Appraisal

[Detox]

Appraisal Question

I am having the e-Vendor ship the diamond I am interested in to an independant e-appraiser. The indpendant appraiser will verify for me that the stone is consistent with the certification. The diamond will then be shipped to me.

When do I need to get an appriasal (cost replacement value) for my engagement ring? At the loose diamond stage? Or after the diamond is set? I am guessing I would need this for insurance reasons.

Cheers,

Detox

 

[loupe]

Detox,

Generally, the inspection and appraisal should be done after the ring is set. In the United States, I have found the insurance companies do not insure single loose gems because they are in effect portable wealth. So, an "appraisal" at that point is a waste of time and money. After setting, they are possessed or owned and therefore personal property and can be insured. Funny, isn''t it how a little bit of metal goes a long way. The report should refer to the gem lab report and have photographs of the finished piece of jewelry. When you insure the piece, include a copy of the lab report with a copy of the independent appraisal. It is sometimes wise to use the same person that verified the diamond in the first place as the appraiser for the ring, simply because they can verify that the diamond is the same as what they inspected initially.

Regards,

 

[effie]

hi detox- i have a question similar to yours, but loupe, your answer seems to be contradictory to whats being said on this thread. (particularly Imurdens reply.)

my impression from what i''ve read around pricescope is that a stone needs to be loose in order for it to appraised....but i could be wrong, you''d probably know better than me anyway loupe. maybe someone else could chime in.

in my situation, i have a stone thats already set in mothers old setting. we''d like to take it out and put it in a new setting. so my question here is similar to detox''s - do i appraise before or after? or both? my mother no longer has any paperwork associated with her diamond, so i''m assuming i''d have to have it appraised twice...once before i take it to a new jeweler to have some documentation in order to ID the stone after i get it back from the jeweler, and once after to establish cost/replacement value...

 

[Regular Guy]

lots of threads on this; seems to me the best solution remains, if convenient, to have one and the same appraiser review the diamond while unset, and then later after set, at which time the appraisal document is prepared. Before set...to give the most details to insure replacement of equal value should loss or damage happen, and after set, because the norms dictate by insurers, and also, to incorporate workmanship issues with the putting together of ring and diamond, and to have the valuation include the both of these.

 

[loupe]

I didn''t read THAT thread. Your confusion, as with most of the public, is in terminology. Black''s Law Dictionary defines an appraisal as an opinion of value given my an unbiased or objective, knowledgeable person. An opinion of value is not an identification/verification. Which is what Detox needs first. A verbal opinion of value is not worth the paper it''s written on. Get it? I repeat: No insurance company in the U.S. will insure a single loose diamond for an end user, i.e. retail customer. Get it verified that it matches the paper, make sure that the lab grading report (NOTE: NOT CERT) is not a forgery, have it set and then have the JEWELRY appraised. As in written description, photographs and valued according to the appropriate market. An appraisal is far more complicated than some of you think.

I''m not blowing smoke. I do this every day. For money. It''s called a profession.

 

[Regular Guy]

Hi, loupe, not sure who you''re addressing.

One thread, semi-at random, but on point, is this one.

From a) what I read here, and b) what I think, is that a lot of what people spend a lot of money for, for diamonds, concern how well it is cut. Regardless of whatever you call the process of examination, it seems that, for example, if a diamond is only provided with a lab grading report from GIA, and therefore, lacking proportion information...although you may match it just fine, prior to it being set, once it is set, if you could have quantified details like the crown and pavilion angles prior to the setting, you would no longer be able to do that after it was set...or at least...not with the same degree of accuracy. If such things were important to the buyer, with respect to the beauty of the diamond, I think quantifying the proportions of said buyer would be very important, in order to insure receiving a diamond of indeed equal quality following a loss.

Do you think it''s reasonable that anyone spending some thousands of dollars would want more than confirmation to the lab grading report, before it is set?

Regards,

 

[denverappraiser]

Most new purchase customers have several objectives in their shopping exercise. They want the best possible diamond for the best possible price, they want it to become a component in a fantastic and well made ring and they want an insurance policy that will make them whole again if they lose or damage it. They want all of this with a minimum of hassle and expense.

The strategy for reaching this will not be the same for everyone but there are some patterns that can be observed. It’s often helpful to have an independent expert examine the stone prior to setting. Beyond the basic ‘certificate matching’ service, you can learn quite a bit in these sessions. Although the lab report contains important information about the stone, it is far from the complete story. There’s lots of discussion about this in the tutorial and this forum so I won’t go into details here. This is the reason for getting it examined prior to setting.

The report from this session is not usually what is required for insurance purposes although, under certain circumstances, both Chubb and Jewelers Mutual will insure an unmounted diamond. For most insurance needs, the finished piece must be examined. Meeting the minimum documentation requirements for the insurance companies is usually pretty easy and the jewelers are normally more than happy to do it for a pretty low cost because they would just a soon have you never talk to anyone outside of their company. I can’t say I blame them but many clients find that their standards are considerably higher than those of the insurance company or they may find that the inherent conflict of interest of having the appraisal done at the selling or setting jeweler is a worry for them.

For replacement type policies the description in the appraisal will be used as a purchase order in the case of a replacement. If this description is inaccurate, inadequate or incomplete, you may find that your insurance policy is not what you thought it was. It’s the client, not the insurance company who loses out here so don’t expect your insurance agent to be the one to demand a quality appraisal. The solution is a second session with the appraiser after the final piece is completed. This session confirms that the stone is the same as the one originally presented, that it is undamaged as well as giving providing details on the remainder of the piece and the quality of workmanship. This report from this session will be the one used as a part of your insurance contract.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[loupe]

Ira,

Yes, that is what I am saying needs to be done. It needs to be looked at it prior to setting. Then APPRAISED after setting. Proprtions and all the other parameters need to be verified prior to setting. Otherwise, anything an appraiser writes down needs to be qualified by the phrase "diamond was graded in the mounting". Or something to that effect. Verefication is not appraising.

 

[Regular Guy]

Thanks, Karen, appreciate your post; Neil''s, too (Detox, three).

Regards,