Insuring your precious pieces
First thing’s first … a disclaimer
Please note that all of the following information is advice, and is general in nature.
Susan Ewington Jewellery is not a registered valuer, or able to provide specific details on insurance policies.
Susan Ewington has provided you with this information to the best of her knowledge and with due care and diligence.
Whether you’ve just received a brand new engagement ring (yeeew, congratulations!) or you’ve just inherited Nan’s incredible Art Deco diamond ring, you might be considering how insurance works, or where to begin with how much it’s even worth just in case you need to get it covered. Either way, it may help to start with understanding what a valuation is, and how insurance on jewellery can work.
Spoiler alert: Valuations, purchase value, and insurance coverage are all totally separate things!
Valuations on Jewellery Items
There are many reasons to get an independent valuation certificate done for your jewellery item. Here are the most common ones...
You want to take out separate insurance for your item from an insurance company (more on this further down).
You are using heirloom stones in your remodel piece and you may be curious about their current market value.
You want to privately sell an item on an online marketplace.
You might want to have it just for peace of mind, and to know the retail replacement cost of the item.
You want to include a specific item in a will, with the paper trail to go with it.
You might just really love keeping your records really schmick!
In any case, independent valuation certificates can be arranged for newly made pieces, either during the making process, after the item is completed, or at any point really. The same goes for already existing pieces, like the heirloom you’ve just inherited. It's important to know that when the certificate is drawn up, the item must be left with the valuer for that period of time (usually 1-2 weeks).
You can have loose gemstones or whole intact items of jewellery valued.
Only a registered valuer can do valuation certificates. This is a seperate trade in our industry, and to uphold the fairness and standards of these processes, a jeweller will outsource this task to their chosen registered valuer.
Purchase Value
Purchase value refers to the amount on the invoice when you purchased your item.
If it’s quite new, you can usually go ahead and have your item insured with an independant jewellery insurance company for that purchase value, no seperate valuation certificates are required. Most of these companies will offer to place a slightly higher value on top of that, or when making a claim there is a buffer, for example 20%-50% of the purchase value, to cover things like inflation on precious metals and gems.
If your item is a recent inheritance, old, or is a remodel that contains old gemstones, the purchase value may not reflect the actual replacement value of the item. You may wish to have the item independently valued as described above in ‘Valuations’.
Insurance on Jewellery items
Insurance on jewellery items can be a bit of a minefield for most of us. So here's some points to get your head around...
It is rare for a general 'home and contents' type of insurance to cover any specific jewellery item, even if you have a valuation certificate for it. The only way to find out what you are covered for is to give your insurance company a call and find out your specific policy details.
If you have to make a claim for your item from one of these general insurance companies, they will fight you tooth and nail to have your item replaced by one of their own nominated jewellers (because some have arrangements from certain companies in place that may give them a discounted cost on replacement). In most cases, they will ‘win’ and push the decision, and you will be required to have your custom item replaced with another more generic item.
If you wish to have comprehensive insurance on your jewellery item, it is advised that you take out seperate jewellery insurance on it. Depending on your policy, it will likely be covered for more unusual loss or damage circumstances, such as whenever you're not in your house, on holidays and you lose it in the ocean (like Kim K and her diamond earring 🙊), at the gym, in the car, etc.
An independent jewellery insurer will often give you the option of who you wish to have your jewellery replaced by, as opposed to having to go to their own nominated jeweller. Which means if Susan made it, she’ll be able to make it again!
An independent jewellery insurer may or may not require an independent valuation certificate, as well as the proof of purchase, it generally depends on what type of policy you wish to take out. How the value is determined can also depend on whether your piece includes heirloom or recycled gemstones from a remodel.
You can get a free quote to find out how much your piece will cost to be comprehensively insured - you may be surprised at how affordable a policy actually is!
When, or even if, to get your item insured is totally up to you. If you’ve just received your engagement ring for example, and you’re not sure you trust yourself with it just yet (or are planning a big adventure for your honeymoon!) it can be a really smart idea to insure it for at least 12 months. This will give you a good amount of time to learn your wearing habits like where you put it when you take it off, how careful or rough you are being with it, and just generally give you peace of mind while it’s still so new. After that, you may wish to cancel or amend your policy as you see fit.
And finally, who do we recommend for insurance?
We promise this is not a sales-y, kickback-y promo sell. We can honestly say that if you are looking to have your item comprehensively insured, with the easiest claim process possible, and you’re in Australia, then Q-Report are your people.
Susan Ewington Jewellery are proud to be a Q-Certified jeweller, which means that when you make an enquiry or take out a policy on a piece we’ve made, they already know who we are, and will gladly refer you back to us should you find yourself in the position of needing to claim.
But not only that, these folks are the real deal in our industry. They are founded by jewellers who know, honour and respect our beautiful industry from the inside out, and have developed their policy offerings to the point that there’s barely any reason that your piece won’t be covered.
You can find out more info here about Q-Report and get a speedy free quote on coverage.
