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David Conger is a Graduate Gemologist. His education was in residence at the California campus of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The primary studies were Diamonds and Diamond Grading, Coloured Gemstones, Gem Identification, Pearl Grading and Appraisals. This residence program is far superior to the correspondence education many gemologists take.

After graduating, Mr Conger worked in Toronto as a stone buyer and head appraiser for a chain of independent jewellery stores. He returned to Ottawa a year later and started Conger's Gemological Services Ltd. It provided an independent appraisal service for 30 jewellery stores in Ottawa and several trust companies. Ten years later, he opened a retail jewellery store and maintained that for 30 years. Today, he works from home and specialises in custom jewellery design and appraisal work. 

In most cases, it takes 45 minutes, including meeting with you before and after the appraisal. It is more efficient and, therefore, less expensive if you get more than one item appraised at once. 

Yes, but this often takes longer and will cost a bit more for the appraisal. Years ago, we offered the service in front of customers and found that it increased the time to appraise an item by 10 to 15 minutes. If you prefer to have your jewellery appraised in front of you, please call to book a time. We need to know in advance. Our appraisal bookings assume you will drop your jewellery off and pick it up after the appraisal is done.

Not at all! Not only is it unnecessary, but it is also harmful to jewellery. If stones were removed, the settings would be damaged, resulting in expensive repairs. We use the stone's measurements and formulas to estimate the carat weights. Expert appraisers have been formally trained to calculate gem weights.

Yes, every item is professionally cleaned before appraising. This aids in better colour grading of diamonds and gemstones. Pearl necklaces are the exception because some strands are frail due to age and cleaning might weaken the stringing.

Yes, insurance companies require it. Frankly, it's a good practice because it offers an easy way to identify the jewellery described in the appraisal report.

As you will see, we have reduced the price per item as the number of items increases. This is because we can shorten the time we spend appraising by cleaning all the jewellery together. It also helps us that we don't need to meet with the same customer several times to get the job done. The short answer is yes, discounts are fine. We will give an excellent price to appraise 10 or 20 items at one time. Please know that we cannot accommodate the service of doing this in front of customers because of the time needed. To help, we suggest we do your favourite two or three items in your presence and ask that you leave the other items with us. Please call for an appointment instead of using this web page.