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Have you been wondering 'what exactly is an insurance appraisal?' and 'do I really need one?' We're here to answer a few of the most common questions regarding the process and need of having your fine jewelry appraised and insured!
Do I really need an insurance appraisal on my most important/expensive pieces? Getting your valuable jewelry insured is extremely important! Insurance appraisals are detailed documents that relay the retail replacement value of your piece(s) in case of loss or theft. A typical appraisal documents everything about your jewelry such as, stone type, stone sizes/carat weight, type of metal, style of jewelry, stone quality, etc. Once all of this information is taken, the appraiser is able to calculate the retail replacement value based on the current market.
Now that I have my insurance appraisal(s), what do I do? Once you receive your insurance appraisal, you then contact your insurance provider to have it added to a policy - this is a very important step to make sure your jewelry is officially insured! Each insurance company will have different options to have your jewelry insured, but the majority will add the documents to a Valuable Property policy on your Homeowners or Renters Policy.
What does it mean to have your jewelry officially insured? If your jewelry is ever lost or stolen, your insurance company should cover the cost so that you can have it replaced for the value that it was appraised for!
A big question we get asked a lot is, what is the difference between an appraisal and the warranty? A warranty covers most to all manufacturer defaults and normal damage to your jewelry (per each company policy), whereas an appraisal covers loss, theft, or extreme damage - such as running it over, or dropping it down the garbage disposal. Typically, a store warranty from a specific company would not cover those extreme accidents and cases.
What jewelry items should I have appraised and insured? We recommend insuring any piece of jewelry that is valued over $1,000. Surprisingly, jewelry isn’t as expensive to insure as you might think. On average, it should cost a small fraction of the appraised item value to have it insured per year. Having your jewelry insured will give you peace of mind, knowing your precious jewelry is always covered!
How long does getting your jewelry insured take? At American Jewelry, appraisals can normally be done within the same day. Once the item is taken in, our expert appraisers will clean the piece of jewelry to make sure the pieces are in their best state to be appraised. After that, they will then start the process of grading the stones within the jewelry, determining the metal type, and so on. Once all the stones are graded and the information is entered into our appraisal system, which is a state-of-the-art software created specifically for the jewelry industry, you will be issued a replacement/appraisal value. Remember - The final step to have your jewelry insured is to send along the documents to your preferred insurance company!