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Is it worth it to get an insurance appraisal for my engagement ring?

chanieish

Rough_Rock
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Jun 1, 2018
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Hi everyone!

I got engaged with a beautiful natural diamond ring a few years ago from High Performance Diamonds/Crafted by Infinity.

It was a 2.5ct J VVS1 round diamond, AGS 000 gorgeous H&A cut with a custom RG/diamond setting. My husband paid $28k for it then. As soon as I received the ring, I insured it with Jeweler's mutual.

Accounting for inflation here is the current value and insurance cost:
Total Value: $34,835.00 Annual Premium: $452.00

I am concerned that with natural diamonds decreasing somewhat in price over the last 3-4 years, that I am overpaying for my insurance. Especially as they replace in kind, so if I find a similar diamond ring for $20k instead of $28k, then they will only cover the $20k.

Is it worth it to get the ring appraised? Will the local jewelers take into account the premium I paid for cut. I get to choose my jeweler if I ever need a replacement, so I will likely go with another super ideal vendor.

Does anyone not have insurance and if the ring gets lost then replace with a more affordable lab diamond?

Thanks for all your advice
 
Interesting subject!
Appraisals are opinions.
THerefore, two different appraisers may have different numbers for the same item.
Let's take a 1ct D/VS1 round diamond.
In Tiffany's it's $20k
Blue Nile $14k
Pawn Shop $8k

Arbitrary numbers but you get the point.
Our experience has been that dedicated jewelry insurance ( Jewelers Mutual) is much more suited for connoisseurs like us. They allow the consumer to pick who to replace the item with, as opposed to just replacing it themselves.

My advice is to find an appraiser who will have these sorts of value discussions to tailor the appraisal to current replacement conditions.
 
You can easily go to whiteflash or brian Gavin to get a comp on a super ideal with your specs and see what that’s going to cost to replace. That’s exactly what a qualified appraiser (one that understands super ideals… I would recommend you go to an AGS lauded appraiser) will do to establish the new replacement value. It’s always a good idea to get revised appraisals every so many years so you aren’t underinsured or overinsured, as is your concern given the current climate with lab diamonds.
For super ideals I highly recommend insuring as you have with jewelers mutual. They understand the super ideal product and branding value. However, this does come at a cost!!!
As for replacing your incredible stone with a lab all I’ll say is I was just perusing diamond rings on the real real… an overwhelming majority of them were lab growns. This tells me there is great regret over not receiving a natural diamond (but others may make alternative interpretations!).
 
Hi everyone!

I got engaged with a beautiful natural diamond ring a few years ago from High Performance Diamonds/Crafted by Infinity.

It was a 2.5ct J VVS1 round diamond, AGS 000 gorgeous H&A cut with a custom RG/diamond setting. My husband paid $28k for it then. As soon as I received the ring, I insured it with Jeweler's mutual.

Accounting for inflation here is the current value and insurance cost:
Total Value: $34,835.00 Annual Premium: $452.00

I am concerned that with natural diamonds decreasing somewhat in price over the last 3-4 years, that I am overpaying for my insurance. Especially as they replace in kind, so if I find a similar diamond ring for $20k instead of $28k, then they will only cover the $20k.

Is it worth it to get the ring appraised? Will the local jewelers take into account the premium I paid for cut. I get to choose my jeweler if I ever need a replacement, so I will likely go with another super ideal vendor.

I'm planning to get my ring re-appraised for similar reasons. I think the value is inflated given current values and I know what I would pay to replace it, so I don't want to over-pay for my insurance.

Does anyone not have insurance and if the ring gets lost then replace with a more affordable lab diamond?

Thanks for all your advice

I would buy another natural diamond so self-insuring (which is basically what you are suggesting here) isn't appealing to me.
 
You’ve gotten good advice so far. Comp shop for a super ideal with similar specs, and get a new appraisal from someone who understands the premium on super ideal cuts. You don’t want to overpay for insurance if the value has decreased by a significant amount.
 
I don’t find that the super ideal cut diamonds have depreciated as much as less ideal cut diamonds. Is this the value that Jeweler’s Mutual is now assigning to the ring? All appraisers aren’t as familiar with super ideal diamonds as you would want them to be. How much more is the premium with the additional 6k added to the diamond’s value? If you reappraise, also be mindful of changing diamond prices. Diamonds have gone up and down for years - you just don’t want to end up under insured.
 
Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes this is my Jewelers Mutual policy

I don't have a super ideal jeweler in my area. Do you have any recommendations on where I can get an appraisal. Is this possible online? I know WF doesn't offer appraisals.

The good thing is that similar diamonds on WF and VC aren't too different in price to what I paid before.
 
Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes this is my Jewelers Mutual policy

I don't have a super ideal jeweler in my area. Do you have any recommendations on where I can get an appraisal. Is this possible online? I know WF doesn't offer appraisals.

The good thing is that similar diamonds on WF and VC aren't too different in price to what I paid before.

I looked for a similar diamond on Whiteflash's page yesterday and didn't see anything. Remember that it is a VVS1 diamond and that accounts for a lot in terms of its price.
 
I looked for a similar diamond on Whiteflash's page yesterday and didn't see anything. Remember that it is a VVS1 diamond and that accounts for a lot in terms of its price.

Thanks for checking. I just meant more that there wasn't a huge drop in price. Like a 3ct H VS1 was 40k+ not 20k or something similar. :)
 
I don't know if this helps but when I had David Klass custom make a diamond ring for me I asked him to keep the appraisal at under 10k. For some colored stones I asked him to keep them under 5k. Won't most appraisers be agreeable to an appraisal that is under, not over replacement value if asked?
 
I don’t think that you need to worry too much about the appraiser being aware of super ideal cuts. Just be sure that the appraisal includes a description of the GIA report and any other notations, which might include the fact that it’s a branded cut. Even if the appraiser doesn’t take into account the brand, I would be shocked if the valuation is too low for you to replace it with a super ideal given how appraisals tend to use brick and mortar values rather than Internet values. If you end up having to replace your diamond, jewelers mutual allows you to choose where you buy it from so you could just go straight to Whiteflash to buy the replacement. So all you really need to worry about is that the appraisal includes the correct description, including the branding, and that the eventual evaluation is enough for you to replace it through white flash. And you can figure that out yourself, just looking on the Internet. You could include the receipt from whiteflash with the documentation you submit to jewellers mutual if you had a concern about that.
 
I don't know if this helps but when I had David Klass custom make a diamond ring for me I asked him to keep the appraisal at under 10k. For some colored stones I asked him to keep them under 5k. Won't most appraisers be agreeable to an appraisal that is under, not over replacement value if asked?

The appraisers I’ve worked with locally have expressed hesitation about undervaluing. They insisted that they have to give it the value that it would cost to replace a brick and mortar store. I’ve had some success asking them to go a little lower, but not much. I’m planning to do exactly this shortly when I get a reappraisal of my ring. I’ll report back on how it goes.
 
I've been told by PS approved appraisers that it is of the utmost importance that if it is a super ideal diamond, to have the brand and cut quality clearly stated in the appraisal if you hope to have your diamond replaced by a similar super-ideal cut diamond should you have to make a claim. @Wink

I personally wouldn't dream of insuring my pieces without that key piece of information. However, I don't insure all of my pieces. For me, I only insure the items over a certain financial pain threshold (this amount will be different for each of us), that I also happen wear often so they are at higher risk for loss/damage.

So, expensive pieces that sit in the vault, as well as inexpensive pieces I wear often = I don't insure. Expensive piece I wear often (my studs, e-ring and tennis bracelet) = I insure.

Hope this is helpful!

(If I insured all my lovelies, the monthly bill would be too high to buy more! :lol: Choices have to be made!)
 
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I've been told by PS approved appraisers that it is of the utmost importance that if it is a super ideal diamond, to have the brand and cut quality clearly stated in the appraisal if you hope to have your diamond replaced by a similar super-ideal cut diamond should you have to make a claim. @Wink

I personally wouldn't dream of insuring my pieces without that key piece of information. However, I don't insure all of my pieces. For me, I only insure the items over a certain financial pain threshold (this amount will be different for each of us), that I also happen wear often so they are at higher risk for loss/damage.

So, expensive pieces that sit in the vault, as well as inexpensive pieces I wear often = I don't insure. Expensive piece I wear often (my studs, e-ring and tennis bracelet) = I insure.

Hope this is helpful!

(If I insured all my lovelies, the monthly bill would be too high to buy more! :lol: Choices have to be made!)

I agree - even my insurance company wanted all of the information about a super ideal cut diamond. The more information you can give them, the better off you will be if replacement becomes necessary.
 
I suppose my perspective is a little different after having gone through an insurance replacement with Jewelers Mutual and seeing how their claims process operated. YMMV obviously.

EDIT: eg my stone had a lab report and they didn't much care about that when it came to approving the replacement.
 
On my last re-up of my JM policy they had increased the premium and supposed value but I asked them to put it back to the original value. Even with a super ideal specialized cut when I looked at comps I could definitely replace for what I paid or close enough. If I had to chip in a little I consider it like having a deductible.
 
Yes, consider a new appraisal but firstly investigate your insurance policy.
Sometimes they reserve the right to replace “like with like”, other times it’s sum insured. The insurer will choose which is more economically viable to them, not you.
You must make sure that your appraisal is very specific. You must state the exact carat weight, colour, type of cut, clarity and anything else ie hand cast setting, weight of precious metals.
The insurer will be very happy to have you never claim and the higher the valuation the higher the premium you pay them. When it comes to loss, their tone changes. If you have “purposefully” (their determination) undervalued your ring they might void the policy. If your loss doesn’t met the conditions of insurance ie for burglary there must be signs of forced entry that might also enable them to not pay out. Then they look at the cheapest out. If they can get a similar diamond for $18,000 (they often have their own suppliers who they squeeze the mercy out of) that’s what you’ll get. If they find they can’t met the replacement, you’ll get the money.
So you make sure your valuation is up to date and totally specific. That gives them less wiggle room because if you give them an inch they take it all.
Yes, I worked in General insurance and saw all the tricks people make when claiming and all the brick walls and minefields an insurance company is capable of creating.
 
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