setting a diamond without insurance

[canada_ham]

hi everyone

would you have a diamond set without insurance? how likely is it that the stone will be damaged during the setting process? i plan on buying my stone from one vendor and having a custom setting made by another vendor. the setting maker does not have insurance to cover stones not purchased from them. (if it helps, i would like to buy an asscher and have it set in a cathedral basket setting with pave on the sides) as a canadian, i am finding it very difficult to find stand alone insurance for the stone. i spoke with jewelers mutual and they have plans to offer insurance to canadians in the new year but the excellent exchange rate is encouraging me to buy the ring now. so here are my options:

1. take advantage of the great exchange rate and buy the stone and have it set now without insurance and risk not being covered should anything happen to the stone and wait until the new year to insure my ring

2. wait until jewelers mutual offers insurance to canadians and then buy the stone and have it set

3. somehow manage to find standalone insurance now? i don''t have a home or rent so i don''t have home owners or renters insurance. has anyone in the greater toronto area been able to find stand alone insurance??

option 2 is the safest way to go but i have an issue with it aside from potentially missing out on a great exchange rate: i don''t know for certain when jewelers mutual will start offering insurance to canadians. the representative on the phone said they plan to in the new year but i read a post on this forum from 2006 that said they were planning on offering it by the end of 2006. i don''t doubt that jewelers mutual wants to offer canadians insurance but there are probably many legitimate reasons that have been delaying them. i could be waiting a very long time to get my ring.

what would you do? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[stone-cold11]

Well, you can buy the stone now, then set it in the new year?

SO the 2 vendors are both in Canada?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 10/9/2009 10:19:26 AM
Author:canada_ham
hi everyone

would you have a diamond set without insurance? how likely is it that the stone will be damaged during the setting process? i plan on buying my stone from one vendor and having a custom setting made by another vendor. the setting maker does not have insurance to cover stones not purchased from them. (if it helps, i would like to buy an asscher and have it set in a cathedral basket setting with pave on the sides) as a canadian, i am finding it very difficult to find stand alone insurance for the stone. i spoke with jewelers mutual and they have plans to offer insurance to canadians in the new year but the excellent exchange rate is encouraging me to buy the ring now. so here are my options:

1. take advantage of the great exchange rate and buy the stone and have it set now without insurance and risk not being covered should anything happen to the stone and wait until the new year to insure my ring

2. wait until jewelers mutual offers insurance to canadians and then buy the stone and have it set

3. somehow manage to find standalone insurance now? i don't have a home or rent so i don't have home owners or renters insurance. has anyone in the greater toronto area been able to find stand alone insurance??

option 2 is the safest way to go but i have an issue with it aside from potentially missing out on a great exchange rate: i don't know for certain when jewelers mutual will start offering insurance to canadians. the representative on the phone said they plan to in the new year but i read a post on this forum from 2006 that said they were planning on offering it by the end of 2006. i don't doubt that jewelers mutual wants to offer canadians insurance but there are probably many legitimate reasons that have been delaying them. i could be waiting a very long time to get my ring.

what would you do? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

It depends on your comfort level, yes there is a risk with setting any diamond, not often that they do get damaged but it has happened. A diamond is a sizeable investment, personally I am not much of a risk taker so I would try to find some insurance to cover the diamond whilst setting if possible.

Some of our Canadian PSers such as Pixley or CCL etc might know of an insurance co you could try.

 

[canada_ham]

Hi Stone-cold and Lorelei

thanks for your quick responses!

both vendors are in the US. buying the stone now might be a good idea. i will have to look into shipping the stone back and forth across the border though. but it might be worth dealing with customs in order to get a good price on the stone. i am not much of a risk taker either and this is the biggest purchase that i have ever made.

 

[stone-cold11]

hmm... so JM will not cover a stone set in the US for a foreigner?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 10/9/2009 10:43:01 AM
Author: canada_ham
Hi Stone-cold and Lorelei

thanks for your quick responses!

both vendors are in the US. buying the stone now might be a good idea. i will have to look into shipping the stone back and forth across the border though. but it might be worth dealing with customs in order to get a good price on the stone. i am not much of a risk taker either and this is the biggest purchase that i have ever made.

If you bought the diamond from a US vendor and had them set it then it will be covered as the vendors normally assume liability for a diamond they sold, if you had it sent to you on approval then returned it to the vendor for setting it still should be covered, check to make sure but this should be the case.

 

[stone-cold11]

Ya, can''t you send the custom setting to the vendor that sold you the stone to be set?

 

[canada_ham]

hi Stone-cold

gave JM a call and they will only provide coverage to people who reside in the US. sending the setting to the stone vendor is a good idea though. i''ll have to look into it

thanks again your help Stone-cold and Lorelei

it is very much appreciated!

 

[stone-cold11]

Good luck.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 10/9/2009 12:48:59 PM
Author: canada_ham
hi Stone-cold

gave JM a call and they will only provide coverage to people who reside in the US. sending the setting to the stone vendor is a good idea though. i''ll have to look into it

thanks again your help Stone-cold and Lorelei

it is very much appreciated!

Most welcome! It might be your best bet to get the vendor who sold the diamond to set it, that way you should be covered. Just ask if you need any more assistance!

 

[setell]

Hi, Fellow Canadian here!

I think what you can do is get a vendor to do both the custom work AND get the diamond from them too like with WF. That way you are reeping the benefits of the high exchange rate right now AND it will be fully insured with very little cost to you. I also wouldn''t freak out if you wait though as I am predicting our FX will go higher as the USD isn''t performing so well due to a variety of reasons (if you want to know more go and read the business newspapers). If our loonie goes above 1:1 I am soooo going crazy shopping in the US

On the other hand, I think you should consider getting a standalone policy or something as not having it insured is fairly dangerous as we''re talking about a high price item here! I am with Dominion for my tenant policy and for my tenant policy it does cover the diamond/jewellery if it''s lost/damaged during the work or shipment. When I called my underwriter she said that normally if you send your jewellery off for work done on it then the first payor is the jewellers insurer BUT if the jewller''s insurer doesn''t cover the damage during the work then my policy kicks in. You can get fairly cheap tenant policies and I''ll assume all policies with various general insurers are the same.

 

[Char D]

Hi Canada Ham,

Nice profile picture BTW! Very cute.

You have two options. 1) Jewelers Mutual now offers coverage to jewellers for damage when they are working on customers’ jewellery. So, you could find a jeweller who has this coverage. 2) Regarding our Personal Jewelry Insurance program, we plan to offer that insurance to Canadian residents, except in Quebec, by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
Watch for details at www.InsureYourJewellery.ca.

If you have additional questions, you are always welcome to call Jewelers Mutual at 800-558-6411.

Thanks,
Char DeCoster
Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company

 

[CharmyPoo]

Perhaps consider switching the setter to one that covers the setting process. For my first e-ring, it was covered by either the vendor (ERD) or the jeweler(Maytal Hannah) - I had nothing to worry about. I recently purchased a OMC from GOG and it was sent to Richard Sherwood - so far, it is also covered and I have nothing to worry about. By the way, I am also Canadian.

 

[canada_ham]

hi Setsell

i agree

it does look like our loonie is going to go above 1:1 in the near future. i really do want to take advantage of it.

i am actually planning on going with WF for the setting. getting the stone from them would make the process a lot easier. i''m planning on getting an asscher though and have read that GOG is a great source for them. since i won''t be able to see any of the stones in person, i''d like to go with a vendor that is known for them. i think what i''m going to do is buy the stone now and have it set in a temporary setting and wait until next year, when i can get insurance from JM to have it set in a custom setting.

hi Char

thanks! he is a cutie

great to hear that JM will be in canada next year. i''m sure many canadian ps-ers will be happy to hear it!

 

[canada_ham]

hi CharmyPoo

i have looked into some other custom setting makers. i know that Leon Mege will cover the setting process but i can''t afford his prices. i haven''t looked into Maytal Hannah or ERD, are their prices reasonable? one of the main reasons why i''m thinking of going with WF is price.

thanks everyone for all of the advice! this has really been helpful

 

[oldminer]

If the diamond does not have pointed corners, such as a princess cut, there is extremely little risk in setting it. We set round diamonds and other round or flat shapes all the time and I can''t remember the last chipped one. The ones with sharp points pose some risk, not much, but there is a greater chance for damage. The ones with some inherent risk should best be set by the seller so that you don''t have to worry about who is accepting the risk. The rest, pretty much any competent workman can handle without damage concerns.

A diamond can become chipped after it is set and life is full of small risks. It isn''t going overboard to accept a bit of risk when the relative safety of the risk is so high.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 10/12/2009 1:20:49 PM
Author: canada_ham
hi Setsell

i'm planning on getting an asscher though and have read that GOG is a great source for them.

I’m pretty sure that GOG also does custom design work and that they assume breakage liability for setting of stones that you buy from them. Have you asked them about doing the setting too?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[megeve]

Date: 10/12/2009 1:35:16 PM
Author: canada_ham
hi CharmyPoo

i have looked into some other custom setting makers. i know that Leon Mege will cover the setting process but i can''t afford his prices. i haven''t looked into Maytal Hannah or ERD, are their prices reasonable? one of the main reasons why i''m thinking of going with WF is price.

thanks everyone for all of the advice! this has really been helpful

Hi

Nope, Leon doesn''t cover the setting process! Only while the stone is in his possession, its insured!

 

[canada_ham]

hi David, Neil & Megeve

thanks for your responses!

Neil: i didn''t know that GOG did custom work. i will definitely need to look into that!

Megeve: thanks for letting me know! i read through the "rules of engagement" section on his website and i thought that is what it meant.