I finally bought the ring!!!! Now just one more thing...

[erainman]

Hello everyone!

I just want to say thank you to everyone on this site for all of your helpful advice and comments. The information I''ve obtained on this site and from everyone who posts has been invaluable. I know more about diamonds than I ever thought I would and it''s been a blessing being able to speak diamond-ese with jewelers!

Anyway, I''ve been in the shopping process for about a year and I finally buckled down and bought the ring. It''s a gorgeous 2.2ct. Round set in a very simple but pretty 4prong platinum setting. I''m planning on proposing out of town this weekend and I want to obtain insurance for the ring before we leave. I have two simple questions that I need help with:

1. Who should I get my insurance with? I do not have homeowners/auto insurance (I''m a recent transplant from NYC) so I''m looking for a good stand-alone policy. Jeweler''s Mutual was recommended to me by several people, but from what I understand, should anything go wrong, I would be obligated to buy my ring from the same jeweler again (opposed to a cash payout for the replacement value). I''m certainly not opposed to this per se, but I think having a cash payout obviously gives you more options. From reading some posts it seems like Chubb offers a good stand-alone policy with a cash payout; is that correct? If so, I''d appreciate any contact information for a good Chubb agent in the Tampa, FL area.

2. Should I submit the lower appraisal or the higher appraisal for insurance purposes? I obtained two appraisals, one from the jeweler I bought from and one from an independent appraiser. Since the diamond has a EGL USA certificate as a G, VS2, one appraisal is based on that, while the indepedent appraiser graded the diamond as a H, SI1 (on the GIA scale) and came out with a figure about $10K less than the in-house appraisal. Should I insure the diamond at the higher amount and suck up the higher premium or insure it at the lower amount (which is still significantly more than what I actually paid for it)?

Thank you all again for your help on this final technical matter. As soon as I get a chance I''ll post some pictures!

 

[BriBee]

Congrats on getting the ring! I wanted to offer a suggestion for the Chubb insurance. I can''t recommend an agent for the Florida area, but I went through WF''s site to get to Touchstone Insurance which offers a standalone Chubb policy. A lot of people have had hard times finding agents who are able to do these policies through Chubb for whatever reason. But Dave at Touchstone made things really easy and I did everything online and over the phone.

Here''s the link I used

http://www.whiteflash.com/info/insurance.aspx

If you don''t want to go the online route and feel more comfortable talking to an agent face to face then I would suggest doing a PS search for "Chubb" or maybe "Florida Chubb" and see what comes up.
Good luck and congratulations again!

 

[surfgirl]

Re: your question #1:

Please do a search and read up on this issue. There are a ton of threads to guide you on the differences between different insurers. Then if you still have questions, you can be more specific...Happy reading...!

Re: your question #2:

Why would you ensure your ring for more than it''s actually worth, and more than it would cost to replace it? Unless you''re looking to do something nefarious with your insurance coverage, there is no reason I can think of to pay a higher premium for a ring that isn''t worth an inflated appraisal. In fact, I''d just toss the inflated appraisal because in reality, it means nothing as it does not accurately represent the ring in your possession.

 

[erainman]

I guess my concern with respect to using the higher appraisal would be to protect myself in the event the value increases. I know $10K is probably a stretch, but given that prices just jumped over 10% in the past month or so, I''d rather be overprotected than underprotected.

 

[sna77]

Date: 7/2/2008 7:55:05 PM
Author: erainman
I guess my concern with respect to using the higher appraisal would be to protect myself in the event the value increases. I know $10K is probably a stretch, but given that prices just jumped over 10% in the past month or so, I''d rather be overprotected than underprotected.

depends who you insure with... Chubb gives a cash payout, so yeah, over-insuring isnt a bad idea...

Your homeowners policy will probably replace with a "like diamond" or some $hit like that, meaning they''ll source the diamond from one of their jewlers... Which means if you lose and 1ct E, VS2, thats what they''ll try to find you to replace it... If you are paying a higher value, its probably going to waste becasue you won''t ever see that money...

When I bought my wife''s ring from WF, it came with some bloated appraisal that turned out to be $25k more than the "proper" appraisal...