OT - Lost Diamond From Eternity Ring

[Steven (WE51STE)]

The only I can see with the naked eye are 950 (for the purity of platinum I guess) and D1.0 (It should be the diamond weight.)

There are some hall marks but I cannot read them.

[James]

O.K a pic of these marks would be very usefull (this is a back up plan) how much did you pay for he ring? if you feel uncomfortable mentioning it here p.m me.

I do think that you should return it and get a refund frnakly anyone who would dream about puting 1.00ct of F VS stones into a mount this light needs taking out into the street and publicaly flogging! ever heard the saying" spoiling the ship for a hepath of tar"?

Please dont let them convince you that the setting is fine and there all like that its simply not true. as with Hatton Garden the quater can be a great place BUT beware alot of the shops there are not as good as they could be , I used to work for years in Hatton Garden and alot of my freinds still do but the shopd there are just for the tourist market the real jewllery thats manufactured there you will never see.

Best bet go to a local small firm and talk to them about what you want a family owned company is best avoid high street stores if you are looking for quality but if you want it cheap then there your place but you get what you pay for. if you talk to anyone who say's RRP £2000 but you can have it for £800 walk away quickly! there are alot od hounest good small jewellers and I mean jewellers not people who simply sell jewellery (there is a huge diffrence!) but there are also some less hounest company's who will try to sell you something that isnt all that.

remember gold / platinum is heavy the metal is dence what ever ring you look at toss it up and down in your hands does the weight "feel" right for the ring if it feels light look in the back if the shank and head are hollowed out like I said walk away! its a sign of cheap manufacture and who knows where it stops there a whole host of other potential issue's

This stuff realy isnt hard be confident look carefully just as you would buying a westi and if your not sure about something ask yourself question or the jeweller and question if his responce is reasonable but dont let yourself become confused if a retailer try's to do this theres ussaly a reason.

[highwayman]

James, thanks for the quality info

[Norman Verona]

James, doesn't it strike you that a retailer who sells such shoddy goods as you've identified may, just, want to wriggle out of his obligations.

Now I'm not saying they will, only maybe. I also suggested that asking nicely was the best policy. I made the point that getting sidetracked into the questions you've asked (and dealt with) can be a distraction to the real issue, which is an item has been purchased which isn't fit for purpose. I've seen too many people get tied up in knots by being sidetracked by retailers in this way.

I also suggested an independant jewellers report. This you have done and I'm sure it's the right thing to do. I apologise for jumping the gun on the reasons for the question.

Finally, I have never sold "car parts" other than in the course of trading as a franchise dealer. However I have sold cars to values far in excees of this ring (£75,000 +) and for the last 28 years software systems which have been worth over £1 million.

Lets call it a day and hope all turns out well with the ring.

[James]

Just one more thing if you look at image 1 at the back of the shank you can see the join line where the ring has been sized this also shows that the ring wasnt made to the correct size.

This line is due to the soldering of the shank, in Platinum you will alway's have this line unless the join is soldered using a setalin torch but big but you are within a few degrees of melting the metal! its b****y scary to watch! a freind of mine is brilliant at it but it still makes me nervous.

The other way is to use a laser welder this as using the torch will give you a join line that you wont see, if a ring is going to be sized in Platinum the retailer should warn you about the potential join lines and the other down sides to Platinum again if they dont do this walk away, many retailers sell up Platinum because it has a nice profit margin atached to it! but they will rarle point out the down sides to you (I wonder why?)

But if they didnt warn you about this join line again this is something you can use in your deffence for a refund etc put it this way would you exept a nice new car with a weld line in the panels?

[James]

O.K for of you out there that may be interested, below is a picture of a 1/2 18ct White gold and made in this country.

The shank is solid the wall's of the setting at the top are a good thickness and theres plenty of meat in the head to support and hold the stones. this is a ring that you could quite happily wear all day every day BUT there are limatations jewellery dosnt like to do the gardening, build the extension go rock climbing at the weekend and god help me work in a quary.........

Yes these are all things that some of my customers expect a ring to go through daily and still be o.k     for all of those who dont understand would you take  a Ferrari 430 greenlaning at the weekend everything in life has design limatations so does jewellery.

The second is a full ET (stones going all the way around) and as you can see the rear is solid with the setting pirced to accept the culet (the pointy bit) of each stone.

Bottom line you get what you pay for! I had a customer bring in a ring (not mine) complaning that after 4 weeks the claws are catching everything she wears when I loooked the thing was full of porosity and theach of the four claws was craking at the base (this is down to the lowest quality of manufacture) when I asked where it cam from the answer was Amazon!        

We really are the best in the world at what we do weather its building cars, buildings, bridges etc British quality is superior to anyone else's but it does cost a little more because we cant pay people by the bowl of rice! but the thing will last and last and last and if cared for correctly will last several life times and beyond but things that are imported and are cheaper are cheaper for a b****y good reason the quality drops through the floor both in the quality of production and in the quality of the stones used. and remember good quality is always a nice weight.

[pistonbroke]

Hmmmmmm ! Has this thread started  to morph into  covert advertising for the jewelers craft  

[James]

Hmmmmmm ! Has this thread started  to morph into  covert advertising for the jewelers craft  

No Im just trying to give people the information they need to make a ballanced decesion on what they purchase and who from, at the end of the day people selling low qulaity goods dosnt do any of us any good does it

[Nick PC]

Hmmmmmm ! Has this thread started  to morph into  covert advertising for the jewelers craft  

No Im just trying to give people the information they need to make a ballanced decesion on what they purchase and who from, at the end of the day people selling low qulaity goods dosnt do any of us any good does it

This is a public information bulletin which is so helpful to us all for when we have some money.

[Steven (WE51STE)]

Thanks for all your replies.

I'm off to the shop now to see what can be done.  But with James Knowledge in the back pocket it should help.

I'll post when I come back and let you know how its gone.

Fingers crossed.

Steve

[Matt Seabrook]

Thanks James for a very informative posts this has been an interesting thread and I think a lot of us are better informed now. It very seductive looking a two products that from the outside look very similar but have a big price difference and thinking that the cheaper  option will be as good as a more expensive option.

I have this on a daily basis with products we sell. You try to convince a customer that a £50 tyre is better than a £25 tyre or brand X brake pads will not give the same performance as a set of Ferrodo pads. Still you pays your money and all that.

[James]

Thanks Matt, yeh I have the same problem with my customers, some times its like trying to talk to Granite! but people seem to have alot of expectations these days but hopefully this situation will sort its self out. and they will get what they should have had in the first place.

[Steven (WE51STE)]

Hi,

Thanks again for all you support.

I've just come back from the jewellery quarter in Birmingham.

I took the ring back to the shop I purchased it from.

Initially they offered to repair the ring but armed with some of   James substantial knowledge I explained that I thought the ring had been resized and not made to measure   and gave them the reasons and explained I was not confident the ring would last   and eventually I managed to get a full refund.      

After trundling round what seems like a 100 jewellery shops. Discounting the ones that import the rings from Hong Kong or dont know where they are made, could resize them within half an hour, and the shops that just said they had diamonds in without going into details and quality. I eventually found a couple of shops that do all the work on the premises or locally in there own units.

The ring we settled for was another platinum 1/2 Channel set (10 diamonds - 1ct weight ).

This time there is considerably more platinum weight.  Its more like a wedding band that got the diamonds set in so its wider and deeper with a solid back also this time with certified (F - VS1) diamonds.  For just a little but more money.

Its going to take them three weeks for them to make the ring.

Thanks again.

Steve

[pistonbroke]

Good to here you got a result  

Showed the missus this thread and in particular James's techy stuff as I thought it might be of interest .

Now decided the ring what I bought her some 50 years ago is wearing a bit thin round the shank so she'se off to town looking for somwhere to get it re built , if thats possible.

Why dont I keep me big gob buttoned  

[James]

Well done glad to hear you got a result, three weeks is just about right, if you are happy with the product  when you get it hold onto that shop with an Iron grip a good jeweller is worth there weight in gold!

Did you see what I did there