Editorial body
Valuation is important.
The valuer brings knowledge.
Market comparables.
Experience.
Professional judgment.
Useful methodology.
But valuation is not prophecy.
It is an opinion reached for a defined purpose at a defined time using a defined methodology.
Retail replacement valuation may differ enormously from trade value.
Auction value may differ.
Forced-sale value may differ.
Wholesale value may differ.
Source value may differ.
The problem begins when one number is removed from its purpose and paraded through town as The Value.
There is no single celestial number hovering above the gemstone.
Value is contextual.
The holder should therefore ask:
Valued for what?
At what market level?
Using which comparables?
In which jurisdiction?
At what date?
With what assumptions?
The oracle becomes much less mysterious once someone asks for the methodology.