to three appraisals a day, three days a week at the store.

Jennifer learned to use BriteCo’s appraisal management software in only a day or two by walking through a few practice appraisals, finding it “very user-friendly and not at all intimidating.”

“I didn’t even know there was a user manual,” she recalled, “I just learned it as I went along. If I got stuck, I could always call BriteCo and they would get back to me right away. BriteCo actually made some improvements in the app based on our suggestions.”

Jennifer will typically finalize an appraisal, which is automatically emailed to the customer. She then downloads a PDF file of the appraisal and prints it out to give to the customer as well. All appraisals are easily searchable by customer name, description, or piece inventory number.

The BriteCo appraisal “Inventory Hold” feature is also helpful, according to Jennifer. When she has downtime between appraisals, she can go to the store’s inventory of Rolex watches, for example, and prepare appraisals in advance so they are ready to give to the customer when purchased. “I can do 30 or 40 watch appraisals in a day,” she said, “saving us time, and when sold, we can finalize them in only a minute or two.”

Personal jewelry insurance designed for customer needs

Gail especially appreciates that once an appraisal is finalized, her customers receive a text or email with a custom quote directly from BriteCo for insurance coverage based on their appraisal. In a few minutes, on their cell phone, customers can get insurance coverage from an AM Best A rated carrier.

“It takes some of the pressure off us as the jeweler,” she noted, “when we know our customer can get insured even before they leave the store if they like.”

Gail emphasized that many residents of the Gulf region have experienced soaring costs for homeowner’s insurance along with much higher deductibles after Hurricane Katrina. “A lot of folks don’t want to make a claim on their homeowner’s policy for things like jewelry,” she explained. “They know that if something happens to their ring or watch they’ll still have a big out of pocket expense because of high deductibles and it may even risk a policy cancellation.”

BriteCo’s standard policy has no deductibles and covers replacement of a jewelry piece or watch up to 125 percent of appraisal value.

“I also really like that customer replacement claims are always referred back to us, so that we can take care of them,” Gail noted. BriteCo insurance doesn’t use preferred networks, nor does it require a jeweler to work with specific vendors or diamond dealers.