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Tullahoma, TN—Woodard’s Diamonds & Design has teamed up with independent jewelry appraiser Van McMinn (image) of Nashville, TN, who will help the jeweler in-store with appraisals once a month.

McMinn is a graduate gemologist and certified member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. He’s been in the industry since 1981, working in a variety of roles from sales to manager, and has been working as a full-time independent jewelry appraiser since 1997.

“I go beyond what the typical jewelry store would do as I can spend more time looking for more details in a piece of jewelry,” McMinn said in an article in the Tullahoma News. “The more information that is provided in a jewelry appraisal for insurance the more protection the customer has.” He provides regular appraisal services for about a dozen other jewelers in addition to Woodard’s.

Woodard’s, an IJO Master Jeweler and member of Preferred Jewelers International, was founded by Jim Woodard, who has been working in the industry since he was 16 years old. He got his start sweeping floors as a teen in a jewelry store in Winchester, TN, which started his love for the industry. He founded his own store in the Northgate Mall in 1986 and, in 2019, realized his dream of a freestanding store with twice the space. 

Jeweler Jim Woodard opened his freestanding dream store in 2019, double the size of his former mall location.

Woodard’s specializes in diamonds and bridal jewelry, with Jim Woodard frequently traveling to Antwerp on buying trips.

Woodard does appraisals himself, he told the Tullahoma News. But McMinn, one of the few certified appraisers in Tennessee, takes it to another level.

“This is service that Woodard’s has been wanting to offer for many years,” Woodard said. “There’s such a need for this here and we want to bring the best and Van McMinn is the best in the state,” he told the paper.