Associated Gemological Services

This was such a great experience. She is so professional and friendly. Highly recommend.

I met with Sandra Dougherty the other day. My experience was a 5 star one.
Setting up an appointment: I called Sandra one evening and was able to make an appointment over the phone. She asked some basic questions about the nature of my visit. Her office was closed at the time, but her business line was forwarded to her cell.
Location: century square in downtown on the 27^th floor, suite 2701. Sandra provides validation. Very easy to find.
Sandra was prompt and very knowledgeable. I really appreciated her expertise. The appraisal too about 30 – 45 minutes for 1 set. of earrings, and I was able to watch the entire time.
5 stars. Would go again if needed.

I had two diamond rings appraised by Sandra on two different occasions. She was very knowledgable and answered all of my questions.

I’ll be celebrating my 3 year wedding anniversary this week and I wanted to commemorate it by reviewing the place I took my wedding ring to be appraised. How sweet, you say. Yah, I know.
Thanks to some Unilocal researching, I found Associated Gemological Services. So glad I did. After making an appointment, we met with a certified gemologist. The whole process was simple, quick and she explained every step.

Sandra is amazing! I had an issue with a jewelry company selling me a misrepresented. She was really helpful in teaching me about diamonds what to look for in getting my replacement from the company. She even went as far as to be on the phone with me to go over the choices I had available in front of me at the store to make sure I got something of quality. She bent over backwards to ensure I was not taken advantage of. She met with me 3 times during the process of dealing with this other company to go review stones etc. She performed the appraisal in front of me and went over each detail to make sure I understood it. I see the other two very low reviews on here and can’t even imagine if being the same person. She is beyond professional and even though she was running a little late to one of our 3 appointments she gave more then enough notice so I could show up a bit later as well. I highly recommend her! She knows her stuff when it comes to appraising jewelry and I wouldn’t recommend anyone. If your located on Oahu she is definitely the person you need to see for any appraisal.

Awesome, helpful. It was great learning more about my engagement ring and diamond and sitting with just Sandra. You can tell she likes what she does and really values her customers.

Flabbergasted.
Their website says this: «…our hallmark has been our keen attention to detail in evaluating fine quality jewelry and appraising precious stones» That’s not exactly true.
I called last week after finally finding my wedding ring which had been lost and I had never had a rider on our insurance to cover it properly. Bad mistake on my part as I am a certified diamontologist and worked in the industry preaching to others the need to get their appraisals updated every 3 – 5 years. So I came here, to Unilocal*,found and called Sandra. I told her upfront I had a lot of pieces and she told me to just bring them all and we would determine what was most important as she had a full schedule and we might have to make a few appointments based on our discussion. I was FINE with that. However, 5 minutes into our appointment she decided we weren’t going to ‘mesh’ based solely on my reaction to her telling me that one of my rings was something which «could be picked up at Macy’s for about $ 500» even though I had an appraisal, though 20 years old with an appraisal value of $ 1395. She barely even looked at the ring but told me there weren’t any diamonds in it (which I pointed out there were) and then followed that up with that they weren’t important enough to consider, they were just chips. When we had first talked on the phone, she made it clear that if I had pieces valued over $ 1000 per then that’s how she considers them worth appraising for insurance purposes. To her, I had about 5 pieces worth appraising today which, AGAIN, I was okay by me.
Beyond shocked that a professional, who not only realizes the importance of sentimental value, and even I understand that THAT cannot compare to the actual value, would be that callus then turn a client away for THEIR insult. She even went further by telling me that I was qualified enough to appraise my own jewelry (huh?). Last I checked the GIA (the premier appraisers of gem stones & diamonds in the US) has a course one takes in order to be certified through THEM because insurance companies may not accept just anyone to appraise jewelry — which was WHY I was paying for someone ‘qualified’ to do it. She told me flat out she was just too busy for me. I apologized if I had offended her somehow, though I’m not really sure what I did except to disagree with her assessment but wasn’t going to worry about that specific ring — basically a trinket to her. But the last I checked gem stones do not devalue and gold is at a fairly high price currently so how could that ONE ring possibly have devalued by $ 900???
Bottom line, I’m probably glad she didn’t appraise any of my jewelry and I would tell anyone to second guess using this woman for yours. I’d like to think she was just having a stressful day, but I’m still just shaking my head after this experience.
UPDATE: The next day…
I ended up calling Allen Park at Heart to Heart who also happens to be the current Director for the Hawaii Jewelers Association (HJA). After looking at everything I had, including what I have now dubbed my Macy’s $ 500 Trinket, he told me that if Macy’s truly had a ring like that, he’d go buy 10. Knowing Sandra, he, too, was absolutely shocked by her manner with me. Again, maybe it was an off day for her but it simply doesn’t justify how she handled the situation.

Certified gemologist, reliable appraisal, reasonably priced.
I recently had my engagement ring appraised by Sandra at Associated Gemological Services. She cleaned my ring and patiently answered every one of my many questions. My appointment was on Friday and I received the appraisal report in the mail the following Wednesday.
The best part is: I was speaking with my insurance company (USAA) about finalizing insurance for my ring and the agent told me not all appraisals are treated equally. He explained how an appraisal from a jewelry store or anyone who is not certified by one of the three reputable associations are typically inflated and so generally not relied upon by insurance companies when it comes to making claims. Sandra is a certified gemologist belonging to one of the most reputable associations recognized by insurance companies. The insurance agent assured me an appraisal from her is about as good as you can get. Since this was my whole purpose in getting an appraisal, I’m so glad I went with Sandra.

I had a great experience when I came to get an Estate Gold and Diamond ring appraised. Sandra has a nice set-​up. Parking is easy and validated. The appraisal process was very informative and friendly. She took really nice shadow-​free photos of the ring and measured and weighed everything. She specializes in vintage and estate jewelery and really gave our item the attention it deserved. She also cleaned up the ring and wow– what a difference. I got what I needed, a retail value for my old ring as well as comprehensive paperwork detailing the diamond ring’s carat weight, cut, color and value. I am a very happy customer and would recommend Sandra’s services to anyone.
Mahalo!

Sandra was very professional and knowledgeable. Her customer service is second to none. Scheduling of appointment was very easy, next day. She educated me a lot on the 4C’s and the ring I had appraised. Highly recommend her for any appraisal service.

I contacted Sandra for a ring appraisal. She quickly scheduled an appointment (the same day!) and was very accommodating despite my busy schedule.
I was immediately impressed walking into her office. She greeted me with a warm smile and we began to discuss my needs. Not only did she do an outstanding job, but her prices are very reasonable. I have never had anything appraised, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I am so thankful that she is honest and caring, she walked me through everything! I cannot thank her enough and I refer everyone to her.

I used AGS to remove a diamond from a 1980’s setting and placed it on a more modern setting for my wife. Sandra was very professional and walked me through the entire process of examination, photos, and cost. I will go to her for future work and refer my friend to her. The turnaround time was within a few days.

I contacted Associated Gemological Services to get my engagement ring appraised. This was my first time getting a piece of jewelry appraised and I wanted to go somewhere reputable. Being that this place had great reviews on Unilocal and was a 5-​minute walk from my office, I decided to check it out.
I met with Sandra and the entire appointment took about an hour. She first started by cleaning my ring (score!) so she could get a good look at it.
I appreciated how communicative Sandra was, explaining all the different details about my diamond to me. I actually learned more from Sandra than I did from the jeweler who sold the ring to my fiancé and me. She was never alone with my ring at any time and I appreciated how she kept the entire appointment very open and transparent.
I received my appraisal about a week later and was able to get my ring insured (from a third party, of course) right away. I HIGHLY recommend Sandra, she was such a nice, friendly, and very professional person, and her fee was more than reasonable. She seemed very trustworthy and she made me feel very comfortable during the appointment.

I contacted Associated Gemological for an appraisal on my diamond ring for insurance purposes. From the start Sandra provided awesome customer service. She works by appointment, and was able to accommodate and meet with me that day. Sandra does all measurements, tests, calculations and photos while you wait.
My experience with Sandra was surprisingly very interesting and educational. She is very thorough and explains each part of the process to you. She has over 30+ years of experience, and it is surely demonstrated and reflected by her professionalism and knowledge.
I will definitely be back for any of my jewelry needs and highly recommend her.
(Parking is very convenient, downstairs parking garage with free validation.)

I have known Sandra Dougherty for over 33 years and I can tell you that Kazuyo S. who wrote a review six months ago must have made this up as I can tell you without a doubt that she is wrong. I have never known such a professional in all my life. Sandra is first and foremost the most trustworthy individual I have ever encountered. Her integrity is without question. I wanted to buy my wife of 30+ years a unique piece of Jewelry, and told Sandra a such. It took some time to find this piece, but unique it was. A diamond ring with the most beautiful stones, that was independently appraised at $ 8000, but we paid less than a third of that. It was a beautiful piece, and we got a bargain into the deal. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Associated Gemological Services to anyone in the Hawaiian Islands, or around the World for that matter!

As far as I know Sandra and Associated Gemological Services has the highest or one of the highest accreditations in the state. Sandra came highly recommended by another jeweler and I was not disappointed. Items that I needed evaluated were done accurately. She helped both my family and I tremendously and we are in her debt.

Warmest Regards,
Talitha Chavis-​Clore

I would give 0 or minus if I could. My experience with Sandra was completely opposite from others and one of the worst I had with any professionals in Hawaii. She was late for our first meeting, didn’t know how to email an attachment, and could not even fax a document to my insurance company. I wonder where she had been in business for 30 years not using any technologies. The worst part of it was that she completely forgot what we discussed only a few months later and demanded an additional payment though we prepaid the appraisal cost for the second item. After going through so many problems with her, we asked her to simply refund the money so that we wouldn’t have to deal with her any longer. Sandra refused to give the money back and put an appraisal together without taking a look at the item, which was, of course, way off compared to the one another appraiser in town prepared for me. I filed a complaint with BBB, unfortunately, not being an enforcement or regulatory authority, it could not resolve the issue and advised me to contact the small claims court. If you are looking for an appraiser, try anyone else but her. I can’t imagine any others could be as unprofessional and untrustworthy as Sandra is.

I went to Sandra today to value a tanzanite and diamond necklace I recently purchased online. Sandra quoted me a reasonable price (compared to other appraisers that I called) over the phone to verify authenticity as well as to produce a written appraisal. Although my necklace ended up being more work than that Sandra had originally bargained for as my necklace has over 65 carats of gemstones, Sandra spent over an hour and a half explaining her methodology and general knowledge of gemstones and honored her original quoted price. She even went over the steps needed to clean my necklace and also pointed out items of concern that didn’t relate to the appraisal, such as the fact that the tanzanite gemstones were scratching each other based on the design of the necklace, something I would not have seen with my naked eye. After meeting Sandra and experiencing the high level of customer service that she provides, I would definitely recommend her services to family, friends, and colleagues and will continue to take future jewelry items that I need appraised to her establishment.

We needed two appraisals for insurance purposes. Our jeweler highly recommended Sandra Dougherty G.G. GIA of Assocated Gemological Services. Sandra makes all measurements, photos, assessments while you watch. She is an educator as well as an appraiser. We learned about our items as she worked. Her lab is filled with technical equipment to handle many kinds of valuables. We took our pieces with us when we left. We have uploaded a photo of Sandra using her special light box to take a shadow free photograph of all details of a piece.

Sandra is certified and has many years of experience (20+) in appraising diamonds and fine stones/​jewelry. She rates diamonds according to AGS (American Gemological Society) standards, which is the highest standard in the diamond industry. Her office is located on the corner of bishop and beretania in the century square bldg. You make an appointment with her. She studies your ring (s) through a microscope and give you an estimate of the appraisal cost. If the cost is ok w/​you, she proceeds onto her full appraisal. She has some high tech equipment that she utilizes to grade your diamond and ring. The whole process takes about 15 – 20 minutes depending on the intricacies and design of the ring (s). We chatted about diamonds, about my ring, when I got engaged, who was our jeweler, etc. It was a very pleasant conversation and I felt completely comfortable and open to her. She commented on my ring’s exquisite detail and how she liked its unique design. She graded my diamond high, which I was really happy about and which told me that our jeweler was very good in what he does and that he gave us a good price for it. She mails you the detailed appraisal a few days later. Then, you can buy jewelers insurance online via Jewelers mutual insurance. I believe they are the only jewelry insurance in the nation, unless you put you insure your diamond through your home insurance.
If you have a diamond that cost over $ 10G, its best to insure it and I would recommend going to Sandra. Her services cost less than Iridium if you’re shopping around for diamond appraisers.
By the way, she validates your parking ticket so if you come early or if she is running behind an appointment, there are many many quirky shops and eateries around this business downtown area. Lots of hole in the walls and mom and pops stores. Its almost like walking in a different city!