topic Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions in SmorgasBoard

Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:41:20 GMT

So, my boyfriend proposed a few days ago, (Yippee!!) and being the accident prone person that I am, I immediately scheduled an appraisal for my ring (which was done today) so that we can have it insured. I thought about adding it as a schedule to my standard now renters (hopefully soon to be homeowners) insurance policy, but it seems that the best protection comes from independent jeweler insurance companies such as Jewelers Mutual, etc. I have a few questions though...

1. I was about to sign up for the JM policy online but just as I was completing the policy application they asked for permission to pull my credit. This seems a bit ridiculous to me, but my main concern is that I am mid-mortgage application and I don't want an inquiry to hit my credit reports and possible reduce my score. However...I'm worried about holding off because I truly am so clutzy that I would not put it past me to be driving down the street a few weeks from now and notice that I've knocked the stone out of my ring already! Does anyone have experience with JM or any jewelry insurance company..and did they really pull your credit during application?

2. Anyone have experience with actually having to use their jewelry insurance policy? I'd love to hear your experience.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

fishbjc — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:42:29 GMT

Yes and here's what usually happens. I worked for Aetna for two years and DID lose an omega watch, grrr.

You will be paid REPLACEMENT COSTS based upon the broker that they use. You will not be paid on appraisal costs. My watch cost $1,500 + tax. I was paid on the cost that their broker used, so $900 is what I accepted because his cost to replace my watch was $900. I had the option of going to the location (local) and picking up the watch or applying the $900 to something else of my choosing.

Basically an appraisal isn't worth all that much, it's just a *guide* and someones opinion. You're better off getting the appraisal as a true cost, i.e. If he paid $5,000 for the ring and the appraisal says $10,000. Get the insurance for the $5,000 and buy a separate policy or a rider. Some companies will require an appraisal and some won't...they'll accept the bill of sale.

Your best bet is to call your insurance agent and ask them how the replacement is paid. Don't wear the ring until it's insured. Have all prongs checked yearly and keep all documents in a safe place.

And congratulations on the engagement.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

fishbjc — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:43:57 GMT

And I do have some really interesting stories about jewelry claims from my Aetna days. Some you just wouldn't believe...ever.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Junejer — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:33:53 GMT

I bought DF's ring from Jared and they told me that if she were to lose the diamond out of it, due to prong failure, they would replace it. That said, we still put it on her HOI policy, for the cost of the ring.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Junejer — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:37:01 GMT

Congratulations Up, on your engagement. Have you all set a date yet?

We are still bantering about with sometime in July. She wants to wait until after school is out.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:19:29 GMT

Thanks, Fish. Wow. You are such a big help! You have no idea. Your thorough explanation confirmed exactly what I thought I was getting out of the policy that would be issued my my renters/homeowners policy. It really seems that if something happens to the ring we'll be at their mercy---going through their jewelers and getting what they consider a comparable replacement. I really don't like that at all.

That's why I think it's totally worth it to go through Jewelers Mutual. While I know we will be at the mercy of any insurance company. I have a lot of comfort in knowing that JM will replace the ring based on the specs, not jsut the $$ value based on either purchase price or the appraisal. At the end of the day it's not the dollar value that I'm interseted in. It's know that if something happens, I'll wind up with something as close to what I had originally. They will replace your item based on something that is comparable to what you already have, not based ont he $ amount. It's based on the attributes of the stone, etc. rather than the "replacement cost" etc. So if you had a ring that E color, excellent cut, VSS2 clarity or whatever, they would replace with the same type of stone and they allow you to use YOUR jeweler. To me that is worth it. JM and my current insurance company both required an appraisal so we had to get that done. Honestly, I also wanted to do it for peace of mind that the stone is acutally what the GIA certificate certifies it as. I am very skeptical of jewelers (and evrything for that matter. So hard to trust people these days)

I did research the appraisers because I didn't want to have a jeweler appraise the ring, or anyone that may be in kahoots with the jewelers, or buys or sells jewelry him/herself. I wanted to go to an independent appraiser, no one that buys or sells jewelry. The one we found has been doing this for over 30-35 years. His crededtials were miles long and he's been called upon for big court cases to establish value of estate pieces and even for fraud cases at the federallevel. He's definitely considered an expert in his field. So, while I understand that at the end of the day an appraisal is basically the opinion of the one person issuing it, atleast I feel like we got ours from the best of the best. I really didn't know what to expect, again I think of this whole industry almost like car sales..but worse...atleast with a car you actually know for sure what you are getting. But, I was really impressed when the guy within about 2 seconds started saying it was an impressive stone and then went on to list all the details of the stone exactly as listed on the GIA certificate..right down to the .00mm measurements of the diamond. He was right on. BF said he did a lot of research and the appraiser said it paid off. I suppose it did. All I can say to back it up is that it sure is pretty, very clear and very sparkly. Honestly, I am astounded since dear boyfriend can't even order tires for the car by himself. Haha.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:21:16 GMT

@Junejer wrote:
I bought DF's ring from Jared and they told me that if she were to lose the diamond out of it, due to prong failure, they would replace it. That said, we still put it on her HOI policy, for the cost of the ring.

That's a nice policy to have. For mine, the stone was bought one place and the it was set somehwere else, so neither of them are going to offer anything like that. It's absolutely beautiful and he seems to have done a fabulous job, but the downside would be that the jewelers can't provide any type of warranty such as what you got. It's nice that you have sort of double piece of mind!

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:26:58 GMT

@Junejer wrote:
Congratulations Up, on your engagement. Have you all set a date yet?

We are still bantering about with sometime in July. She wants to wait until after school is out.

We have not set a date. I'm mid mortgage application, so the house is kind of my first thought right now. I'm leaning towards more of a destination type wedding. While I have never been married, I have an 11 year old boy and am more settled in my life already and don't have visions of this fairytale wedding and the flowers, dress, etc. So, I'd be fine just disappearing into some beautiful place, having a nice little vacation and coming back hitched. We'll see though, I don't think my family is going to care for that idea and I have to see how much nerve I can build up letting them know I don't care!

What are you guys planning?

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 02-01-2009 01:26 PM

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:33:15 GMT

Congrats on the engagement!

Now that the insurance is pretty much answered, I would like to recommend that you get the ring professionally cleaned and checked regularly. Check with the jeweler that sold your bf the ring, they probably have free cleaning and checking as a service to their customers, especially really good customers who buy the quality you received.

My jeweler offers this service every 3 mos, while I browse the store. It takes about 10 mins. He has noticed several prong issues on my visits throughout the years. I wear my ring working in the yard and always seem to catch it on something without noticing! After it is cleaned, it always looks brand shiny new again!

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:39:40 GMT

Thank you! I will certainly take the cleaning suggestion as well as having the jeweler check the prongs. This is all very helpful, as I haven't worn a ring in years and certainly never a solitaire. Everytime someone says something, I have these "duh" moments. It all makes perfect sense, but I'm having to actually look up this stuff. Like do I sleep in it? (Answer I came to, was a big fat no!) Who would have thought something like this would be so compicated. Hehe.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:43:49 GMT

UpUpUp wrote:
Thank you! I will certainly take the cleaning suggestion as well as having the jeweler check the prongs. This is all very helpful, as I haven't worn a ring in years and certainly never a solitaire. Everytime someone says something, I have these "duh" moments. It all makes perfect sense, but I'm having to actually look up this stuff. Like do I sleep in it? (Answer I came to, was a big fat no!) Who would have thought something like this would be so compicated. Hehe.

Wow, I must have missed the memo on that. I sleep in mine, do dishes, take showers, battle ground beef, and mess around in general. In fact, I wear it inside the wedding ring, and the wedding ring serves as a guard. (My rings are a bit loose, and when I get to gesturing, there's some risk of them flying off.)

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:48:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you! I will certainly take the cleaning suggestion as well as having the jeweler check the prongs. This is all very helpful, as I haven't worn a ring in years and certainly never a solitaire. Everytime someone says something, I have these "duh" moments. It all makes perfect sense, but I'm having to actually look up this stuff. Like do I sleep in it? (Answer I came to, was a big fat no!) Who would have thought something like this would be so compicated. Hehe.

That would depend on where I am sleeping, if at home, "NO"- My diamond is a Marquis cut so it has sharp points at top and bottom, and I am a rough sleeper, I have scratched my face with my ring several times, OUCH!

If I am away from home on business or on vacation, "YES"- I do not want to take the chance of leaving diamond on a nightstand when I leave a hotel or B&B. I actually left it at a friend's condo in Myrtle Beach SC one time, right on the nightstand. I realized it 3 hours after we left! DH would not ride back, I had to get a friend to ride with me to pick it up and then back home again. Luckily it was not a hotel!

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:35:29 GMT

Hauling, you are so funny. I'm sure it's fine if you successfully managed through all of those things without any issue. Though, I can not even imagine wearing my ring while touching meat. Ew. Though I find touching meat plain "ew" in general! Grosses me out.

mymoneynow, you seem to be giving me quite an education today!! All my reading had to do with trying not to hurt the ring, it never occurred to me that the ring could hurt me. Haha. This one is princess cut, I don't think the points are as precise as a marquis, but I have 4 of them instead of 2, so does that increase my odds? haha.

I am a crazy sleeper. Toss and turn all night long. I have a body pillow and my hands move from being together between my legs near my knees, to being balled up beneath the pillow. I've whacked my elbows and hands into the walls hard enough to wake myself up at night so after reading about the possibilty of damaging the prongs, losing a stone etc. or getting caught on sheets, it seemed like ESPECIALLY for me that this would be a no-no.

I absolutely would never take it off if I was vacationing, as I am very likely to forget it. So, that's a good point about not taking it off if you are sleeping somewhere else.

I feel so naive about this it's comical to myself to re-read this thread. I'm the oldest of a boatload of kids, have managed to keep my son alive for 11 years (<--- a little humor in that) and have successfully rehabilitated countless kittens and puppies that vets would never think would live from bottlefeeding to behavioral issues. Yet, I can't figure out how to take care of a piece of jewelry by myself. Oh my. How embarassing!

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 02-01-2009 06:35 PM

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

fishbjc — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:28:02 GMT

My jeweler is actually a personal friend of mine....can you say BIG DEALS? We go to the movie on Wed & his shop is right there. If he's in the window (working on jewelry) I pop in to say Hi and get a cleaning & Adrian always checks whichever engagement ring I have on.

He specializes in big diamonds and lets me play with them, lol. He was actually robbed a few years back. Mary was his associate & a certified gemologist. They were both tied up in the back room and gagged. That ONE DAY I was running late and didn't stop in. Had I gone in there it was possible that we all would have been killed as that's what the two robbers threatened.

Due to insurance costs, the big diamonds are in the rear and they knew this. They also knew that most of the stones in the regular case are cz's. They got him for half a mil in stones. They were caught within 24 hours at a local motel.

We were all **bleep** lucky that day.

Message Edited by fishbjc on 02-01-2009 04:28 PM

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:34:40 GMT

Holy crap. That's quite a story! Sheesh I'm glad you didn't go that day.

Did you say you have more than one engagement ring?

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:53:40 GMT

Congrats on the upcoming wedding!! You don't happen to have USAA?? I have my HOI and valuable personal property, such as my ring insured. I had to have an appraisal sent in and descriptionof the diamonds, etc , and they said if I had to file a claim, they would pay the appraisal price to replace it.

I just dropped my laptop and shattered the monitor. I sent it in to the shop as the adjuster suggested and it's STILL sitting there waiting for diagnositics since Jan 10th. I got angry that he sent me to a "mom and pop" store to do this and called back to tell him that at first glance it would cost more to fix than to buy a new one. Then it would be a MONTH before he could probably get to it. I already paid to have the diagnostics run, so the adjuster went over comparable prices for that model and made the deposit into my account so I could go buy a new one that day. I was frustrated for a few days with USAA, but they managed to pull through.

If you have them, use them!! The rates are great too.

Edit to add on the ring: My jeweler said to bring my ring in atleast every 2 months for them to clean and check for any loose stones as I have alot of baquettes and such that could get caught on something and come loose. It is relatively flat, which I like, I don't like a ring that sticks out too far, it pokes if you sleep with it on and is easily caught on things. I've had to replace many center stones (no insurance) and the headache of having to save up money to replace them.

Message Edited by stef37 on 02-01-2009 04:53 PM

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:52:47 GMT

fishbjc wrote:

... Adrian always checks whichever engagement ring I have on.

lol, your life sounds complicated!

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

fishbjc — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:22:17 GMT

I have my original diamond, which was taken from the original setting & Adrian remade it and set it in a bezel setting. For my 20th anniversary, I chose a new ring, so that makes two.

We are actually in the processing of purchasing another set for our 30th anniversary.

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:04:10 GMT

Hey Stef, I don't have any military ties that would qualify me for USAA but it sure sounds like a great deal you have there. That's awesome!! Especially that you were able to get them to come through on the laptop.

Have to admit, your admission of losing stones is a scary thing for me!! I better be really careful. Sheesh.

Fish, I think after 30 years of marriage you are entitled to a few rings. That's inspirational. Congrats to you!

Re: Jewelry Insurance Questions

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:07:11 GMT

Oh yeah, anyone know if they actually pull your credit to apply for the insurance? Since I am mid-mortgage approval, I'm thinking maybe I insure for now with my renters policy so atleast I have some type of coverage and then after the home purchase is complete I can get the individual jewelry policy. I really dont want to take a hit for inquiries right now for insurance!