Alan
I have encountered this very issue with many people in my consultancy
business and from a legal counsel point -of-view. Most often jewelers
and metalsmiths don’t keep an inventory of - everything. That is the
starting point in disposing of the items after one’s passing. Your
jewelry making equipment tools and consumables are worth a fortune-
no matter what condition they are in.
Tool junkies collections often tally into the hundred thousand range
even when they have a small shop. A gemstone inventory is often in
the hundreds of thousands range given fair market value and a
penchant for collecting diamonds and other lapidary
materials you may have purchased over many years- I myself was
astounded recently when I found some trays of covellite that I
thought were lost to hurricane Katrina, but had become lodged under a
fallen through floor in my house - the thirteen trays of cabochons
alone total over $15, 000. 00 in value based solely on the inserts in
each gem jar (printed inserts are available for gem jars so that one
may quickly and easily inventory their collections. I also use a
device that generates a bar code and a cataloguing image to make
mobile phone/device sales and ordering possible for my wholesale
customers).
It is easily accomplished, if when beginning a business or even from
an hobbyists perspective or rather, pursuit, one’s purchase orders,
invoices and receipts are easily consolidated and recorded into a
single ledger giving paper copy as well as other methods of
accountability including at least one copy on removable storage
media - like a dedicated thumb drive to be kept in a safe deposit box
that is frequently, if not annually updated (this also helps at tax
time). Inventories make it easy to not only determine value,
appreciation and in some cases depreciation. Although most jewelry
equipment appreciates if well maintained, and becomes vintage if
possibly replaced by a mechanized tool or some machinery to
accomplish the same task: old chain making equipment for instance
that does not need electricity to perate is more valuable now than at
the time of manufacture and purchase in the 1930’s.
I have some antique wire drawing equipment that cost the original
owner 4130. 00 on credit in 1924, today a similar set-up was sold at
auction for over $17, 000. 00 in far worse condition than the drums
on mine are (the one that came up for auction had thouroughly rusted
drums and an inoperable torque wheel. (As a matter of fact on June
18, 2009 a very nice auction of jewelry making equipment, rollng
mills, drawing equipment, chain fabrication machinery and tooling
and more is to take place in Rhode Island, beginning at I believe
10:30 am EST, and can be accessed online as well as in person. IF
anyone needs info on that feel free to contact me off list).
I highly recommend this to - everyone- To those I counsel, from
business start-ups to individuals to families dealing with the
estates of relatives, I urge them from the beginning to the end to
record not only all the major equipment but the hand tools, business
equipment, consumables and back stocked items fitting that category
(i. e-. the 6 gallon jugs of Cupronil in one’s inflammable cabinet
to the 100 imprinted polishing cloths, and rolls of anti-tarnish
tissue in the display and packaging tabouret and closet), gemstones
and lapidary stock, metals separated into precious metals, base
metals, then further sorted into mill products, raw materials and
scrap, paper systems and printed materials ( non-customised items
that are resealable- just as customised items are deductible from the
value of the estate where taxes are collected on any estate
valuation) furnishings and everything else.
Donating them to organizations is good for a write off and also
subject to deduction from any estate taxes, or luxury taxes that may
be applied to a relative’s inheritance of the inventory, however,
most often schools just shelve the items unless there are enough to
set up at each workstation or the equipment is substantial- in other
words, the hand tools that you may have collected and cared for over
your career in jewelry making may not be as valued to a school-
particularly a state run institution. Schools that specialize in
arts and crafts education, like the John C. Campbell Folkschool.
William Holland, Wildacres etc. are the exception and any 501 © 3
should be considered over a local college as the recipients will not
only know what they are intended for, but as a donated collection may
serve the altruistic goals of such an organization… who knows your
studio may get it’s own immortal room in perpetuity in such a school.
For profit venues however, if you don’t specifically state so in your
will, can and probably will liquidate any donated collections and
materials. It is always advised to specify in clear words what you
intend for the donated materials: how you intend the donation to be
used and what limitations, if any you wish to specify on future
disposition or sale of the goods: for instance if you wish that the
tools and equipment be used by the student body solely and do not
wish that the owner of the school, president of the club, etc. take
possession of them in the event of the school or club’s disassembly,
or dissolution, you should then state that you wish the machinery,
tools or equipment to be liquidated and the value to be reinvested
with another named party or institution. Most recipients dealing with
a large estate of valuable tools, equipment, etc.
will generally agree to your terms, and an ombudsman can be named to
execute your wishes for a period of time you set in your initial
will, or in the initial donation of X, otherwise the items may wind
up at an indivdual’s home, or on an on-line auction site benefiting
the person that accepted the boxes of your things when they were
delivered to whichever place you name as the benefactor of your
collection, etc. Gemstones should , in particular, be carefully
considered, as should precious metals- they are considered items of
transportable wealth and can be heavily taxed if discovered by a
thorough assessor or appraiser, so you should perhaps treat those two
categories differently from tools and equipment. Metals value is a
traded commodity and currently quite valuable.
It is easy to keep records of one’s metals and gemstone’s value and
inventory above any other item in your studios from your purchase
orders and/or receipts or invoices. In the event of your death if
you do not specify your intended disposition of them the cash can be
seized or rather taken over by some states in the US, instead of
turned into monies that can then be used to pay off any bills
relative to your estate, like medical expenses, etc (though it is
little known that many, if not most debts can easily become
dissolved upon an individual’s death)- but it has to be spelled out
clearly. there is also the matter of userfrucht- wherein you may
specify that a friend or relative may have full use of any and all
materials equipment, etc but upon their death or non-use ( say the
person becomes disabled by paralysis, etc. )
you can specify that the collection is to be turned over to another
friend or relative or liquidated and assets then donated to an
individual, a crafts college or similar, placed in trust for an
heir. Th are many considerations to make when it comes to all the
parts of your business, or hobby particularly metals and gems that
can generate considerable wealth from an internationally valued
perspective and that hold presumably timeless potential for
appreciation ( or increased value). Consider the rarity of some
gemstones for instance-: tanzanite, tsavorite, sugilite, chrysoberyl
and alexandrite from Mt. Tsavo National Park’s eastern as well as
Northern ranges… who knows how long that area will not only be
mined, but preserved at all.
In time I expect the value to triple for the natural material coming
out of that area now. I have silver crystals that came from Ouray
Colorado from a mining area that has been paved over and will most
likely never be opened again that have already increased
disproportionately to what I paid for the material when I mined it,
or purchased it. All these bits of things one collects in a lifes
time are catalogueable and valuable beyond the sentimentality you may
place on certain items if not the whole as it is many of us- as
metalsmiths or jewelers- life’s passion- and each saw blade is in
essence sacred to some of us!( though in reality not of any lasting
value!). My point is to carefully asses what you have, where you
desire it to go after your demise, or dis-ability to use it, and how
you wish it to be divided or kept together, or otherwise disposed of
and then spell it out in detail clearly and concisely so that there
is no question or reproach possible from any executor that you should
appoint to oversee your studio’s disassembly. rer
