Should I have it appraised?

[Nordic]

Just a quick one follwing on from the earlier thread I started: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/will-my-diamond-be-ok.91580/

I purchased my e-ring from one of the big online retailers in the US and had it delivered to Norway (0.84 round / G / VS1 etc - see other thread). It came with GIA cert. plus a valuation certificate from the retailer. As you will see in other thread I am extremely happy with the end result - but for all I know in reality it could be something completely different.

I dont feel an appraisal is necessary - but what is the general consensus?

Thanks

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/7/2008 8:32:09 AM
Author:Nordic
Just a quick one follwing on from the earlier thread I started: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/will-my-diamond-be-ok.91580/

I purchased my e-ring from one of the big online retailers in the US and had it delivered to Norway (0.84 round / G / VS1 etc - see other thread). It came with GIA cert. plus a valuation certificate from the retailer. As you will see in other thread I am extremely happy with the end result - but for all I know in reality it could be something completely different.

I dont feel an appraisal is necessary - but what is the general consensus?

Thanks

If you are concerned, rather than have a full appraisal, see if an appraiser or other professional can have a look just to match the diamond to the report. It is highly unlikely that a mistake may have been made, but it might give you peace of mind just to check.

 

[dockman3]

I would say that yes, you need an appraisal done so that you can get a true replacement value for your local market for insurance purposes. The insurance companies need to know what it would be to replace where you are, not where it was purchased. Plus, it is good to double check everything and make sure that there is nothing wrong with it. I''m sure it looks fantastic, but you never know what a trained professional will see as opposed to what you will see. I would just get it for my own peace of mind.

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 8/7/2008 8:32:09 AM
Author:Nordic
Just a quick one follwing on from the earlier thread I started: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/will-my-diamond-be-ok.91580/

I purchased my e-ring from one of the big online retailers in the US and had it delivered to Norway (0.84 round / G / VS1 etc - see other thread). It came with GIA cert. plus a valuation certificate from the retailer. As you will see in other thread I am extremely happy with the end result - but for all I know in reality it could be something completely different.

I dont feel an appraisal is necessary - but what is the general consensus?

Thanks

If you don''t feel one is necessary......meaning you can be completely happy with the ring and the price you paid with no further information or assessment.....then you may not need an appraisal.

Whether or not to appraise really depends on each individual''s personal level of risk tolerance. If you take a less conservative approach and wouldn''t be devastated financially or mentally in later finding out your stone wasn''t what you thought, then you may not need an appraisal. If you are a more conservative type who would be quite upset to learn later on that the diamond wasn''t what you thought, then I''d suggest leaning more toward an appraisal.

Do you need/want insurance, or are you essentially ''self-insuring''? If you aren''t getting insurance because you can financially afford to replace the ring in the event of loss, you may not need an appraisal. If you would be hard pressed to replace it out of your own pocket, then insurance is important to you and an appraisal would help to insure that any replacement you may need will be of like kind.

 

[HariSeldon]

How accurate are appraisals from the jeweler selling the diamond? Should you get an independent appraiser to look at it anyways to get the "true replacement value"?

 

[denverappraiser]

There are two customary reasons that people seek out appraisals on new purchases.

The first is if they are second guessing the information provided by the selling jeweler. Perhaps the jeweler simply didn’t have the tools and expertise to answer what they needed, perhaps they provided some conflicting information or made some suspicious claims that they want to have checked by their own expert. Obviously a dealer supplied appraisal is of no value for this, even if the author is imminently qualified and even if it turns out to be correct. If you have 100% confidence in the dealer, this isn’t an issue in the first place and if you have 0% confidence you shouldn’t be doing the deal at all so the issue will be drawing the line in between these two extremes. Some folks are happy with the bare bones information included from the lab while others want to know as much as possible. To some extent it depends on your faith in the seller, to some extent it will depend on what you want to know and to some extent it will depend on the budget involved as it relates to the independent appraisers fee. There’s no straight answer to which ones are worth it and which ones are not as it will be different for every customer.

The second common reason is to provide documentation for insurance purposes so that the item can be properly replaced in the case of a loss. Memory is notoriously bad for this purpose and a good appraisal provides something of a purchase order for the replacement should the need ever arise. For this, a document prepared by the seller may be entirely suitable although, I must say, most are not. Read through the description section, look at the photos and ask yourself this question: “Is there enough information here to replace the item based ENTIRELY on the contents of this report and am I reasonably likely to be happy with the results?” Everything that is important to you and that was considered in the purchase should be included such as the designer, the craftsmanship details, cutting on the stone(s), special symmetry issues like H&A, branding on the stone and/or mounting etc. If it’s there then you don’t need a 3rd party appraisal. If it’s not, you really should consider hiring a pro.

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

 

[Nordic]

Well I paid a bit over 6k for the ring from the US. Another 1.5k in taxes to bring into Norway. The appraisal from the vendor stated the retail value of the ring at 10k. It kinda reminds me of the financial problems with the big banks around the globe at the moment carrying all these assets on their balance sheets at over inflated prices - the real acid test comes when you have to sell them.

If the retailer sells it to me for 6k and then in their appraisal tells me its retail value is worth 10k - it just kinda makes me take their opinion with a grain of salt because the truth is its retail value was 6k ??

Still like the response above mentions - the retail value in this country would be substantially higher than the 10k (this is Norway we are talking about gas is 10 bucks a gallon) so perhaps I should seek an appraisal here for my insurance purposes.

However - I am so happy with the ring I would again shop online from the retailer in the US so I guess the 10k appraisal will be more than sufficient should I need to replace the 7.5k ring !!

Thanks again for the feedback

 

[Nordic]

Just another comment for those purchasing from the US from here in Europe. I paid 1.5k in takes (app. 25%) to bring the ring in to the country (with FedEx). I just checked the airfares and I could have flown over to the US for around 500 dollars - so if you are spending enough on your diamond it may actually be worth flying over to get it yourself and avoiding the customs duties