Semi Mount Diamond Ring, need advice on engagement ring insurance ?
Q.I have the ring, but no center stone. If I buy the stone from the same place I got the setting, then I'll be covered by their warranty as long as I have it cleaned and checked out periodically (free). They say "Merksamer Jewelers will replace any diamond lost from it's [sic] mounting as long as your warranty is valid. To keep your diamond warranty valid, your Merksamer diamond must be cleaned and checked (at no charge) at any Merksamer Jewelers store, at least once every six months..." On the other hand, I could get the diamond somewhere else, at a considerably lower cost, and seek insurance elsewhere. Does anyone have any advice for me? What should I be looking for in an insurance policy of this kind? How much?
A.Jewelry can be insured through homeowner's or renter's insurance policies. On our insurance (renter's) any one piece of jewelry is insured up to 1,000 under the regulary policy. If you want to insure for up to 2,000 there is a policy addition for about 35 per year (on top of a couple of hundred a year for the regular policy). Up to 4,000 on any one piece is 90 extra per year. Get the diamond elsewhere and save the difference in cost. The warranty is basically a scam that that unscrupulous jewelry dealers use to part fools from their dollars. If you buy a ring from a centerstone from a good jeweler who will do a good job mounting it, and take good care of it, then you don't need the insurance. Taking good care of it means keeping it clean, checking it for bent mount-posts, etc. A semi-annual cleaning and checkup (service offered free by most jewelers) will take care of that for you. (Centerstones don't just pop out, you know. Most stones that are lost are the small surrounding stones, usually because they are poorly set. Fortunately, they're also fairly inexpensive to replace.) If you still feel you want insurance on your ring, it can almost certainly be covered by your homeowner's or renter's insurance. For less than the jeweler's premium. I'm curious, how did you come to purchase the setting before the centerstone?? Usually it's done the other way around, since the centerstone usually accounts for the majority of the cost. The whole thing sounds very suspicious to me!
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