Diamond Verification

aldredd

Good morning

I've purchased a diamond ring from an online retailer. Not a high street company, or one I'd say I'd have heard of before, but did some reading and they checked out ok - the product has arrived and the service has been excellent.

They've provided a self-signed diamond certificate, and have no real reason to doubt them, but would it be prudent to get it checked out independently? Any idea where I'd start finding somewhere to do this, or would a high street jewellery be prepared to give a yay/nay on it?

Also, they've included a separate signed jewellery appraisal, which gives a high-street valuation higher than what I paid. Should I therefore list it with my insurer, or would they only be interested in what I paid for it? (I think it crosses the individual item limit I have on my contents)

thank you!

aldredd

Incidentally, if I go to one of the more premium high street jewellery retailers and select a ring of very similar spec (slightly under spec in fact) then I do get a value similar to their valuation, so I don't think it's a completely made up figure.
I don't want to under-ensure, but nor do I want to be caught over-stating the value of an item!

[Deleted User]

Go to an independent jeweller and get a valuation - that's what the insurance firm will want to use - what you paid is fairly irrelevant (e.g. my wife's ring was valued at £2k more than I paid, and that's what I needed to use for insurance purposes).

aldredd

Thanks Ringo - is their own valuation irrelevant for insurance purposes? Sounds obvious that that would be the case, but worth me checking.

[Deleted User]

No, it's not irrelevant; we used the 'non-independent' valuation with our insurers to start with. Some insurers will only accept a valuation if it is a certain age, so you may need to get annual valuations if it is a big stone.

LilElvis

aldredd wrote: »

Thanks Ringo - is their own valuation irrelevant for insurance purposes? Sounds obvious that that would be the case, but worth me checking.

My insurers have always accepted the valuation of my jewellery being done by the jeweller who made it. I certainly wouldn't waste money getting it revalued now - most jewellers charge a percentage of the rings value so it could prove costly, especially as you already have a valuation.

aldredd

thanks both - sounds like I'll be ok with their valuation - I'll talk to my insurer about it.

LilElvis

ringo_24601 wrote: »

No, it's not irrelevant; we used the 'non-independent' valuation with our insurers to start with. Some insurers will only accept a valuation if it is a certain age, so you may need to get annual valuations if it is a big stone.

Unlikely to be the case that it would need to be revalued annually, or possibly at all. The insurer needs an initial valuation and then generally just increases the value by a few percent at renewal. This may lead to the item being underinsured after a few years. I get my engagement ring revalued every few years, but longer for other pieces. Those below a certain value I don't bother to have devalued at all. As the OPs ring only just takes her over the limit for an item requiring separate declaration it is highly unlikely she will ever be asked for a revised valuation, though it might be prudent to do so in a few years.

InsideInsurance

What sort of ball park did you pay for the diamond? I would be concerned of anything of any real value not coming with an independent certification of its standard. Even with the independent certs some are known to be more optimistic than others and so you have to take them with a pinch of salt.

Ignore the higher than you paid for valuation certificate, its a waste of paper. You can get it valued and it will be prudent to do it occasionally at least as valuations fluctuate. At the same time you often have to pay a fairly pretty penny to have a valuation so you need to weigh the two factors up.

High street jewellers, and many independents, dont actually do valuations themselves but send them off to other companies to do it on their behalf. Not an issue but clearly it takes time for it to go back and forth with couriers.

Ultimately many of these things, are subjective, if something is a good or very good cut is purely personally judgement

aldredd

I paid well over 1,000 but less than 2,000 - so we're not talking silly money - but it's still a lot :-)

InsideInsurance

So get a valuation to double check everything and for insurance purposes.

Valuations can either be a per item fee or a percentage of the value with a floor (often around the £50 mark). Make sure you know how yours will be worked out before getting it done!