Professional Appraiser Elias Finds Treasures

What is it worth to know what something is worth?

Ask professional appraiser, Yarden Elias, who chatted with the AJT from an airport terminal in Palm Springs since her line of work requires that she “travel a ton.”

A self-described workaholic, Elias knows “a lot of a lot” about fine things — tangible personal property (excluding real estate or businesses), but including art, furniture, residential contents, wine, coins, sports memorabilia, cars, documents, jewelry, even horses! If you think you have a Chagall lurking in the attic, Elias is the one to call.

She explained, “We’ll casually see a multimillion-dollar Basquiat painting hanging in a living room or private storage, a $100,000 necklace from someone’s mom, a small sculpture someone thinks is junk coming out to $15,000. People aren’t always happy with our values whether they’re too low or too high (people usually pay taxes or pay insurance premiums based on our findings), but it’s interesting for us to see what we may find.”

Imagine a set up like “Antiques Roadshow” akin to Elias finding varied discoveries so fascinating. Some other outrageous things she’s happened upon are a coin collection worth $5 million found in a forgotten safe, a 40-carat diamond, a Rembrandt painting in a storage room, Picassos forgotten in storage, a $10 million Ferrari, yachts, private planes, and jewelry personally designed by Coco Chanel.

Elias continued, “I’ve even discovered a ‘Berenstain Bears’ archive. Sometimes, we go behind the scenes at museums when items are donated or in homes before items are donated or sold.”

Now a Davis Academy parent, Elias has earned the ability to go beyond guess work. Hailing from Teaneck, N.J., she attended a modern Orthodox high school, then graduated from Rutgers University, then New York University (NYU) for a master’s in visual arts administration.

She came to Atlanta just before the COVID pandemic. Her husband is a teacher from New York City. To get practical appraisal skills, she completed internships and International Society of Appraisers courses for compliancy and now boasts 12 years of field experience.

When asked how she chose this profession, she stated, “I fell into it. Took an intro to art history course, had a wonderful professor, spoke with someone in a master’s program at NYU, felt that a master’s was necessary for any job in the arts, interned at an appraisal firm, art gallery, Christie’s, and a museum. Worked at a gallery in NYC for five years before relocating and then was recruited by Freeman’s (then Hindman).”

Now employed at Freeman’s, she bills by the hour and also provides appraisals for donation to institutions, gift tax for gifting to family members, divorce, taxable estates, insurance, and estate planning. Their firm has two divisions: Auction and Appraisals. Elias is in the latter to determine value and provide reports. If someone wants to sell, she loops in the auction division, but she never brings up “auction,” to remain unbiased. Queried about the use of AI, she said, “It cannot determine value, but can help with market research/item identification.”

In terms of what she observes as good investments, Elias shared, “Gold and silver are very high right now – buy gold! Diamonds do not hold value – buy what you like, not for return on investment (ROI). People are always shocked about that! Very few categories will give high ROI, so just buy what you like.”

She warns consumers to ask for certificates of authenticity, provenance (ownership history), reputable dealer/source. “If it’s too cheap, be wary.”

Regarding her appraisal gig, Elias concluded, “It’s so interesting because we get to see how people live with their collections and can get up close and personal with priceless items you may see in a museum and cannot touch or get close to, or may never see as they’re traded privately or have been passed down from previous generations, and we are able to handle them and get up close.”

While her two daughters keep her busy, Elias also enjoys cooking and baking.