Questions, answered

A complete valuation studio for professional jewellers: it takes you from a loose stone to a signed, well-produced valuation in one place — grading to GIA convention, pricing each piece from researched trade prices and your own manufacturing costs, and assembling the finished document ready to print.

Working jewellers and valuers — from someone producing straightforward retail valuations, up to registered valuers issuing full institute-grade documents. There's also a free Student membership for anyone learning the discipline.

No. JVal is a tool, not a teacher and not a credential. It bakes the grading and compliance conventions into the workflow so it's harder to slip, but the judgement is still yours. An institute-grade valuation is meant to be produced by a suitably qualified, registered valuer — JVal helps you produce it well; it doesn't make you one.

JVal runs on Windows and Mac. During early access it runs in any modern web browser; a packaged desktop app follows, which adds encrypted storage, auto-lock and automatic backups.

On your own computer. Your clients, valuations, photos and research stay on your machine — nothing is uploaded to a JVal server, and there are no analytics tracking what you do.

Client details never leave your machine. The "Report a problem" feature deliberately carries no client or valuation data. The packaged desktop app adds password-derived encryption of your data file, an auto-lock, and automatic 3-2-1 backups so a lost or stolen laptop doesn't mean lost or exposed records.

It's your data, on your computer — it doesn't get taken away. You keep the files. Producing new valuations needs an active plan, but your record of past work remains yours.

Student — every Diamond feature, free while you're studying, so you learn on the real tool.

Ruby — entry level: client records, pricing engine, gem calculator, Certificate of Sale and a basic branded schedule, for good everyday non-institute valuations.

Emerald — adds invoicing and the fuller document pack: cover page, transmittal letter, summary sheet, appendices, riders library and document themes.

Diamond — the full institute-grade kit: Notes to the Schedule, the compliance rules, Mounted Diamond Assessment, Asian gold, membership credentials on documents, the Standards and Professional Review tools, and multiple signing valuers.

Everything a lower plan includes, the plans above include too.

Student is free while you study. Pricing for Ruby, Emerald and Diamond is being finalised — register your interest and we'll share it as early access opens. Whatever the figure, the principle stands: pay for the level that fits how you work today, and move up when you're ready.

Ruby and Emerald produce genuinely good valuations, but every document carries a clear "not an institute-standard valuation" note. Diamond removes that note and adds the institute-grade apparatus — Notes to the Schedule, the enforced compliance rules, membership credentials and the Professional Review tools — so the document meets the standard expected of a registered valuer's work.

No — you can use Ruby and Emerald without any institute membership. Membership matters for the Diamond plan: institute-grade documents are intended for registered valuers, and JVal prints the membership credentials you enter onto them. You supply and are responsible for your own memberships; JVal displays them, it doesn't grant or verify them.

You start free by confirming your course and its end date. The Student plan gives you every Diamond feature while you study, and closes at the end of your course — at which point you move to whichever paid plan suits the work you're doing. Nothing you've produced is lost in the move.

Register your interest on the Get early access page. When you're in, a short first-run setup captures your company details, fees, valuer name and signature, and you're ready to produce your first valuation.

There's a "Report a problem" button inside the app, and you can always email info@jval.info. During early access your feedback directly shapes what gets built next.