@My Journey – There are lots of types of “price quotes.” One type, as you point out, is appraisal for insurance purposes. That’s supposed to be what it would cost you retail to replace the diamond. That is not necessarily what it would cost you to buy your specific diamond. The diamond I sold was appraised for insurance purposes at a price much greater than what it could be sold for by a jeweler. That’s because it was an old-fashioned cut and its retail price would be discounted for that reason. But I would not be able to find that cut on the market. If I lost it and wanted to replace the diamond I’d have to buy a modern cut and pay the price for it.
The insurance appraisal price of a diamond is also quite a different thing than what you can sell it for to a jeweler. When I shopped my diamond around I got quotes for how much a jeweler would pay me to buy it. It is reasonable to expect to be able to sell it to a jeweler for a fraction (I think 50%-70%) of the jeweler’s retail price. This is just the bid-ask spread in diamonds. Nobody should expect a bid-ask spread of zero. There has to be something in it for the jeweler and he has costs to cover.
