Appraisal?

[Bidough12]

The jeweler where I bought an engagement ring said they will provide an appraisal of the ring. Is it a good idea to get an independent appraisal? If so, why is this beneficial? I have heard that a jeweler who appraises their own product may be biased high. Wouldnt this be good from an insurance perspective? Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Regular Guy]

The jeweler where I bought an engagement ring said they will provide an appraisal of the ring. Is it a good idea to get an independent appraisal? If so, why is this beneficial?

1) If it's actually a bad deal, it's not in the interest of the jeweler to tell you.
2) If it's a good deal, the jeweler has no particular interest in rigorously documenting that for you, whereas, for insurance purposes, you will benefit from this.

I have heard that a jeweler who appraises their own product may be biased high. Wouldnt this be good from an insurance perspective?

Mostly not. Paying in excess of actual needed value means a premium that much higher to you. If you can find a policy that pays you cash, and want to hope you lose the jewelery, appraising high can net you a profit, but usually, you dont legitimately lose the piece, and that's not the essential idea of insurance, which is primarily to cover you. Better to get a lower valuation with rigorous documentation. Most insurance is designed to insure for replacement of like kind, so if you pay annually less to insure you get it back...that's more the intended target.