The A.I.G.L. upholds the strictest ethical standards within the industry. Each luxury wristwatch or diamond jewelry piece goes through a 2-hour process of examination, authentication, and appraisal including the following five (5) steps:

Your luxury wristwatch or fine diamond jewelry piece is first taken into our sealed examination room where it is cleaned to remove any debris.  We then remove the band and caseback and movement of all luxury wristwatches.   All watchbands and cases are then cleaned in ultrasonic solution in preparation for acid-testing to test for gold, platinum, or steel content.  Pearls and other gemstones are vacuum plastic-sealed or taped off to protect them from discoloration from acid-testing. Any extraordinary aspects of your item including unique, custom work, or damage are noted prior to preparation.  Please note: The A.I.G.L. will not examine previous appraisals, lab reports, sales receipts or other descriptive information as this information may skew our independent authentication and appraisal process.

Once prepared, cleaned, and disassembled, all serial numbers and other identification information is taken down and stored in our archives. All computer archives are backed-up daily using redundant nationwide servers hosted at a co-location point in Reston, Virginia, USA's largest internet point of presence and the home of AOL.  In the case of luxury wristwatches we note:

For all fine diamond jewelry pieces we record:

• Color, Clarity, Cut, Quantity, and Total Weight of Diamonds or other gemstones
• For individual stones over .7 carats we provide gemstone measurements and proportions as well.
• Carat number (14k, 18k) and weight of metal (gold, steel, or platinum)
• Style of Gemstone settings
• Industry-standard style of overall jewelry piece

The A.I.G.L. uses industry-standard Rappaport-based retail diamond values as well as Rolex, Cartier, and other luxury wristwatch dealer pricing tables.  These values are obtained through the purchase of dealer pricing tables as well as independent research performed by 3rd party and in-house research analysts for Preowned items. Exotic luxury timepieces and exotic jewelry valuations are obtained through the canvassing of retail prices in 5 major markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, and Toronto.  Valuation tables and estimated retail replacement are firm and cannot be altered upon your firm's request.

The A.I.G.L. finalizes its analysis by creating an independent appraisal with authentication identification.  Your supplied pictures will be verified to match your item or we will take our own, independent pictures of your item if pictures cannot be supplied. A detailed description, authentication and valuation are compiled into a comprehensive appraisal document and then laminated for distribution.  A copy of this appraisal report will be stored on our servers for the lifetime of our exclusive contract with your company.  Reprints of archived reports will be billed at the original appraisal fee.

The A.I.G.L. adheres to a rigid code of ethics and either meets or exceeds strict industry standards in all written reports and throughout the entire examination, authentication, and appraisal process.

The A.I.G.L. uses, in its process the following equipment