Most wedding ring discussion centers around the engagement.
How are you going to propose? How much money should you spend on an engagement ring? Where should you buy it?
However, after the proposal and the wedding, you’re likely going to want to protect the value of that ring for decades to come. After your house and your vehicle, it may be the most expensive thing you own, or at least one of them.
So what’s the best way to get your wedding ring appraised? And how often should you get your ring appraised for insurance?
That’s what a listener of the Clark Howard Podcast recently asked.
Who Should I Get To Appraise My Wedding Ring for Insurance Purposes?
What business should I contact to appraise my wife’s wedding ring?
That’s what a Clark listener asked on the June 6 podcast episode.
Asked David in Ohio: “I’ve been married for 20 years. I have not had my wife’s wedding ring appraised for insurance since before we were married. All of your recent discussion of lab-grown diamonds has made me wonder how the value has changed, and whether it is appropriately insured under my homeowners policy.
“How often do you suggest getting jewelry appraised for insurance? And what type of business should I contact (or avoid) to give an accurate, objective appraisal?”
Keep in mind that you aren’t typically getting an appraisal just for entertainment. You’re making sure that if your ring gets lost, stolen or damaged, you’re able to replace the full value through your insurance company. So you’ll need to follow their rules.
“Generally, when we’re talking about the diamond itself, you would go to a graduate gemologist. That is a level of expert who would map the stone and be able to issue an appraisal to you,” Clark says.
“Now, you need to find out from your homeowner’s insurer what their procedure is for creating an acceptable appraisal and value. But normally a homeowner’s insurer would tell you that a graduate gemologist would be the standard they would accept.”
A Word About Your Insurance Policy
Insuring a wedding ring isn’t like ordering at McDonald’s, where a No. 1 combo is a Big Mac whether you’re in Seattle, Washington, or Atlanta, Georgia.
You may have to purchase a special rider, or supplemental policy, to attach to your homeowners insurance policy. What’s actually covered or excluded in case something happens to your ring will vary by company as well.
These policies often cost between 0.5% and 2% of the value of your ring. So if your ring is worth $10,000, a policy that costs 1% would be $100 per year.
It’s important that you understand your policy, what it costs and what it covers before getting preoccupied with the appraisal itself.
How Often Should You Appraise a Wedding Ring for Insurance?
Clark didn’t have much to say regarding the frequency at which you should appraise your wedding ring for insurance.
Jewelers recommend appraisals every two to three years, citing the likelihood that the fair market value or gemstones and precious metals will fluctuate. Of course, they have a vested interest in getting you to appraise your ring more often.
The cost to get your wedding ring appraised by a jeweler is about $100, although it can vary considerably. That’s a good number for our purposes here, though. Jewelers may also try to sell you additional things such as a ring cleaning (although sometimes those are free).
The value of your wedding ring probably should influence how often you get it appraised.
If your ring is worth $1,000 and you appraise it every two years, you’ll end up paying the full value of the ring in appraisal fees in 20 years ($100 x 10). Short-term fluctuations in price are likely to be negligible. Say the ring value increases 10% in a year. We’re talking about $100 — equal to the cost of an appraisal.
Let’s instead consider a ring worth $15,000. A 10% price change for this ring amounts to $1,500.
Make sure that your insurance company doesn’t require your most recent ring appraisal within a certain timeframe to fully insure it. (You don’t want to wait 10 years, for example, if your policy requires an appraisal every five years to fully insure it.)
Otherwise, I personally wouldn’t look at appraising a wedding ring more often than every five years.
Final Thoughts
Your highest priority when appraising your wedding ring is to comply with your insurance company’s requirements.
Make sure that you understand your policy, including the qualifications your insurer requires of the appraiser. Generally, a graduate gemologist should be the answer.
Once you’re within the insurance requirements, it’s a math equation. You can figure out how often you want to get your wedding ring appraised based on the cost of each appraisal, the value of the ring and the size of the price swings.
