Jewelry Insurance in Boca Raton
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Jewelry Insurance and Care Plans in Boca Raton, FL
Jewelry insurance covers what a homeowners policy will not: loss, theft, accidental damage and pieces that simply disappear, anywhere in the world, often with no deductible. It is written against a current appraisal, so the limit is the value of your piece rather than a blanket cap buried in your policy.
A care plan is a different product for a different problem. Prongs wear thin, clasps fatigue and shanks thin out with years of wear, and no insurance policy treats ordinary wear as damage. A JM·Care Plan covers that routine service instead.
David Stern Jewelers has served Boca Raton and South Florida families for over 40 years. We prepare the appraisal your insurer needs, point you to Jewelers Mutual for a quote, and carry out the repairs a care plan pays for at our own bench.
Know the difference
Insurance, care plans and what your homeowners policy actually covers
Personal jewelry insurance
A standalone policy covering loss, theft, accidental damage and mysterious disappearance worldwide. Each piece is scheduled at the value shown on its appraisal, and most claims are settled by repairing or replacing the piece rather than by paying cash.
JM·Care Plan
An extended service plan for the wear a policy does not count as damage. Depending on the plan, it covers work such as prong retipping, stone tightening, sizing and refinishing for the term you buy, with nothing to pay at the time of service.
Your homeowners policy
Commonly caps jewelry theft somewhere between $1,000 and $2,500 for everything you own, applies your full deductible, and does not pay for a stone that works loose and falls out. A claim can also affect the premium on the policy covering your house.
An appraisal
Not coverage at all, but the document coverage depends on. It states what a piece would cost to replace and it is the evidence you rely on at claim time. See our jewelry appraisals.
What is covered
Six things a jewelry policy covers that homeowners insurance does not
Personal jewelry insurance is written for one purpose, so the cover is broader and the limit comes from your appraisal instead of a category cap. These are the differences that matter most at claim time.
Theft
Taken from your home, your car, a hotel room or off your hand. Covered up to the scheduled value of the piece, with no separate jewelry sublimit to run into.
Loss and mysterious disappearance
The ring that is simply gone, with no break-in and nothing to report. This is the most common jewelry claim there is, and the one a homeowners policy will not pay.
Accidental damage
A chipped or cracked stone, a crushed shank, a setting bent out of shape. Repair is covered, and where a piece cannot be properly restored it is replaced instead.
Coverage that travels
Your pieces are covered away from home, on vacation, on business and in transit, not only inside the house named on a homeowners policy.
Repair by the jeweler you choose
You are not assigned a repair vendor. Bring the piece to us and the work is done at our bench by people who know the setting, with the policy paying for it.
No deductible options
Jewelry policies are commonly written with no deductible, so a $4,000 repair does not begin with $2,500 of your own money the way a homeowners claim can.
Personal jewelry insurance
Why homeowners insurance is not enough for fine jewelry
A homeowners or renters policy treats jewelry as one category with a hard ceiling on it, and that ceiling is usually well under the value of a single engagement ring. Everything you own has to fit inside it, so one insured piece can exhaust the limit for the whole collection.
A standalone jewelry policy works the other way around. Each piece is scheduled at its appraised replacement value, so the amount available is the amount you documented. Cover follows the piece rather than the building, and settlement is normally a repair or a replacement of like kind and quality rather than a cash figure you then have to shop with.
Jewelers Mutual has insured jewelry since 1913 and insures nothing else, which is why the trade uses them. Quotes are issued by Jewelers Mutual directly, not by us. We are jewelers rather than insurance agents, so our part is the appraisal, the documentation and the repair work.
JM·Care Plan
A care plan for the wear insurance does not call damage
Prongs thin out, clasps lose their spring and a shank worn for twenty years is thinner than the day it was made. None of this is sudden and none of it is accidental, so every insurance policy excludes it as ordinary wear. It is also the work that fine jewelry genuinely needs.
A JM·Care Plan is bought for a term against the value of the piece, and it pays for that routine service while the plan runs. What a given plan includes depends on the plan purchased, so we go through the terms with you rather than promising a fixed list.
A plan can be added when you buy a piece from us, and in many cases to a piece you already own. Ask us for the current terms and pricing for your item, or use the form below and we will quote it for you.
What a care plan can include
The repairs a care plan is designed for
These are the jobs that come up over years of wear. Where your plan covers them they are carried out at our bench with nothing to pay at the time of service. Confirm the specifics against the plan you buy.
Prong retipping and rebuilding
Worn prongs are the single most common reason a stone is lost. Retipping rebuilds the metal holding the stone before it has the chance to move.
Stone tightening and resetting
Stones that rattle or turn in the setting are tightened, and a stone that has already shifted is reset properly rather than simply pushed back.
Ring sizing
Fingers change over the years. Sizing up or down keeps a ring wearable and, just as importantly, keeps it from being lost off a hand it no longer fits.
Refinishing and polishing
Years of contact leave a surface dull and scratched. Refinishing takes the piece back to the finish it left the bench with rather than merely cleaning it.
Clasp, catch and chain repair
A tired clasp or a worn link is how necklaces and bracelets are lost. Both are repaired or replaced before the piece comes off on its own.
Rhodium plating
White gold is plated, and plating wears through to the yellow alloy underneath. Replating restores the white finish across the whole piece.
Request a quote
Get your jewelry insurance quote
Tell us about the piece and what you need covered. We will come back to you with a care plan price and, for insurance, exactly what Jewelers Mutual will want to see. Nothing is bought on this page and there is no charge for the conversation.
Before you insure
Coverage starts with a current appraisal
An insurer schedules a piece at a stated value, and that value comes from an appraisal. Without one there is nothing to establish what was lost, and a claim on an undocumented piece becomes an argument about what it was rather than a settlement.
Our appraisers are Graduate Gemologists of the Gemological Institute of America and work to USPAP standards. Metal content is confirmed with X-Ray Fluorescence, stones are graded on calibrated instruments, and you receive a written report with photographs, weights, measurements and a stated replacement value your insurer can schedule from.
Values move, because gold, platinum and diamond markets move. Refreshing an appraisal every two to three years keeps the scheduled amount close to what a replacement would actually cost, and keeps you from paying premiums on a figure that has fallen behind. See jewelry appraisals.
Engagement and wedding rings
How to insure an engagement ring
Bring the ring and whatever paperwork came with it, including any grading report. We appraise it, document it and give you a report stating the replacement value. You take that report to the insurer, who schedules the ring against it.
On cost, Jewelers Mutual publishes a rough guide of one to two percent of the insured value each year, varying with where you live and the deductible you choose. On a $10,000 ring that is commonly in the region of $100 to $200 a year. The insurer quotes the actual figure, not us.
If the ring is a surprise, have it appraised and covered before you propose rather than afterwards. The window between collecting a ring and giving it away is exactly when it is carried around in a pocket, and it is the least protected it will ever be.
Existing plan holders
File a JM Care Plan claim
If you hold a JM·Care Plan on a piece bought from us, start the claim here. We file it with Jewelers Mutual on your behalf and tell you whether the piece needs to come into the showroom. You will need the plan or receipt number from the day you bought the plan.
This is a care plan claim, which covers repairs. A lost or stolen piece is an insurance claim and goes to your insurer directly, not through this form. If you are not sure which you need, call us on (561) 994-3330 and we will tell you.
GIA Graduate Gemologists · Appraisals for insurance scheduling
Get your jewelry insured
21073 Powerline Rd, #37, Boca Raton, FL 33433. Monday through Friday 9:30am to 5:30pm, Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm. Bring the piece in and we will appraise it, document it for your insurer and quote a care plan for it.
Jewelry Insurance Questions
What is jewelry insurance?
It is a standalone policy that covers one thing: your jewelry. It pays for loss, theft, accidental damage and pieces that disappear with no explanation, and it covers them wherever you are rather than only at home. Each piece is scheduled at the value stated on its appraisal.
Does my homeowners insurance already cover my jewelry?
Only to a point. Homeowners and renters policies typically cap jewelry theft somewhere between $1,000 and $2,500 for everything you own combined, apply your full deductible, and exclude a stone that works loose and falls out. For a single ring worth more than the cap, that is not meaningful cover. Read the jewelry sublimit on your own policy rather than assuming.
How much does jewelry insurance cost?
Jewelers Mutual publishes a general guide of roughly one to two percent of the insured value per year, which puts a $10,000 ring in the region of $100 to $200 annually. The real figure depends on where you live, the deductible you pick and the piece itself, and only the insurer can quote it.
Do I need an appraisal before I can insure a piece?
In practice, yes. The insurer needs a stated value to schedule the piece against, and an appraisal is what establishes it. It is also the document that describes the piece in enough detail to replace it properly after a loss. We prepare appraisals for exactly this purpose.
What is a JM·Care Plan, and is it insurance?
It is not insurance. It is an extended service plan that pays for the routine maintenance fine jewelry needs over years of wear, such as prong retipping, stone tightening and refinishing, which every insurance policy excludes as ordinary wear. Many customers hold both, because they cover different things.
Can one appraisal be used for both insurance and an estate or tax filing?
Usually not. Insurance work states retail replacement value, while the IRS and probate courts want fair market value, and those are different numbers arrived at in different ways. See fair market value appraisals if that is what you need.
How often should I update the appraisal on an insured piece?
Every two to three years is a reasonable rule, and sooner if gold, platinum or diamond markets have moved sharply. An appraisal that is years out of date usually understates the replacement cost, which means you are insured for less than you think.
Is my ring covered if I simply lose it?
Under a jewelry policy, ordinarily yes. Mysterious disappearance, meaning the piece is gone with no theft and no explanation, is the most common jewelry claim and is normally covered. Under a homeowners policy it generally is not. Coverage always depends on the policy you actually hold.
Am I covered when I travel?
A jewelry policy travels with the piece, so cover is not limited to your home. That is one of the clearer advantages over a homeowners policy, which is tied to the property it insures. Check the terms of your own policy for any territorial limits.
Who repairs my jewelry after a claim?
With a jewelry policy you normally choose the jeweler. Bring the piece to us and the work is done at our own bench, which matters on an older or unusual setting where an unfamiliar hand can cause more harm than the original damage.
Do you sell insurance?
No. We are jewelers, not insurance agents. Jewelers Mutual issues the policy and quotes the premium. What we do is appraise and document the piece so it can be scheduled, quote and administer care plans, and carry out repairs.
Can I insure a lab-grown diamond?
Yes, and it should be identified as laboratory-grown on the appraisal. Lab-grown stones are valued against lab-grown comparables, and because that market has moved a good deal, keeping the appraisal current matters more than it does for a natural stone.
Can you insure a watch?
Watches are a separate item type and are quoted separately from jewelry. Bring it in with its papers and we will appraise it and tell you what documentation the insurer will want.
What should I bring to my appointment?
Bring the piece, any grading report or certificate, the original receipt if you still have it, and any earlier appraisal. None of it is essential, but each one shortens the work and makes the report harder to dispute later.
How long does an appraisal for insurance take?
A single piece is often finished the same visit or within a few business days. Larger collections take longer, and we will tell you the timing before we start rather than after.
How do I get started?
Use the quote form on this page, call (561) 994-3330, or simply come into the showroom at 21073 Powerline Rd, #37 in Boca Raton. There is no charge for an initial conversation about what a piece needs.
Visit us
21073 Powerline Rd, #37
Boca Raton, FL 33433
Mon to Fri 9:30 to 5:30
Saturday 10:30 to 4:30
Sunday Closed
Walk in any time to have a piece looked at and appraised for insurance. Book ahead for larger collections so we can set aside the bench time.