redroze1|1462056453|4025628 said:
Also wouldn't The report defeat the purpose of the appraisal?
I guess that depends on the purpose of the appraisal.
People get new things appraised for a variety of reasons. For example.
1) Trust but verify. Confirm or refute things that the seller has told you.
2) Match the stone and other materials to the known documentation (ex. that report).
3) Confirm that the stone is undamaged and unaltered since the date of the report.
4) Inspect the craftsmanship and condition of the mounting, the other stones, the metals and other materials and so on.
5) Document what you have for purposes of replacement should the need arise. This includes the weights, counts, grades, photographs, and the like.
6) Fill in whatever details you have that the seller may have omitted fro their sales pitch.
7) Provide a price that relates to a particular marketplace (ex. Replacement retail new locally).
It's required for your insurance.
None of that is undermined by showing the report, and quite a bit is undermined if you don't.
For example. You mentioned the cut grade. The lab called it 'Ideal', the appraiser called it 'very good'. How could it be so different? Easy. In the AGS cut grading system it's necessary to measure the pavilion angle on all 8 pavilion mains, among other things. This CANNOT be done on a mounted stone, so we estimate, and a single degree variation can make the difference you describe. How about that clarity difference? You've got two grades there. The difference between an VVS1 and a VS2 can be entirely hidden under a prong. That's three grades. It is NOT POSSIBLE to reliably make this call on a mounted stone. Even the weight has to be estimated and, as I'm sure you know, there's an important difference between 1.49 and 1.51. We're talking 30% or so here. That's less than the margin for error of the estimation formulas, not to mention the measuring equipment.
There's other data on that report that matters too. For example presence or lack of HPHT treatment. It's not detectable using standard gemological equipment and it's terribly important. It affects the price by something like 50%.
How then is an appraiser supposed to do it? Again, it's straightforward enough. This isn't rocket science. Look carefully for what you can find and, in particular, match it to the data on the report. That's done with dimensions, angles, inclusions, girdle inscriptions, details like naturals and extra facets, fluorescence and so on. From that matching you now have the report into evidence. You can reference that report directly for things like the weight and treatment questions.
You mentioned you're in Canada. There's no clue if origin matters to you but some people care where their stones are mined and cut, and Canadian provenance trades for a premium. As an appraiser, where we pick this up is the paperwork, and if the customer sandbags the paper, it's not going to be considered.
Lastly, there's that replacement question. The appraisal report becomes the purchase order for the replacement in the case of a loss. That's why the insurance company is asking you for it. What do you have? Read your own description in the question.
redroze1|1462050167|4025596 said:
The diamond is 1.5 AGS ideal, G VS2.
That's probably not complete, you probably have a piece of jewelry with that as a component so there's quite a bit more too it than that, but you would like it replaced with another of like kind and quality in the case of a loss, right? That's the point of the insurance. That means the lab doc is an essential element. Even if she had agreed on every line item, she would be telling you its an approximately 1.50, F-G, VS1-2, VG+, presumed untreated natural diamond. That the limits of her procedures, and it's most definitely not the same thing. Guess how this plays out at replacement time?
Oh, in answer to your original question, yes you should talk to the appraiser about it.
