Ring appraisals

[Grade1View]

Hello!

I posted back in February about finding the right ring. I went through White Flash and got a great deal. They are awesome. The ring arrived yesterday and it looks AWESOME. It's exactly what I was hoping for. I think she is going to be thrilled with it.

Its time now, to protect my investment. WF partners with Jewlers Mutual, and all I have to do is enter in my order number and they have an insurance quote ready for me. How important is it for me to have the ring independently appraised? Because of some extenuating circumstances I got a slight discount on my purchase (someone bought the stone online as I was attempting to purchase in person, they found me a comparable stone with slightly better specs for a discount). That said, I'm not sure that my purchase price is reflective of the quality stone I ended up with. In other words, I think replacing my ring with one of like kind and quality would cost more than I paid for it. Do I need to have an independent appraisal, and then insurance based on that price?

As for having jewelry appraised- My mom told me a story that I had never known about. When she and my father were engaged she went in to have her diamond appraised for insurance. This was in the 1970's in the NYC diamond district. They took her ring to a back room for the 'appraisal,' and when they came back they had switched her stone. The ring was only in her possession for a few days prior, so she hadn't become familiar with the intricacies of her stone. My father, however noticed immediately that the stone had been switched. He went back to the store, raised some hell, but ultimately the jewelers denied any wrongdoing and he couldn't prove that they had done it (versus an inside job I guess). So, my mom is understandably adamant that all appraisals of her jewelry be done in front of her from now on. How common is this? Does the PS community readily turn over their jewelry to appraisers and cleaners? How do you ensure you get back what you gave them? Any tips for picking an appraiser?

Thanks!

 

[baroque]

I'm sure you will get many replies to this...but I understand your concern. I went to a jeweler who had an in house fully certified appraiser, and she did the appraisal right in front of me, verified the inscription and let me see it on the stone. I felt I needed an independent appraisal for the same reasons you mentioned and had your same concern. I think even after only having her for 8 days, now I would know right away if I took it in for cleaning and it was switched. If you had to leave it for appraisal, you could have them look at the AGS inscription number with you and then again when you pick it up?...

P.S. My grandmother swore up and down that her stone was switched when it had been left for prong repair. I doubt it was the case, but one more reason I wanted an inscribed stone.

OH, and huge congrats on your new ACA! I really love mine. Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[denverappraiser]

The purpose of the insurance appraisal is to provide sufficient information that the company can replace it with ‘like kind and quality’ in the case of a loss. Exactly how much detail that requires depends a bit on what you have and what sort of specs were important to you when you bought it but basically, the test is simple enough. Read the description, look at the pictures, and imagine the cheapest ring they could find that will meet or exceed each of those specs. No looking at the ring, just read the appraisal. If that’s likely to be sufficient, you’re good to go. If not, consider getting a different appraisal.

You’ll notice that price was NOT my top item, even though that’s usually the only line people actually read on a 10 page appraisal. As with the above, the objective here is to properly fund the replacement. If you can buy it for $x, chances are good they can too but if you’ve got reason to believe you can’t, talk to your appraiser about why. They may not agree with you but they should be happy to hear what you have to say and, if needed, make a case against it.

 

[Sundial]

After I received my new diamond ring from Brian Gavin I had it appraised by an independent appraiser (not affiliated with a jewelry store). I found his name on Pricescope under the Resource tab. He did the appraisal right in front of me and attached a copy of the AGS report so I would have the most complete information possible to submit to my insurance company. I wanted to make sure that my policy would replace my diamond with one of like quality.