diamond verification/appraisal?

[needing.help]

I purchased a diamond (with great help from people on this list!) with a GIA certificate and, before the diamond was sent to be set in the e-ring setting, I took the diamond to IGI, which verified that the stone was the one in the GIA certificate and provided me with an appraisal for the stone (which seemed quite high, certainly much higher than i paid for the stone). My plan was then to take the ring back to IGI after I pick it up next week and they will re-verify that the diamond is the same and give me a final appraisal for the ring.

Since doing all of this, I have seen that people on this list view IGI as not the best arbiter of stones. My questions, then, are should I get the diamond re-verified by someone else and should I get the ring appraised by someone else? (and if so, who?)

Thanks.

 

[newenglandgemlab]

Be careful of inflated appraisals....serves no purpose other than costing you more in premiums. Cindy

 

[Nicrez]

Anyone worth their weight of a certificate from a lab should be able to verify the stone to the original certificate. It''s not like IGI is giving the stone it''s one and only grading certificate, just verifying the stone and the original cert...

As for an appraisal for worth, as Cindy said be careful of getting a higher value, since you pay a higher premium, and that in no way means you''ll get that same amount if you lose the stone... you just end up paying more through out the years...

 

[denverappraiser]

The IGI verification of the original GIA report should not be a problem. There is a fair amount of criticism of their diamond grading reports but this is not what you purchased from them. The market being described in most of their appraisals is quite high and not really applicable for the insurance replacement purpose, for reasons that are discussed above. You might consider getting your final appraisal done elsewhere or discussing the issue with your IGI appraiser prior to the next step in the assignment to make sure they understand what question you are asking and that the purpose of the report is as a supporting document for an insurance policy. Retail prices at a theoretical high-end store are not really appropriate for the use at hand.

Neil Beaty
Independent Appraisals in Denver