Possible cap on liability
I believe the Montreal/Warsaw Conventions include a liability cap on baggage. To override this one would need to be able to prove (in court) gross neglect on the part of Delta. It sounds like the OP is aware of the cap when she wrote:
In the meantime, we are probably out around $1,000 overall.
I assume, for payment of an additional charge, the airline's liability can be increased, up to a point, by declaring a higher value to the baggage when it is presented for check-in. Perhaps (or perhaps not) Delta might have been a little more attentive to the bag in question had a higher value been declared. Interestingly, as I recall, the wording of private travel insurance policies excludes jewelery with respect to baggage loss.
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