Is it worth it to get an insurance appraisal for my engagement ring?

[chanieish]

Hi everyone!

I got engaged with a beautiful natural diamond ring a few years ago from High Performance Diamonds/Crafted by Infinity.

It was a 2.5ct J VVS1 round diamond, AGS 000 gorgeous H&A cut with a custom RG/diamond setting. My husband paid $28k for it then. As soon as I received the ring, I insured it with Jeweler's mutual.

Accounting for inflation here is the current value and insurance cost:
Total Value: $34,835.00 Annual Premium: $452.00

I am concerned that with natural diamonds decreasing somewhat in price over the last 3-4 years, that I am overpaying for my insurance. Especially as they replace in kind, so if I find a similar diamond ring for $20k instead of $28k, then they will only cover the $20k.

Is it worth it to get the ring appraised? Will the local jewelers take into account the premium I paid for cut. I get to choose my jeweler if I ever need a replacement, so I will likely go with another super ideal vendor.

Does anyone not have insurance and if the ring gets lost then replace with a more affordable lab diamond?

Thanks for all your advice

 

[Rockdiamond]

Interesting subject!
Appraisals are opinions.
THerefore, two different appraisers may have different numbers for the same item.
Let's take a 1ct D/VS1 round diamond.
In Tiffany's it's $20k
Blue Nile $14k
Pawn Shop $8k

Arbitrary numbers but you get the point.
Our experience has been that dedicated jewelry insurance ( Jewelers Mutual) is much more suited for connoisseurs like us. They allow the consumer to pick who to replace the item with, as opposed to just replacing it themselves.

My advice is to find an appraiser who will have these sorts of value discussions to tailor the appraisal to current replacement conditions.

 

[headlight]

You can easily go to whiteflash or brian Gavin to get a comp on a super ideal with your specs and see what that’s going to cost to replace. That’s exactly what a qualified appraiser (one that understands super ideals… I would recommend you go to an AGS lauded appraiser) will do to establish the new replacement value. It’s always a good idea to get revised appraisals every so many years so you aren’t underinsured or overinsured, as is your concern given the current climate with lab diamonds.
For super ideals I highly recommend insuring as you have with jewelers mutual. They understand the super ideal product and branding value. However, this does come at a cost!!!
As for replacing your incredible stone with a lab all I’ll say is I was just perusing diamond rings on the real real… an overwhelming majority of them were lab growns. This tells me there is great regret over not receiving a natural diamond (but others may make alternative interpretations!).

 

[Dreamer_D]

Hi everyone!

I got engaged with a beautiful natural diamond ring a few years ago from High Performance Diamonds/Crafted by Infinity.

It was a 2.5ct J VVS1 round diamond, AGS 000 gorgeous H&A cut with a custom RG/diamond setting. My husband paid $28k for it then. As soon as I received the ring, I insured it with Jeweler's mutual.

Accounting for inflation here is the current value and insurance cost:
Total Value: $34,835.00 Annual Premium: $452.00

I am concerned that with natural diamonds decreasing somewhat in price over the last 3-4 years, that I am overpaying for my insurance. Especially as they replace in kind, so if I find a similar diamond ring for $20k instead of $28k, then they will only cover the $20k.

Is it worth it to get the ring appraised? Will the local jewelers take into account the premium I paid for cut. I get to choose my jeweler if I ever need a replacement, so I will likely go with another super ideal vendor.

I'm planning to get my ring re-appraised for similar reasons. I think the value is inflated given current values and I know what I would pay to replace it, so I don't want to over-pay for my insurance.

Does anyone not have insurance and if the ring gets lost then replace with a more affordable lab diamond?

Thanks for all your advice

I would buy another natural diamond so self-insuring (which is basically what you are suggesting here) isn't appealing to me.

 

[JPie]

You’ve gotten good advice so far. Comp shop for a super ideal with similar specs, and get a new appraisal from someone who understands the premium on super ideal cuts. You don’t want to overpay for insurance if the value has decreased by a significant amount.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I don’t find that the super ideal cut diamonds have depreciated as much as less ideal cut diamonds. Is this the value that Jeweler’s Mutual is now assigning to the ring? All appraisers aren’t as familiar with super ideal diamonds as you would want them to be. How much more is the premium with the additional 6k added to the diamond’s value? If you reappraise, also be mindful of changing diamond prices. Diamonds have gone up and down for years - you just don’t want to end up under insured.

 

[chanieish]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes this is my Jewelers Mutual policy

I don't have a super ideal jeweler in my area. Do you have any recommendations on where I can get an appraisal. Is this possible online? I know WF doesn't offer appraisals.

The good thing is that similar diamonds on WF and VC aren't too different in price to what I paid before.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes this is my Jewelers Mutual policy

I don't have a super ideal jeweler in my area. Do you have any recommendations on where I can get an appraisal. Is this possible online? I know WF doesn't offer appraisals.

The good thing is that similar diamonds on WF and VC aren't too different in price to what I paid before.

I looked for a similar diamond on Whiteflash's page yesterday and didn't see anything. Remember that it is a VVS1 diamond and that accounts for a lot in terms of its price.