I've never had problems with my luggage getting messed up on a plain. but i wouldnt recommend putting such a valuable item in the hands of the baggage guys. I have an uncle who used to work as a baggage handler and he has told me some stories about how stuff gets handled... and how some obviously nice stuff is ruined on purpose is someone is having a bad day... not to mention that they dont get payed very premium so you cant expect them to handle all your stuff like it was made of glass.
Definitely would suggest spending a few dollars on having it shipped to your house. (thats what we did when we bought some pottery while in ireland, unfortunately one of the pieces still came with a chip in it)
