ABOUT
Professional Appraisal With Years of Experience
James Maxwell-Day achieved the Fellowship of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain in 1993 and in the same month began working for a small boutique store in the heart of London’s Knightsbridge.
The clientele were discerning and not afraid of requesting pieces of exquisite beauty and the price tag to match. The company also found a niche in sourcing reasonably priced items as small gifts. The tag line ‘From £100 to £100,000, we can make you dreams come true,’ became the mantra.
During this time James learnt how to differentiate between cultured pearls and natural pearls.
Moving to Royal Tunbridge Wells, in 1999, he began working for Claybrooks, a local high street jeweller selling to the ‘man on the street’, this increased his experience with mass market manufacturing and an understanding of the watch industry.
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In 2001 James moved to Payne and Son (Silversmiths).
Payne and Son was one of the oldest family jewelers in England as it was started in 1790. It specialized in old and antique jewellery and silverware, as well as new jewellery and mid-value watches Omega and Zenith.
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During his time at Payne and Son, James was the twenty-second person to pass the Professional Jewellery Valuations Diploma in 2004 and was actively appraising jewellery, silverware, watches and objet d’art, until 2010 when he left to come to Canada.
“ Arriving in Canada I decided to get to know more about Canada and especially Alberta.
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‘I have worked for Habitat for Humanity as a volunteer. I enjoyed working alongside people from all walks of life, building homes for families.
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‘Shortly after receiving my Permanent Residency, I was a permit specialist for Civeo, a camp construction company. I worked from the Athabasca Lodge, Fort McKay (south of the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’) and then worked from Edmonton.
