Lost our engagement ring. GOG, Chubb, and now a new ring.

[CT Dub]

About a year ago I used Pricescope and all of you to help me find a beautiful engagement ring for my fiance, Jessica.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/taking-the-plunge-your-opinions-please.10073/

I used GOG for the diamonds and setting, and they were great.  Jonathan seems to wake up hourly at night to check his email and answer any questions I had, and Christen helped square away all the details.

The ring was wonderful.  We got a three diamond ring with a larger center stone in a Vatche setting, and she loved it.  Heck, so did I.  I proposed to her last January, and apart from learning that a room with a few hundred candles gets kinda warm when your girlfriend is late getting home, everything went great.  She couldn't take her eyes off the ring.  Pictures of it are below.

Five months later she lost the ring.  It was devastating for both of us, but especially for her.  That ring symbolized a lot, especially since we're living in two different cities and have a long (2 1/2 year) engagement.  I still get a little sick in my stomach thinking about it.

Fortunately we had insured it through Chubb (again thanks to the good advice you get on Pricescope).  While they weren't happy replacing a pretty high-value item that was "lost" so soon after being insured, they were eminently professional and cut me a check for the appraised value.  If it weren't for the insurance, this would have been a very different story.  As it is, it'll have a happy ending.

I've been looking for a replacement ring for 6 months now.  It was harder the second time around, because my goal was to replicate the original as best I could (didn't want the replacement to be "worse" than the original).  The original ring was a 1.44ct E VS2 with two 0.46ct E VS2 sides.  Finding a replacement center stone has been tough.  There haven't been many E VS2 diamonds in that size.  Good Old Gold has been looking for me, and I've been keeping an eye on other Pricescope vendors.  Also, diamond prices have increased, and our original stone, while beautiful and a great visual performer, wasn't quite H&A quality, and some of the stones out there have just been out of my (replacement) budget.

For those reasons, I've been looking at F SI2 H&A stones now for the center.  And, once again, I'd love to get your advice on some stones.

(1)  A question first.  I bought some side stones from GOG 6 months ago when this happened since Jonathan had a nice pair for me.  They are 0.47ct; one is a D, the other an E.  Obviously I originally hoped to pair them with an E color center stone.  Does anyone think that a three stone ring with a center F and sides of D/E will be noticeable (or bothersomely so)?

(2) Some possible center stones:

1.544 carat
Color: F
Clarity: SI1
Polish: Ideal (AGS)
Symmetry: Ideal (AGS)
Proportions: Ideal (AGS)
HCA: 1.6 (Ex/VG/VG/VG)
Depth: 60.8%
Table: 55.5%
Crown: 34.7 deg
Pavil: 40.9 deg
Girdle: 0.8-1.2%
Culet: 0.3%
Fluor: ?
7.52 - 7.54 - 4.58 mm
http://www.goodoldgold.com/1_554ct_f_si1_h%26a.htm

1.513 carat
Color: F
Clarity: SI1
Polish: Ideal (AGS)
Symmetry: Ideal (AGS)
Proportions: Ideal (AGS)
HCA: 1.2 (Ex/Ex/Ex/VG)
Depth: 60.9%
Table: 56.5%
Crown: 34.5 deg
Pavil: 40.8 deg
Girdle: 1.1-1.6%
Culet: 0.5%
Fluor: negligible
7.41 - 7.46 - 4.52 mm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-630794.htm#

1.573 carat
Color: F
Clarity: SI1
Polish: Ideal (AGS)
Symmetry: Ideal (AGS)
Proportions: Ideal (AGS)
HCA: 1.3 (Ex/Ex/Ex/VG)
Depth: 60.8%
Table: 56.0%
Crown: 34.7 deg
Pavil: 40.8 deg
Girdle: 1.1-1.6%
Culet: 0.9%
Fluor: negligible
7.49 - 7.58 - 4.59 mm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-685912.htm#


Thanks to everyone who helped me pick a diamond before and now again.

Chris

 

[CT Dub]

Another photo of the original ring.

 

[CT Dub]

And one more.

 

[baltneu]

I've been looking for a replacement ring for 6 months now. It was harder the second time around, because my goal was to replicate the original as best I could (didn't want the replacement to be "worse" than the original). The original ring was a 1.44ct E VS2 with two 0.46ct E VS2 sides. Finding a replacement center stone has been tough. There haven't been many E VS2 diamonds in that size. Good Old Gold has been looking for me, and I've been keeping an eye on other Pricescope vendors. Also, diamond prices have increased, and our original stone, while beautiful and a great visual performer, wasn't quite H&A quality, and some of the stones out there have just been out of my (replacement) budget.



CT---
I am sorry that the ring was lost but Chubb did come thru and cut you a check.
Others will have to comment on the above stones who know more than me.

But, perhaps there is a interesting insurance story here: Chubb was chosen to get a check, not hassle with the insurance company picking a diamond for you, that you may not like.
But, I wonder if in this situation, since you are replacing, and now the check they cut you does not cover the same stone, obviously due to a few price increases, perhaps a Replacemnent policy, such as State Farm, might have been better suited, so CT does not have to dig into his pocket to come up with the same carat weight, color, clarity,etc.
Anyone who does go with a Replacement policy shoudl make sure that the "Declaration Page" is full of details about the stone, such as H &A.

Good luck with your quest to find the ring you like.

 

[bar01]

I am no diamond expert - but I noticed your orginial was a 1.44 ct? And the Diamonds you are listing are 1.5 plus??

Some suggestions -


Would you consider going "a little" smaller (say 5% smaller than your original)? I see GOG has a 1.4 VVS1 E and Nice Ice has a 1.35 VS1 E at a little lower cost than the other 1.5+ SI-1's listed.

Also would you consider going as low as G color? Most here seem to think this is still a "safe color" in a well cut stone.

 

[hoorray]

All of these stones look spectactular. I doubt side by side you would really see a difference. I also doubt that you would see a difference from your E VS2 assuming these are all eye-clean. I didn''t look at all of their details, but I would select one based on the details of the inclusions and idealscope pics, and if they are all still too close, go for the least expensive.

As to Baltneu''s replacement insurance question, my insurance company (USAA) told me that it was a replace or cash out, at their option policy. If they are not able to replace it for the $$ amount it is insured for, they will cash me out for that value. Thus, they recommended I keep my appraisal current if the market changes and to change the $$ amount of coverage as necessary. I would bet that most if not all replacement policies are the same, as USAA is one of the top insurance companies, and this seems logical.

 

[baltneu]

As to Baltneu's replacement insurance question, my insurance company (USAA) told me that it was a replace or cash out, at their option policy. If they are not able to replace it for the $$ amount it is insured for, they will cash me out for that value. Thus, they recommended I keep my appraisal current if the market changes and to change the $$ amount of coverage as necessary. I would bet that most if not all replacement policies are the same, as USAA is one of the top insurance companies, and this seems logical.

LOP- I wonder in the "cash out" option is it the retail amount that you have to spend to buy the ring or is it at their sort of wholesale cost to replace the ring. Many insurance co's have relationships with diamond dealers and they purchase volume and perhaps get a discount, so I am wondering how that cash price you mentioned is determined. Remember, the insurance companies are smart, they do this stuff all the time, we do it only occaisonally, so I might suspect it would be the lower number. Also a good argument to keep appraisals up to date in a cash payout policy like Chubb

 

[CT Dub]

Appreciate the comments.

bar01: If I could find a 1.44 E VS2, I'd snap it up -- I'm not trying to go bigger, and as you point out it would save me money. But I want her to feel like this ring is in every way as good as the original, and I think that buying a smaller stone is more of a compromise in that regard (at least psychologically, if not in reality) than choosing one color or clarity grade difference. It's hard to find sub-1.5 carat stones; most are cut to be above that break point, I think. We both prefered whiter stones when we looked together, and so I think an F is as far as I'd be willing to go (plus, my side stones are D/E). As far as GOG's 1.40 E VVS2, I felt like I'd be paying for a clarity grade I didn't care about at the expense of size (and perhaps some level of symmetry and performance).
baltneu: Chubb insurance really is pretty amazing, I think. One of the provisions of their policy is that they will pay you up to 150% of the insured value of your item if that's what it takes to replace it. Apparently I could have provided them with an invoice 6 months ago showing what it would cost to replace our ring -- even if it was higher than the insured value -- and they would have paid. In other words, it offers a similar choice of cash out or replacement as, say, USAA, but the ball is much more in your court.

So why didn't I? Well, a couple of reasons. First of all, at the time I couldn't find a replacement that closely matched the size/color/clarity, and I didn't actually expect it would be so hard to do so. Second, they reimbursed me nearly $2000 more than I had paid for the ring (because the appraised/insured value was higher than the purchase price) only 5 months after the fact, and I figured that extra amount would easily allow me to get an equivalent diamond. As it turns out, I hope to break even AFTER dropping from E/VS2 to F/SI1, but then again my original wasn't quite H&A and most of the replacement options I'm looking at are. I haven't contacted them to see whether "reopening" my claim is an option now that I'm having trouble finding an exact match, but in all honesty I feel like they did right by me the first time.

It would be interesting to know how much haggling you would get if you tried to claim a higher value. In other words, how close to the original carat weight, etc. would the new stone have to be for them to accept it as a fair replacement. I don't know the answer to that, but you'd face the same kinds of issues if you had a strictly replacement policy. Personally, I was pretty happy to have the cash and be able to pick a diamond I liked. Even if you were claiming more money than the policy covered, I think I'd prefer to find a diamond myself and argue for its equivilence rather than have their dealers do it for me. In other words, my only regret about Chubb is that I doubt they'll insure me again.

 

[valeria101]

Staying below 1.5cts would likely save you as much as thr SI2. Granted, VVS may not look like the best deal in town., But for any color and clarity the weight mark does apply. In this, your initial 1.44 was a lucky find - not too many stones come just below 1.5...

Keeping with the D-F range for all three stones is super safe, IMO. G would work as well, if you would consider.

 

[baltneu]

CT
I think Chubb will insure you again, it was a legit loss. Good luck

 

[Daniela]

You''ve got to give a little on clarity, colour, or size. Personnaly, I would stay with VS quality if it were me, and perhaps give up a few points in size. For a lot of people (not everyone), that''s where psychological quality lies. Also, I don''t know if your fiancee has eagle eyes, but VS is almost always safer sight unseen than SI-1, no matter what people will tell you.

Your fiancee has already been without an engagement ring for six months, and finding exactly the same specs on a stone seems to be impossible. I say, either cough up more money and hit the 1.5 mark, or make a small sacrifice. She would probably like to have another engagement ring already!