When to insure?

[House Cat]

I have a loose stone right now. Do I insure it before I have it set or after? I''ve already had it appraised, is that enough? I''ve read a lot of horror stories about stones being damaged during setting, but when I''ve spoken to jewelers about having my stone insured before having it set, they look at me like I''m crazy. Is it overkill to have it insured before setting?

 

[elle_chris]

It depends. First, would the jeweler cover the stone in case it was damaged? If so, then get it in writing and you have nothing to worry about. If not, and you can''t afford to get another one in case something happened, the only company i know that insures loose stones is Jewelers Mutual. I also purchased a loose stone and went with them before it was set.

 

[MMT]

I would cover it unless the jeweler has agreed to do so

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 4/9/2009 1:25:33 PM
Author: elle_chris
It depends. First, would the jeweler cover the stone in case it was damaged? If so, then get it in writing and you have nothing to worry about. If not, and you can''t afford to get another one in case something happened, the only company i know that insures loose stones is Jewelers Mutual. I also purchased a loose stone and went with them before it was set.

Yes, with the particular setting you will use to set the diamond, you can insure through JM, without it being set yet. But, you need the setting. And, then you can be insured THROUGH the setting process, which is favorable for you.

 

[peaches]

I have the exact same issue and figured I''d try to insure the stone before setting it. I took it to an appraiser who advised me to wait until after the stone was set to have the insurance appraisal done. But now it turns out that my insurer won''t cover the stone until I provide them with the appraised value. These people are trying to give me a complex!

I''ll go with elle_chris''s suggestion of making sure the jeweler will cover any damage to the stone. Good idea!

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 4/9/2009 10:43:49 PM
Author: peaches
I have the exact same issue and figured I''d try to insure the stone before setting it. I took it to an appraiser who advised me to wait until after the stone was set to have the insurance appraisal done. But now it turns out that my insurer won''t cover the stone until I provide them with the appraised value. These people are trying to give me a complex!

I''ll go with elle_chris''s suggestion of making sure the jeweler will cover any damage to the stone. Good idea!

Peaches and House Cat,

Unfortunately, not enough appraisers understand the JM program, and you may have a difficult time finding a jeweler to cover damage to your satisfaction. Denver Appraiser uniquely understands their program pretty well, you can find one of his many comments on it linked in the last post in the "helpful threads" at the top of Rocky Talky, also here, or in a link below my signature, or just by searching for something like JM insurance diamond not set, denverappraiser author, etc. He can also provide counsel on how to do it, or do the whole job, too.

 

[peaches]

Thanks for the links, Ira!

The more I read these types of posts, the more nervous I get about having my stone set...EEK!