An accurate and detailed jewelry appraisal will provide you and your insurance company with the information necessary to settle a claim fairly and quickly. For insurance purposes, you will want a "replacement cost appraisal", which can differ from other types of jewelry appraisals, such as a "fair market value appraisal" and an "estate appraisal". A replacement cost appraisal is a formal opinion of a jewelry item, offered by a certified gemologist, and it should verify the authenticity, design, quality and monetary value of the item. It's important that your appraisal contains the following information:

• A detailed description
  
  
• Shape and cut (including measurements and weight)
  
  
• Proportions
  
  
• Finish (including polish and symmetry)
  
  
• Color Grade — Diamond coloration is based on a scale of D (colorless) through Z (yellow). Since colorless diamonds allow the most light to pass through, they are the most radiant and the most highly valued.
  
  
• Clarity Grade - Almost all diamonds contain small traces of non-diamond crystals called "inclusions". Most inclusions are not visible to the naked eye and require magnification for viewing. Diamonds with no inclusions are quite rare and extremely valuable. The diamond clarity scale ranges from FI (flawless) to I3 (Imperfect: eye-visible inclusions).
  
  
• Estimated replacement value

It is also important to note that an appraisal differs from a diamond certificate (also called a diamond report). A diamond certificate is a document generated by a gemological laboratory that describes a loose diamond but does not offer any type of valuation. Diamond certificates are not created for mounted or set stones. The key difference between a certificate and an appraisal is that a certificate does not offer a value for the jewelry item. For this reason, an appraisal is needed for insurance purposes.

For more information on diamond grading and evaluation, you can visit the Gemological Institute of America's Web site at www.gia.org.