Advice on Sapphire Purchase

[alisweber]

So I found the perfect sapphire and am extremely excited as I just mailed it to Daniel M who is designing the setting for me. But I had a question that I was hoping to get some advice on. The vendor I purchased the sapphire from was one of those other PS'ers have used, so I had no doubts on their reputation and quality of gems. The sapphire turned out to be the perfect color, cut, and size I was looking for (yay!), but when I received the sapphire in the mail on Saturday, I noticed it was missing something. On the vendor's website they said it came with a lab certification GIA and appraisal of the stone. However, they didn't mail it with the stone which I thought was fine, since I could simply email them, reimburse them for the cost of the postage, and all would be good. But when I emailed them, they don't seem helpful at all in providing it. They said if I want a copy of the appraisal, I could try and contact the guy who originally appraised it and maybe he has a copy of it and I haven't heard anything back about the lab certification.

I'm wondering if it has to do with the fact that the vendor, when I inquired about the ring, said he didn't realize he'd priced the stone as low as he had, so maybe he's unhappy with the price I got? Either way, I was wondering if you have any suggestions on how I should best approach this. And if my only other option is to get it certified myself, who would be best to do this for a Montana sapphire?

 

[chrono]

Forget the appraisal because it is probably done by the seller and that is a conflict of interest to use that for insurance purposes. Most appraisals are usually over-inflated anyway which makes your insurance premiums higher yet, the insurance company only reimburses what you paid for it, not the appraisal value.

I would definitely persue the GIA memo though. Is there a picture of the GIA paperwork on the website listed with your sapphire? Just checking to be sure it really came with one, and not that you misread that they will send it to GIA for an added fee if requested. Regardless of the price he listed, he honoured it and I doubt he will withhold the paperwork on those grounds. If you want to send it off yourself, my preference is AGL in NY. $55 for an unmounted stone, $65 for a mounted stone.

I am curious to know who the vendor is though. I don't think any of the PS recommended vendors offer appraisals with their stones.

 

[SapphireSun]

Hi, just wanted to add my two cents that my insurance company would pay out the total appraisal value and include inflation at their discretion, so I would definitely insure at the appraisal cost. The appraisal is more of a "replacement cost." Hopes this helps because I knew nothing about appraisals and insurance for jewelry until I received my sapphire ring! Never thought to insure my diamond engagement ring.

 

[chrono]

Insurance companies differ. I know that JM offers a cash payout option but most do not and will replace it with a "like" stone. The problem with a "like" stone is that most appraisals do not contain enough details like colour quality. It would be good to have hue, tone and saturation clearly detailed in addition to treatment, cut, and more. Other insurance companies refuse to pay out the inflated appraisal cost but what the insurance company deems has a replacement cost they can get, usually for a lesser quality stone, especially if your appraisal is lean on the details.

For example, if it just says X ct weight, blue and unheated, don't expect your replacement payout will be for a fine quality stone. It will be the bare minimum it takes to replace it. It is more likely to be an inky mall or commercial quality stone. If it is clearly stated that the sapphire is pure blue, medium dark with very strong saturation, precision cut, etc. then the insurance company must get you a replacement stone that fits those parameters or else pay up what it will cost to do so. They cannot try to cut corners or go cheap on you.

 

[SapphireSun]

Hi Chrono, thank you for your post! I was very concerned about insuring my sapphire ring as well so I made sure to ask the insurance rep about the appraisals and how the payout/replacement would be handled. He was great at explaining that the underwriter would verify that the ring/stone was appraised correctly by analyzing the certificate and the market. They would not have insured if they thought the ring was appraised too high or inappropriately. He also noted that the reason why they go with the appraisal and not the receipt was that one might receive a sale or discounted price, but you would still want the ring to be insured for the full amount or full replacement cost. I was informed they would either have to find me a stone that was for the total of the appraisal or just payout in cash, again for the total of the appraisal. I was wondering why so many PSers were concerned with the appraisals as I just assumed you insured it for that in order to be paid that. I hope I'm not wrong with my insurance company as I did note that in their report the sapphire was not listed as unheated/unenhanced and I wanted to make sure that they knew the difference. They assured me that they would look at the GIA certificate on file, but you're right...it won't have the true color of the sapphire and I really hope they don't think they can replace it with a mall ring. I just hope nothing happens to my ring! I'm even too scared to ship it back to NSC to have it cleaned and re-rhodium plated, but eventually I'll have to! You know, even with the little half and half lighting on my sapphire (which doesn't show up in every lighting) I still love my ring and don't want to find out what will happen if I lost it!!

 

[chrono]

My concern is that the underwriter will analyze the memo (not certificate) and decide that the insurance payout value should be lower than what it costs to replace to YOUR satisfaction. Insurance companies are banking on not having to payout and will try their best to pay out as little as possible. That is the nature of business - to make a profit. In the event that you do not have the details, they WILL give as what is stated on the report and nothing more. Since the underwriter is looking at your memo and it says nothing about the quality of your sapphire so he's likely to get you a replacement (or payout) for a heated sapphire of the same carat weight and clarity and that's it. The colour quality is likely to be extremely poor since the quality of the original stone isn't stated. This is where the appraisal becomes very important. Since your GIA memo doesn't state this, your appraisal must state the colour, clarity and cut quality. I've read enough stories about insurance companies and their idea of replacement never meets the customers' unless it is stated very clearly with a lot of details.

They play the same games with the insurance of diamonds. If it is an AGS0 cut with triple X or H&A or branded ACA or whatever, this MUST be stated in the appraisal or the insurance company will get you the bare minimum replacement of just carat weight, colour and clarity. It'll be the junkiest cut ever.

 

[slksapphire]

i don't know the value of your sapphire but it might make sense to get an agl prestige report. google it on this site and you will see some examples posted. i believe agl is the only company that provides numerical "scores" for color, cut, zoning, etc. QUALITY, as well as overall quality. i would accept nothing less than comparable to the agl report for an insurance replacement.

 

[LD]

If it was part of the advert and states that the stone has or will come with the GIA report then I would DEFINITELY press for that. It's a condition of the sale. I don't care whether the pricing was right or wrong - that's immaterial.

I agree with Chrono that an appraisal isn't worth the paper it's written on because you can't be sure it's for the same stone, has been completed by somebody who knows about coloured gemstones or anything else for that matter.

If you love the stone, press for the GIA report. Then get is appraised elsewhere for insurance purposes only (ie replacement value) and then you have that should anything happen.