How do you know it wasn’t appraised? The article said it was a family heirloom so the mom may have been in possession of the ring until the son needed it for his proposal. Bunch of cynics on here. :)
“How do you know it wasn’t appraised?”
I don’t. But who owns the ring once it goes to her son? Does mom even have a legitimate insurable interest in the ring at that point? Pretend auto insurance wasn’t mandatory. It would be like taking out an insurance policy on my car just before giving it to my son. I think much of what I find suspicious is her not telling the son about this new insurance.
If the issue was mom worried that son wouldn’t or couldn’t buy insurance, then it seems this would be better addressed upfront by saying “I’m happy to give you the ring, but would feel better if it were insured. I know insurance is expensive, so I’ll buy the policy. That way I’ll feel better and you will too if it ever gets lost.”