2 quotes from jeweler’s mutual- please help

[msop04]

In the event of loss/damage, Jewelers Mutual will only pay out an amount for a comparable stone. I would look at WF inventory and see how much are the comparable stones. Likely, close to what JM estimated to be the replacement value. You don’t want to pay unnecessarily high premiums, but you want to be adequately covered. This is why it is important to have updated apparaisals every few years or so in order to reflect the current replacement value.

@SimoneDi is right... never pay way more than it would cost to replace.

 

[Dmndsr4evr11]

For insurance uses, the appraisal you submit is, in effect, the purchase order for the replacement. The company is agreeing to replace the item with another of ‘like kind and quality’, or words to that effect, in the case of a loss. They are NOT agreeing to a particular price.

In the case of ACAs, and most other brands, the brand is part of the specs. They can argue that some other brand is ‘like kind and quality’, and then they get to have a fight about it if you want, but that tends to annoy customers and it’s not necessary if the original seller is available and reasonable. That means that the first place they go on a branded item is to the authorized sellers of the brand. In the case of ACA, there’s only one. WF.

So what will WF charge to sell you another one like it? Usually, that’s pretty straightforward. It may or may not be what you paid, especially if it’s been a while, but they publicly publish their prices for all to see and they don't have a super wide range of bizzaro stuff. ACA is a pretty narrow set of specs. You may benefit by a bit of fudging for inflation because you don’t know the date of this hypothetical loss, and don’t forget sales taxes which you may or may not have paid and that the insurance company WILL have to pay, but within a few limits, there’s your replacement value.

Which report best describes the specs is going to depend on the author and how they approached it. For the stone itself, including the AGS report as a spec automatically includes the ACA branding because it’s on that report. I would be more inclined to look at the photos and the description section on the piece. Weight, stone counts, grades on the side stones, designer, that sort of thing. AGS doesn’t have that, it’s often not a particular maker or model number, and it’s an easy opportunity for trouble at replacement time.

Thanks for your input, @denverappraiser!