Concerning appraisal re: feather

[gailrmv]

I appreciate any insight you can share. I needed to get a new appraisal done because I changed my setting and wedding band last year and the new setting cost quite a bit more than the old one. My diamond has a feather in it, but it''s been appraised twice before and both of those appraisers said that the feather was not of concern structurally. In fact, my husband chose this stone was due in large part to the favorable appraisal at that time re: the feather (that appraisor is highly regarded by several Pricescope users, BTW, although I didn;t know about pricescope then!) Both prev appraisers rated my stone I, SI1, 1.12 c. I should mention that you can see the feather with the eye but only if you are looking extremely closely, know exactly where to look, and have the diamond held at an extreme angle.

Anyway, when I had it appraised last week, the appraiser (AGS trained appraisor) said that the feather is of great concern structurally and that my stone might cleave. He said I should bezel it ASAP, which I don''t want to do since I recently bought the x prong setting and love it. He graded the stone I1. He also bumped the color to H, but he thought the size was 1.07 when it is supposed to be 1.12. He valued it 25% below either of the previous appraisals (INCLUDING the plat setting, which I did not have before). He also said that if my stone did break it might not be covered under my insurance, kind of like a pre existing condition (currently I have a rider on my homeowners). I asked if he thought the feather had gotten worse since the last appraisal 2 years ago and he saw no evidence of it. Nor does it look any worse to me. I think I should get another appraisal and see if it is more favorable. If the appraisor was correct re: the feather''s potential danger, I guess there is not much I can do at this point, aside from making sure my insurance coverage is good and being extra careful with the stone (which I already am).


I don''t want to turn this appraisal in to my insurance with the much reduced amount. I am comfortable with the $ amount that I currently have insurance for under my old appraisal, but I am concerned that if something happened to my stone 1) would it be covered at all if a result of the feather, and 2) would my insurance question why my setting is different from the one on my appraisal if I don''t update it. My insurance agent does not seem very knowledgeable about jewelry stuff. I may look into Chubb or Jewelers Mutual. I suppose I will need another appraisal in that case as well. I would appreciate any thoughts you have on the subject. This appraiser is employed by a very reputable local store. I bought the setting and w-band there and he knows that I am not in the market to replace the center stone so I don''t think that this would bias his appraisal.

if we had it to do over, now that I''ve found pricescope, we''d get a certed ideal cut stone. I would not get a stone with a large feather. But we/he didn''t know. I love the stone I have and want it to last forever! I appreciate any thoughts re: this. I know appraisals are an educated estimation, but is this much variation normal? Would you be worried about the diamond cleaving?

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 10/13/2006 1:04:03 AM
Author:gailrmv

I appreciate any insight you can share. I needed to get a new appraisal done because I changed my setting and wedding band last year and the new setting cost quite a bit more than the old one. My diamond has a feather in it, but it''s been appraised twice before and both of those appraisers said that the feather was not of concern structurally. In fact, my husband chose this stone was due in large part to the favorable appraisal at that time re: the feather (that appraisor is highly regarded by several Pricescope users, BTW, although I didn;t know about pricescope then!) Both prev appraisers rated my stone I, SI1, 1.12 c. I should mention that you can see the feather with the eye but only if you are looking extremely closely, know exactly where to look, and have the diamond held at an extreme angle.

Any chance of going back to the original appraiser? Actually, it''s possible he can just reissue a new appraisal, based on your request, for a more modest fee, and in consideration of current valuations? And even without the need to see it again?

Just a thought.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gail, I think Ira has a great idea to just go back to the original appraiser for an update to the original appraisal. Surely an update would cost less than a full new appraisal. On the other hand, I, personally, am most worried about losing my diamond, and I don''t care so much about the setting being fully covered. So if there''s only an issue of a few hundred doallrs, I might just leave the appraisal as is.

Regarding the feather issue, I know what I would be thinking. I''d make a plan to save for a new diamond for the ring for a future anniversary, and plan to set the current diamond in a bezel pendant so you know it will be safe over the long haul. That way you get to keep the diamond you love safe plus get to find a new one from one of the PS vendors!

 

[oldminer]

Was the appraiser an AGS appraiser inside an AGS Retail store, or was this appraiser one of the new and few ICGA, Independant appraisers who belong to AGS and neither buy or sell at retail?
It may make a large difference in the credibility you should give to the report.

Appraisers inside retail stores often knock the quality of merchandise purchased elsewhere. They use this tactic of creating doubt or fear. Look at the crazy result. Now you are worried and upset with a perfectly good purchase. This is likely to be your situation.

So don't be too upset.

Call the original source and get an updated appraisal and forget about this recent experience. When the time comes when you need an opinion on any valuable item or topic, consult an UNBIASED expert. There are many experts with distinct bias built in. You just can't get around it when a problem comes up.

This is not a message that is anti-AGS, because they do great work in educating jewelers to help consumers. This is a general warning on fear tactics and what the usefulness of unbiased advice is all about.

 

[gailrmv]

hi! Thanks everyone who has responded so far. Very helpful!
I just wanted to clarify a few things - I don''t think it would work to contact the orig appraiser because it has been 6 years and we live across the country now. The new setting and wedding band are worth several thousand, whereas the old one was several hundred, so I would like my appraisal to encompass the new setting as well. I should have just gone indepenendent - I guess I didn''t realize that it would be a problem. I wanted to give return business to this store because I''ve had some good retail experiences with them and since the appraiser was AGS, I thought this would be good enough credentialing. The fear tactic makes a lot of sense now that you mention it.

I love the idea of bezel pendent and new stone for the ring, but there''s no way it''s in the budget right now or for the next few years - so I''ve got to make this one last!

 

[tdiddy]

i actually had a similar experience when i went to drop off my stone with FF last week at the jewelry stone. the stone has been viewed by another independent appraiser (also PS recommended) who deemed it quite worthy and structurally fine (also an SI1). the appraiser does not sell jewery. we took the stone to the jeweler setting it, who also is a trained appraiser, and he put it under the scope to take a look and verify the laser inscription on the girdle listed on the GIA cert. after verifying the inscription, he continued to look at it while we filled out paperwork and then called my BF over to show him something he found. long story short, he claimed that there was a feather that broke the surface and would potentially cause damage to the stone when set. he was "very concerned about it." he was also *nice* enough to tell us about similar stones that they had that could replace it. we were pretty nervous about it, but my reaction was "we''ve had it appraised, it''s fine, and will you set it with the flaw? if not, we will have to go somewhere else." jeweler said he''d set it.

clearly if this feather that broke the surface was such a crisis, he would not have set it. he is insured and part of the deal is that when they set it, this jeweler in particular agreed to accept responsibilty for the stone if something happens to it in the process. so if it was soooooo bad and could cleave the stone, why would they take on the risk of setting it knowing that?

anyway, it''s supposed to be done today. FF has NOT gotten a call that anything was amiss and was in fact told it was ready yesterday to be picked up. a fup phone call to the appraiser confirmed all that was said here and that the stone was fine. i also talked to another jeweler via phone about feathers that break the surface just as an inquiring consumer and he told me that he had set stones for almost 20 years that ranged in quality, cert, etc. and had never had a single stone break.

although i will admit that we did sweat it for a few days worrying about whether or not it could be, i''m convinced it was just an attempt to sell a better stone. we were getting a designer setting and the stone is on the larger end of the scale for the city we leave in, so maybe he thought he could take advantage of that and convince us to spend more. fortunately the jeweler we work with at this particular location was not the guy who tried to pull this stunt and we would use the guy we like again. just went in on the wrong day i guess.

hope it works out as well for you!

 

[gailrmv]

Thanks Tdiddy, your story makes me feel a lot better.