Give Your Valuables The Super Bowl Treatment

The New York Giants unveiled their Super Bowl XLII championship rings April 1 and they are no joke.

In January, just after the Giants upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots, seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan announced he wanted a “10-table ring,” – a ring that would catch your eye even ten restaurant tables away. His ring's 1.5 carats of encrusted diamonds should meet that standard. “There was some discussion about maybe one of the rings was too big,” said center Shaun O'Hara, who designed the ring with Strahan, quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Amani Toomer. (The players also had some help from Tiffany & Co. (TIF)“I threw out the fact that it was a big win, it was a huge win, so the ring should be designed accordingly.”

The Giants will be presented with the rings later this spring. In the meantime, they might want to consider how to protect them. A traditional homeowner’s policy only covers up to $1,000 and increasing the limit is the cheapest way to get more coverage. However, there is often a ceiling around $5,000 on the loss of an individual item, not nearly enough to protect a prized Super Bowl ring, which costs about ten times that to produce. Purchasing an individual policy has higher premiums, but protects the true value of the piece of jewelry against loss.

When insuring your own jewels, make sure to specify if you want world wide coverage. Some policies don’t automatically include international loss, so it is important to check. The Chubb Group’s (CB) valuable articles policy not only covers “mysterious disappearance” and breakage, but has a “pairs and sets” clause that will replace the value of both items in a pair, like diamond earrings, even if only one is lost. Their valuable article coverage also contains a clause for newly acquired items, so if you purchase or receive a piece of jewelry and lose it before contacting your insurance agent, you automatically have up to 90 days of coverage.

With an individual jewelry policy like Chubb’s, you’re covered for 100% of the insured value, with no deductible. It also takes appreciation into account. “We’ve seen the price of gold sky rocket recently,” says Mark Schussel, vice president of public relations for The Chubb Group. “Say you haven’t had [your jewelry] appraised, or didn’t inform the insurance the company. The policy provides 150% of the replacement cost, which helps to safeguard you against appreciation if the market value is greater than the itemized amount on the policy.”

How often you wear the jewelry, and where you store it, can also impact the cost of coverage. “It’s significantly less expensive if you put it in a safe or bank vault,” says Schussel. “The rate will change whether you wear it all the time or put it in the bank vault for some or all of the time. Let the broker know about this and they let the underwriter know about it and rates are adjusted accordingly.”

Just how much does it cost to insure your precious stones? Depending upon location, usage and value, a yearly premium costs between one and three dollars for each $100 of the item’s value. That means for $500 to $1,500 per year, you can rest assure that your $50,000 engagement ring is secure. Says Schussel: “The bottom line on jewelry insurance is it’s a small price to pay to protect something of significant value.”