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Loose Diamond Appraisal and Jewelry Appraisal
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What is a Jewelry Appraisal?
A jewelry appraisal is a signed document which gives a monetary value to the item after it's thorrough evaluation. The final monetary value depends on the purpose of the appraisal, which could vary from Insurance, Retail Replacement, Divorce, Estate, Liquidation, etc. The most common appraisal is the one used for insurance purposes. When a consumer makes a jewelry purchase, they would want to insure it with their homeowner's insurance company such as State Farm, Allstate, Geico, etc. The insurance company will most likely require a separate writers insurance on your new jewelry purchase. They are usually not covered under the umbrella policy.
I will just give the receipt, that should do the job?
On most occasions, the insurance company will not take the receipt of the item purchased (by any chance if the insurance company takes the receipt as evidence for insurance, then I would switch companies). A receipt will have the actual price that you paid and comes with very limited information. This is when an appraisal comes into play. In the example of a diamond engagement ring, the appraisal will have information regarding the exact carat weight of the center diamond, dimensions, certifications, metal type, finger size, total gram weight and possibly some pictures to document the design. Appraisals done by us have further detailed description of the item.
What do I do with the Appraisal?
However, one of the biggest mistakes customers make is submitting the appraisal to the insurance company. You should get 2 copies of the appraisal. One that is submitted to your insurance co. and the other for your personal records. We keep a record of the appraisal for future reference or updates. The insurance company will document the information and add to your policy.
Keeping Up-to-date with your Appraisals?
Everything in the global market has price fluctuations. Watches and Jewelry are not exceptions to this case. The appraisal price is usually good for 3 - 5 years. The price of the appraised item could go increase, decrease or remain the same. It is very important that you get your appraisal updated during this time period to bring the prices current. This gives you an idea about your jewelry and also keeps you insyred appropriately. In my experience, I have come across several customers who have not got their appraisal updated for almost 10 years, in most cases since they purchased the item. This results in under-insuring.
Incase of a loss, you will be covered only upto the maximum amount of the appraisal. Let's say your appraisal value is $ 5,000 and it will be $ 6,000 to replace your engagement ring. You will have to pay the remaining $ 1,000 from your own pocket to replace your ring. On the other hand, if the current appraised value $ 4,000, then you are over-insured. You have been paying premiums on the higher original price, when you should have been making payments on the new updated price. Hence, it is highly recommended to update your appraisal.
What do I do incase of loss, theft, etc.?
The advantage of a detailed appraisal is to protect the buyer incase of loss. When your item is lost, stolen, etc. you make a claim. The insurance company then back tracks the appraisal and all the information it has regarding your jewelry. The adjuster then goes through the company procedure for replacing the jewelry. Since you have a detailed appraisal documenting every aspect of the jewelry, you can get as close as possible to the original. Also you will be in a better position to make sure that the insurance co. will replace the jewelry as close as possible with the original.
Feel free to email us (uses email client) or at Contact Us form if you have any questions.
