Independent Appraisal Question for you.

[bnh1995]

I just got my new Whiteflash ring and need to get an independent appraisal on it. I went to the appraisal portion of this site and found an appraiser name Aurthur DeMello near me in Boston. I asked him for pricing and he said it depends on what you need. I explained I got a little over 1 carat in a platinum Scott Kay setting and I just want to make sure that it matches what AGS Report and Sarin read. He said I get get the Basic just match it up for $95, or a smaller report with a bit more information for Insurance purposes for $175 or a full report that can be used in court for $250. He said most people with diamonds over $10,000 get a full report. My diamond was arounf $7,600 and the setting was $2,300. I''m not really too sure what to do. I want to eventually get it insured either through homeowners or some other way. Can I just use a regualr $95 to do this or should I got with a half or full report, and does anyone know the difference between a half and full report and what it entails. What have others done here for independent appraisals. I figure you guys have much more experience in this area being that I''m a newbie regarding insurance and appraisals.

Thanks,

 

[dockman3]

Hi there! I''m sure some of the actual appraisers on the site will be by to answer this in more detail, but I just got an independent appraisal done for $85 and it was enough to insure it, but I doubt it would hold up in court to reclaim a stone. I''m guessing that to be of use in court it has to have a full map of inclusions and things of that nature. My guess is also that the $95 check to be sure you got what you were told may or may not have an insurance replacement valuation on it. It sounds like the half report will have the insurance valuation and will be enough to get the ring replaced with one of like kind and quality. In your case, if you got a Scott Kay 3-stone ring, which is the one I got, I would get the half report. I was told that my side stones were G VS, but it turns out that they were actually E-F VS, which was a nice surprise for me. That''s my opinion, but hopefully either Neil or Dave Atlas will be by to give you a more definitive answer.