Where Can I Get a Violin Valuation?
Amati offer free, no obligation, auction valuations of violins, violas, cellos, and bows.
Three ways, and the right one depends on where you are and how much of a hurry you are in.
Send us photographs
This is how most people do it, and it costs nothing.
You fill in the online valuation form, upload a few photographs, and one of our specialists looks at them properly. You get back an idea of what the instrument might fetch at auction. We aim to come back within three weeks. If you need it faster there is an express service that turns it round in three days.
What we need to see: the front, the back, the scroll from both sides, the ribs, and a photograph of the label if there is one, taken through the f hole with the lights on. Blurry is fine. Badly lit is fine. We are looking at shapes and wear, not at your photography.
Come to a valuation day
We take the valuation days around the country, and they are free and without obligation. You bring the instrument, we look at it on the spot, and you leave knowing what you have got.
Here is where we will be between now and Christmas.
November
- Norwich, Monday 2 November
- Ely, Tuesday 3 November
- Nottingham, Tuesday 10 November
- St Andrews, Thursday 12 November - Rufflets Hotel, Strathkinness Low Road, KY16 9TX
- Edinburgh, Friday 13 November - Prestonfield House Hotel, Priestfield Road, EH16 5UT
- Glasgow, Saturday 14 November - Hotel du Vin, One Devonshire Gardens, G12 0UX
- Poole, Tuesday 17 November
- Liverpool, Monday 23 November
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Monday 23 November - Sarah Peck Violins, 1241 Carpenter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
- Harrogate, Tuesday 24 November
December
- Swansea, Monday 7 December
- Cowbridge, Tuesday 8 December
- Hereford, Wednesday 9 December
- Cheltenham, Thursday 10 December
Do book an appointment rather than turning up. The days fill, and an appointment means you get a proper conversation rather than a queue.
In the United States? See violin appraisal in the US for photographs, our American valuation days and how selling from there works.
Bring it to London
Our offices are at Furlong House, 10a Chandos Street, London W1G 9DQ, just off Cavendish Square. If you are in London, or passing through, you are welcome to bring the instrument in. It might be worth calling first to make sure the person you are after isn’t out grabbing a cup of coffee, but we are usually available.
London appointments run any weekday, and you can choose your date on the booking page. Opening hours, directions and the nearest stations are on our London office page.
What it costs
An auction valuation is free, and there is no obligation to sell.
An insurance valuation costs £100, and that is a different document for a different purpose. If you are not sure which one you want, say so when you get in touch and we will tell you. Sometimes the honest answer is that you want neither, and that you want a dealer rather than an auction house.
Why we will not do it over the phone
People ask, and we understand why. But a description down a telephone line is not enough to put a number on an instrument, and a number given carelessly is worse than no number at all. It takes about five minutes to photograph a violin. That is the quicker route in the end.
Once you know where to go, the next question is usually how much is my violin worth. You can also look up what instruments by a given maker have actually fetched at auction in the Amati Instrument Archive.
Get one from us
An Amati violin valuation is free and carries no obligation to sell. We value violas, cellos and bows too.
Send photographs for an online opinion, or book a free valuation day near you.
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