No appraisers in the area

[DavR]

Hello everyone,

I hope I am not cluttering up the board, but I have found that there is no longer an independent appraiser in my area - nearest one is about 250 miles away. What would be the best course of action? The jeweler I will be working with to set the stone has said he will give some estimate, but is not qualified to do an appraisal.

Thanks,

D

 

[stone-cold11]

You can ask the jeweler to send it to an appraiser that accept packages.

 

[DavR]

Is that sort of a catch 22? I need it appraised for insurance purposes, and yet to get it insured for shipping I need it appraised.

 

[stone-cold11]

Well, your jeweler should have his own over-night delivery service and insurance of that.

Usually make the purchase based on a good appraisal result. The appraiser will has his own delivery service and insurance too. You will just have to pay for their service instead of going to USPS and the slow registered mail.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Is the stone certified? If so, you have verification of the stone quality. My insurance has ALWAYS accepted sales receipts that give a description of the item. With a certified diamond, I also send the grading cert in with the sales receipt. You really don''t want to pay to insure something at an inflated value (which usually happens with appraisals). But if the diamond is not ceritified, then you should have it independently appraised preferably before you have it set.

 

[DavR]

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. So in effect, with certified diamonds the appraising step is more for piece of mind than to actually get a value for insurance purposes if the insurance company accepts the receipt and the cert. I will also inquire about the appraisers and jewlers insurance to see what exactly is covered.