Engagement ring valuation

[Skinnywhippet]

Need to add my ring to home insurance when we renew tonight. Should really have gone to jewellers to get a valuation, but haven't. Can you help me guesstimate how much I should insure it for? Perhaps others out there have similar rings and can assist.

It is a trilogy ring of about 0.65 carats altogether. The stones are round cut and set into platinum with a platinum band. The band is thin. Any ideas? I didn't want to underinsure but don't want to overdo it.

How much did it cost? Our insurer asked for a copy of the receipt.

What if you cannot provide a receipt...I mean they are gifts after all? I have taken picture for security and do intend to take it for a valuation soon. I don't think we have the receipt. It was second hand.

It's impossible to say without knowing the quality of the diamonds. If it was bought from a high street chain of jewellers and they are not certified diamonds it is likely to be in the region of 1-2.5k, but it's hard to be any more specific than that.

Yay...found receipt! The thing is, because it was bought second hand the replacement value would be much greater and also because of rising platinum and diamond costs. So do I insure at cost price or greater?

The diamonds are very clear and had a good rating. Perhaps I shall phone the insurers. Thanks for your help.

With household insurance premiums any jewellery item above a certain value usually requires a separate policy of its own, and the value is not that high iirc, and it comes with certain conditions, like you have to have the setting/clasp checked annually and have documented evidence of such, and the policy itself is often quite expensive, so unless it's of very high value it's rarely worth the bother.

just because it's second hand doesnt mean it will cost more to replace, depends a lot on stone quality etcetc so i would get a valuation done. check that the jeweller is part of the guild of valuers and jewellers too, as if they are not part of the guild then some insurance companies won't accept the valuation and will ask their own accredited jewellers to value it instead. if they do so without the ring (say if you lost it) then chances are the valuation will be lower.
make sure the valuation states approximate stone clarity and colour of the stones and approximate carat weight as well as weight of the ring as a whole in grammes.
even if you choose not to insure it it's worth getting a valuation that's this detalied just so you can find one again/have one made to the spec should you loose the original.
if it's worth more that £5000 most house policies wont cover it and ask you to take out sep. insurance. be aware that most insurers have a replacement policy rather than cash settlements for jewellery nowadays, and can insist you use people from a list of shops that they specify.
if you choose to take out insurance take a few photos of yourself wearing the ring/find a few and keep them with the valuation, as if you ever make a claim they will ask for proof some photos too.

ps if the ring is second hand and the stones are round cut then ask the valuer to specify if they are "old cut" or "round brilliant cut",

the old way they cut diamonds into a round shape stopped beign done about 40 yrs ago. it is therefore much harder to replace and, if yours are old cut, would make it possible for you to insist, should you claim, that you have to replace second hand to get a "like for like" replacement. if they are RBcut then altho the ring is second hand it may not be as valuable

If it cost under £1000 to start don't bother.
£1500 would prob be about £400. Apparently the certificates don't mean much anyway.
If it is OLD as in antique then you would do well to take it to Garrads or similar as they go up rather than down as the 'modern' ones do.
As a rule of thumb half the original amount and take a bit more off.

Waffling raises an interesting point about insurance companies offering replacement. The ombudsman has been very clear about this no one regardless of what their policy says has to accept replacement jewellery or vouchers you can have always have cash to the insured value. The ombudsman has ruled on many tens of cases to this effect and has told the insurance companies they can not do this. The will try it on (they did with me) the moment you mention ombudsman ruling they back straight down and will offer a cheque.
From bitter experience I know that jewellery should be revalued professionally every 5 years to ensure it is adequately insured. Particularly second hand jewellery which should be insured for replacement value.

If you have the diamond certificates you can get a good idea of replacement costs from Bluenile diamonds website. There is an official diamond price guide that is used the world over and is updated weekly. It is called the Rapaport Report It is used by people in the trade to give a base price for diamonds.

Some certificates are better than others though, so you might want to check out the certificates you have.

When my ring was valued for insurance purposes, I just took it to a jewellers, as we bought the ring in Antigua.

The valuation was then passed on to the insurer for proof ad such.

I lost a watch once and they tried to insist that I go to their chosen/approved jewellers, which happened to be Goldsmiths, for a replacement. I refused as they did not even stock the same brand of watch that I lost (and exact replacement of that model was no longer available.)

I found out the closest current model in design/spec from the same brand, and sent them links from the internet proving the replacement cost, and they told me I could spend that much in Goldsmiths, but there was nothing in Goldsmiths that I liked. They do deals with retailers whereby the retailer is happy because all claimants are sent there to spend, and they give the insurance company a discount for the guaranteed custom. Everyone is happy except the poor old claimant, who is being stitched up!

Anyway, I argued the toss and refused, and they were not happy at all, but they agreed in the end to just give me the cash, although the amount of cash they agreed to give was less than the amount they said I could spend in Goldsmiths. Which just proves it was a stitch up that lined the pockets of Goldsmiths. Bastards.

Thank you. As it is less than £3000 the insurers say it does not need to be specified. It was confusing because, although jewellery depreciates it still would cost a lot to replace.

Diamonds and precious metals have done extremely well over recent years so your ring may not have depreciated at all. It depends when you bought it obviously

Scroll down links for graphs.

Fellatio the ombudsman is also very clear that they should not give you a lower amount for cash rather than vouchers. The amount is the amount regardless of how they give it.
For anyone else a single strongly worded letter stating that you are aware of the ombudsman's rulings on jewellery claims is sufficient to get your claim settled for the full amount in cash. These companies play along hoping people don't know about the rulings.

Thank you Lonecat it was years ago so I can't do anything about it now but I wish I'd known that at the time.

Hopefully others will now know and not be forced to accept such a settlement.