frustrated with appraisal

[ruby24red]

I just received my custom halo wedding ring on Saturday and I am over the moon for it!! It's exactly what I wanted and I'm super happy with it. That being said, I purchased it from an jewelry company in new york and never saw it in person before purchasing. I received a very detailed appraisal from the company I purchased it from, but I wanted an independent appraisal from my "hometown" jeweler. I expressed to the sales person that I wanted a detailed appraisal for insurance purposes. I received a 1 paragraph appraisal without pictures and the carat weights were all lumped together and not separated out.

New York company:
Total carat weight 1.49 excluding center stone
16 round cut 2.4mm in FG color SI1 clarity
4 round cut 1.7mm in FG color SI1clarity
4 round cut 2mm in FG color and SI1 clarity
4 round cut 2.2mm in FG color and SI1 clarity
4 round cut 2.3 mm in FG color and SI1 clarity
2 round cut 1.8mm in FG color and SI1 clarity
for a total of $6100.00

Hometown company:
There are 12 round brilliant cut diamonds surrounding the center stone along with 20 graduated round brilliant cut diamonds set down the sides of the shanks and 2 round brilliant cut bezel set diamonds under the gallery of the ring all graded an average of I to J in color, SI1 to SI2 in clarity and an approximate total carat weight estimated from measurements to be 1.20 carats.
They said it was worth 3350.00

Which would you believe? Can there be than much variance from one appraiser to another?
HELP!!

 

[DiamondBrokersofFlorida]

I would probably go with a 3rd appraisal from an independant appraiser

 

[diamondseeker2006]

How much did you pay?

 

[mogster]

Definitely ditto DBoF above. If you want an independent appraisal, go with an independent appraiser. If you're looking for a value for insurance purposes and paid $6,100 for the ring, I'd submit the manufacturing jeweler's appraisal.

 

[BeachGirlG]

It is worth exactly what you paid for it...no more, no less.
So if you paid less than the $3k in the 2nd appraisal, then that one is more accurate.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

It is worth exactly what you paid for it...no more, no less.
So if you paid less than the $3k in the 2nd appraisal, then that one is more accurate.

That was exactly my thought and why I asked what you paid. An inflated appraisal means absolutely nothing. It is worth what you paid and you could replace it tomorrow for the exact same amount. I surely wouldn't pay for another appraisal since you are happy with the ring. Use the one closest to what you paid for the insurance.

 

[GMUAlum08]

agree with everyone else....get a third appraisal. i bought a solasfera for 5k and it appraised for over 8k so i feel fortunate

 

[decodelighted]

I just received my custom halo wedding ring on Saturday and I am over the moon for it!! It's exactly what I wanted and I'm super happy with it. That being said, I purchased it from an jewelry company in new york and never saw it in person before purchasing. I received a very detailed appraisal from the company I purchased it from, but I wanted an independent appraisal from my "hometown" jeweler. I expressed to the sales person that I wanted a detailed appraisal for insurance purposes. I received a 1 paragraph appraisal without pictures and the carat weights were all lumped together and not separated out.

There is no such thing. A "salesperson" at a "jewelry store" IS NOT EVER "independent". This is not an "independent appraisal". The only way to get a truly "independent appraisal" is to go to an appraiser that does not have any affiliation with SELLING jewelry. A *real* appraiser will take a picture and give a more detailed analysis.

 

[Gypsy]

agree with everyone else....get a third appraisal. i bought a solasfera for 5k and it appraised for over 8k so i feel fortunate

Your solasera is still worth only 5k and your appraisal is inflated unless a lot of time and diamond price hikes have passed from when you bought it.

 

[ruby24red]

I paid 3300.00, but I'm worried that it would be more to recreate it. We designed it from scratch and it started out at 1.25 carats and ended up 1.49 and he didn't charge me more. I'm not saying it's worth 6100.00, but I think the second jewelry store is low. We combined a Christopher Designs and Ritani ring and this jewelry store sells the Christopher designs (VERY similar) ring for 5500 and said they would recreate it for 4500 and it would be less carat weight than what I ended up with. I don't want an inflated cost, but I really would want to replace it for exactly what I have and want to make sure i could do that. Is there typically such a variance in color from appraiser to appraiser? I know they are smaller stones, but would that make the appraisal significantly higher or lower? What are the best credentials for an appraiser to have?

Thank you for all of the responses!!

 

[Gypsy]

I'm not seeing the huge problem. It appraised or what you paid for it. That's what you want. That said, I would be irked that that the melee appear significantly warmer to the second place than the first place is claiming they are. So I would want that cleared up.

But the best credentials and appraiser can have is that they are independent and do not affiliate with any jewelry store. Where are you located?

 

[ruby24red]

I'm in Indianapolis, Indiana. The New York appraiser's credentials are: GG AJP CG
The other one's just said GG.
Shouldn't they also be closer in carat weight?

 

[Gypsy]

I missed that. Yes. They should be. Are you near Pearlmans? If you are, call and ask for Julian and tell him Gypsy told you to call. Then ask him for a good appraiser in your area, or if they offer appraisals there I would be okay with using theirs, even though they are affiliated. Whichever it is. Tell the appraiser you want all the individual diamonds specs listed out specifically in the appraisal.

 

[denverappraiser]

An insurance replacement appraisal is supposed to be a full description of the piece and an estimate of appropriate funding to replace it at retail in the case of a loss.

This leaves a lot of wiggle room. What is ‘retail’? What you paid? Maybe. What it would cost that store to custom make a replacement? Maybe. What the original manufacturer would charge to manufacture a replacement? Maybe. Manufacturers suggested retail price? The asking price at the most expensive store in Beverly Hills? The asking price at bidz.com? All of these are options and choosing between them is one of the skills that appraisers are supposed to be good at.

The first place to look in evaluating an appraisal is at the description. Yes, this includes the photos. It includes the diamond grading report(s). It includes the branding of the designer. It includes model numbers and serial numbers if you have them. It includes the weights, counts, karatage, sizes and the like. If it was important to you when you bought it and you would like it to be part of the replacement, it should be in the appraisal. Think of it this way. If you have a loss, the description from the appraisal is what will be used to determine what is ‘like kind and quality’. That’s what the insurance company is agreeing to do. No more, no less. If you’ve got a genuine chrisscut, or solesfara, a Tiffany piece or JoeBlow design, and you want it replaced with that, make sure it’s in there. Similarly, if you got a knockoff, that’s what you should get for replacement.

Then there’s the price. For new purchase customers this is usually pretty easy. You just shopped them and you already know what it cost, at least today. Chances are even good that you know what it would cost at several different stores. There are some tricky elements, like if you buy a production or closeout item and the replacement is going to have to be custom but, in general, if you could replace it for x, so can your insurer. There’s a few tricky items on the other end too. What if prices go nuts like they have with gold lately or what if Joe Blow is deceased or out of business come replacement time? What if Joe became fashionable and tripled his prices? There usually ARE comparable designers and if a genuine Joe is no longer possible for whatever reason, it’s entirely reasonable to replace with another of ‘like kind and quality’ and now you get to negotiate. The value conclusion will become the maximum limit of liability on your insurance policy. If they can replace it for less, that’s what they’ll do. If they can replace it for a lot less, they will. On the other end, if they can’t replace it for the budget provided they’ll usually cash out and walk away. The premium will be a direct percentage of the maximum that YOU provide, not the amount that they expect it to cost to replace and not the amount that it actually does cost if a loss happens. Inflated appraisals do nothing but raise your premium. Weak descriptions do nothing but broaden the list of options for the insurer if there’s a claim. Who’s surprised that the insurance companies are happy to accept them? What’s not to like? It’s YOU who should be being picky.

If you think your appraiser has made an error, the first thing to do is read the report and try to understand what they’ve done. If they missed something or got something wrong, call them up and discuss it. If you’ve got information that would be helpful and they didn’t have it or didn’t notice it, don’t be shy. There’s nothing about an appraisal that says the appraiser can’t be convinced to correct errors. Mind you, they may not agree with you but they then get to make their own case. Tell them flat out that the seller said there were 1.49cts and they estimated 1.20cts total weight. Is that within their margin of error or are they saying the seller is wrong? The difference is important. Ask a similar question to the seller. Did they actually weigh the pieces before they were set or were THEY estimating as well? FWIW +/- 20% with 30+ stones is not unreasonable if they can't get all of the dimensions.

 

[ruby24red]

Ok. I'm not near Pearlmans, but can call them. Thank you, Gypsy!

 

[ruby24red]

Please excuse my ignorance, but could I use the 6100.00 appraisal because it offers better descriptions but decide to pay the premium for a lower amount? For example, I purchased the ring for 3300, but I think it could be made for 4500-5000 so could I pay the premium for that amount? I'm sorry it that's a really dumb question. This is all new to me.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I doubt the insurance company will let you choose your own value but use the higher valuation details. I think you could go to the second place and show them the specs from the maker and ask them to review their report and your ring to see if they can upgrade the specs on their report while not raising the value to an unrealistic level. People always say on here that it is normal for appraisers to differ by a grade now and then.

 

[denverappraiser]

Please excuse my ignorance, but could I use the 6100.00 appraisal because it offers better descriptions but decide to pay the premium for a lower amount? For example, I purchased the ring for 3300, but I think it could be made for 4500-5000 so could I pay the premium for that amount? I'm sorry it that's a really dumb question. This is all new to me.

It's possible but probably not. This will depend on your insurance carrier and usually it's an all-or-nothing sort of deal. It's entirely possible that the appraiser who wrote that report would be willing to listen to an argument that the replacement could be done for less and that you would prefer a more realistic conclusion. This is especially true since THEY just sold it for $3300, right? Beat that for comps.