Florida Subscriber

Diamonds can indeed crack if struck in the right way. The blow need not even be very hard. A diamond cutter, when presented with a very large diamond to be made into smaller diamonds, studies the stone to find where the flaws are. Having made a decision, he will tap the stone to break it into the smaller stones to be cut to shape. (Obviously, not something undertaken lightly.)

Is this an “inherent vice?” (The term “latent defect” is not used in the exclusion.) Since it is in the nature of most diamonds to contain flaws (as most gemologists will attest) it would be hard to argue that only the flawless stone is free from “inherent vice.” In fact, considering the price of a flawless stone, few could afford one and fewer companies would choose to insure one.

One further point – if an appraisal was made on the ring it should indicate the “clarity” through using the letters “v” for “very” and “s” for “slight,” or some variation thereof. In other words, the appraisal might show something like “vvs” for “very very slight” which indicates a very very slight flaw. If the diamond had a flaw then it could well have cracked along the flaw line. If the ring was acceptable to the company prior to the loss, the standards cannot be changed following the loss as a ground for denying coverage. Therefore, the loss is covered.