help! custom ring gone awry

[effie]

my fiance and i went hunting around for settings in which to put my pear...when i didnt find exactly what i was looking for, we started to think about having it done custom...

we found that "soul mate" jeweler we had been looking for, so i sent my fiance to him armed with some drawings i did of different cathedral-esque settings with tiny beadset diamond sidestones. after a few design visits my fiance presented me with a sketch by the jeweler that i was very happy with. my fiance also really liked working with this man, so we made a deposit and told him to go forward with it...

well, i got the ring last night. and it looked nothing like the drawing. well maybe almost like it, but the important design element- the cathedral-ish profile- was completely non existent. instead, the pear was mounted in some pretty high (to me anyway) prongs that were just popped on top of the shank...i don''t know if thats descriptive enough, i''ll try to post pictures. there was no flow to the design at all..not to mention that it looked nothing like the drawing.

not that the ring isnt completely beautiful...it just burns me up that its not what we wanted, not what we thought we were going to get, and simply just not me. i wonder what the point of the drawing was?

not only that, but the jeweler never contacted my boyfriend about looking at a wax (isnt that standard?) by the time he saw it, the shank had been cast, the side diamonds set, and the head just needed to be "popped" (my word) on.

what can i do? can we take it back and have it redone? my boyfriend seems to have a good rapport with him, so we dont want to hurt his feelings or anger him. but i honestly feel like we didnt get his best effort...for example, where the prongs meet the shank there are visible crevices and pits...like it wasnt welded smoothly...also when i look into one of these crevices i see yellow...the ring and prongs are supposed to be platinum, am i missing something here?

i don''t know how much leverage we have here...apparently the jeweler noted several times that this is a setting that he would normally sell for about 500 dollars more than our budget, but that he would do it for us anyway...


sorry this is so long, it''s just such a heartbreak.

 

[effie]

the infamous sketch

 

[effie]

what we got.

 

[effie]

sorry the images are such junk- i only have my camera phone on hand.

 

[strmrdr]

If you arent happy talk to the jeweler you should get what he agreed to do.
Because the side diamonds were mounted before the head was put on and you can see yellow im betting the jeweler didnt have a laser welder and used white gold solder to put it together.
plat solder would have required dismounting the stones.

overall it sounds like a poor effert on the Jewelers part and should be fixed free of charge.

 

[strmrdr]

now that i see the other pic ,, my opinion is that the jeweler should be tared and feathered. A total remake is the only fix.
imho go for a total refund and find another Jeweler.

 

[mrssalvo]

I agree with storm. I would try to get a refund and take my business elsewhere.

 

[effie]

i figured it would have to be redone. which sucks because i''d hate to have my engagement ring be such a contentious thing. i honestly believe that this guy can do a good job- the reason we picked him was because he had such beautiful work in his cases. this seems to be some sort of communication issue.

and of course i couldnt keep my mouth shut, so my fiance was crushed- though he said that he noticed the way the prongs were mounted when he went to pick it up, but was either too excited, dazzled by the diamonds in the store lighting, or hoped i would like it anyway (not that i dont, but dammit! its not what we asked for), we were going to announce our enagement at thanksgiving, and wanted to have a ring to show off...sigh.

it should be fixed free of charge, but in general can it be? can they just reuse the metal? and shouldnt we have seen a wax or something before any design changes were made? i thought we would have seen one anyway, considering how very sketchy that sketch was.

i dont want to make the situation worse, but i''d hate to always look at this ring and think "thats so not what we wanted"

 

[denverappraiser]

Take it back. Immediately. This is nothing like the drawing. Communicating with customers is a difficult skill and 2 dimensional drawings of 3 dimensional objects can be difficult but this is simply not the same ring. By your description, it''s not even a good job of what it is. What he ‘normally’ charges other customers is completely beside the point. If he can’t deliver what was ordered he should issue a full refund and walk away from the deal. A bit more effort in drawing a good picture before proceeding would probably help so that both you and he have a good understanding of what’s expected. There is obviously some confusion.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 11/19/2005 4:09:46 PM
Author: effie
i figured it would have to be redone. which sucks because i'd hate to have my engagement ring be such a contentious thing. i honestly believe that this guy can do a good job- the reason we picked him was because he had such beautiful work in his cases. this seems to be some sort of communication issue.

and of course i couldnt keep my mouth shut, so my fiance was crushed- though he said that he noticed the way the prongs were mounted when he went to pick it up, but was either too excited, dazzled by the diamonds in the store lighting, or hoped i would like it anyway (not that i dont, but dammit! its not what we asked for), we were going to announce our enagement at thanksgiving, and wanted to have a ring to show off...sigh.

it should be fixed free of charge, but in general can it be? can they just reuse the metal? and shouldnt we have seen a wax or something before any design changes were made? i thought we would have seen one anyway, considering how very sketchy that sketch was.

i dont want to make the situation worse, but i'd hate to always look at this ring and think 'thats so not what we wanted'

Effie

Not that it's your problem but yes, gold can be reused. This is NOT your fault and you should not feel the need to compromise your wishes. The platinum head is probably scrap at this point but, again, this is not your issue. It doesn't look like a cast piece but it's a little difficult to tell from you picture. If it wasn't cast, there would be no wax for you to preview. Guessing from the picture, what you ordered will require a wax and, yes, I recommend a preview before casting. Are there stones on the side?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[widget]

I''m shocked! That ring is NOTHING like the drawing!! What was he thinking?

I''m so sorry you''re having to go through this...phooey!

I''d be so disheartened, I''d want my diamond and money back, and would find another jeweler.

It''s nice that you don''t want to hurt his feelings, but what about YOURS??

JMO...
widget

 

[mrssalvo]

i agree Neil, it looks like a stock piece and a peg head. Doesn''t look cast to me either.

 

[AndyRosse]

Oh Effie, take a deep breath, and then go back to the jeweler and demand the ring either be redone exactly as you had discussed previously, or get your money back. Something obviously was lost in between that drawing and the finished ring.

I''m so sorry that this has happened, but please, don''t settle for something you don''t want. It will always bug you, and it is much easier to take it back now then in a couple months.

Please let us know what the jeweler says.

 

[Demelza]

So sorry about this. Please don't be concerned about the jeweler's feelings. Not only did he not make the ring to your specifications, but the ring he did make sounds sloppy. I would be inclined get my money back and go elsewhere. Do you know that the beautiful rings in his cases were made by him? They could be other people's work. In any case, good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[effie]

the whole ring is platinum, so can it be reused?

and also how can you tell a cast piece from a stock piece? its got his little symbol imprinted inside the shank, whatever that means.

the head is a commercially produced head- apparently he had originally designed a different mounting, but said that for our budget he would have to use a commercial head, so he and my boyfriend picked one out, and then he sent my boyfriend home with the above drawing.

also, the shank is a little asymetrical, so i would believe that it was handmade if that's the case.

we paid 1500 for the whole deal. what you cant see in the pictures, and what i cant get a better shot of are the bead set side diamonds along the top of the ring. most settings we've found online that are in plat, comparable in size w/ small side diamonds have been a few hundred dollars less expensive, but we figured- it's being custom made esp for us, plus its a B&M. but you're right it doesnt look custom at ALL.


ETA: the 1500 was for the setting only. we provided the center stone.

 

[strmrdr]

What city are you in?
someone may know someone in the area better than this guy.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 11/19/2005 4:33:43 PM
Author: effie
the whole ring is platinum, so can it be reused?


and also how can you tell a cast piece from a stock piece? its got his little symbol imprinted inside the shank, whatever that means.


the head is a commercially produced head- apparently he had originally designed a different mounting, but said that for our budget he would have to use a commercial head, so he and my boyfriend picked one out, and then he sent my boyfriend home with the above drawing.


also, the shank is a little asymetrical, so i would believe that it was handmade if that''s the case.


we paid 1500 for the whole deal. what you cant see in the pictures, and what i cant get a better shot of are the bead set side diamonds along the top of the ring. most settings we''ve found online that are in plat, comparable in size w/ small side diamonds have been a few hundred dollars less expensive, but we figured- it''s being custom made esp for us, plus its a B&M. but you''re right it doesnt look custom at ALL.

the plat shouldnt be reused it should be sold as scrap and fresh used.
That isnt your problem, he is the one that messed up not you.

 

[effie]

i realize i must come off as a simpleton when i worried about the jewelers feelings.

so was this whole thing a dumb question? it seems like the conensus is to have him redo it. for free. i dont know his policies, but in general is this something i should expect from a custom jeweler ( a willingness to just take the thing back)? what have been your experiences?

and i guess when i worried about how he says he gave us a good price, i was really worrying about whether he would be willing to work with us again. that is according to him (these are my words) he''s already taking a loss of 500 dollars. So now, if we return it, he''s facing the loss of the plat. he used on the original ring, plus the plat he will have to order...that seems like a huge loss on his part. i''m nervous he''ll just say no. is this possible? we''re going to call him on monday about it, i''m just wondering what to expect.

and hooray, i get to go in and look like the ungrateful insensitive overbearing girlfriend.

thanks
effie

 

[effie]

strm- i''m in the shenandoah valley. this jeweler is in charlottesville.

 

[mrssalvo]

you''ll have to find out his return policy on plat. I would try to be nice and see what he will offer to do first. I would ask him why you all didn''t get to see a wax, that it was your understanding in custom jobs waxes were used. If you do let him remake the ring make sure there is a wax and you see it. I truly hope he will work with you guys to make you 100% happy. Custom prices vary from vendor to vendor, project to project. Why would he sell it to you at a loss? If he does that for all his clients he''d be out of business. A discounted price maybe, but a loss? Doesn''t quite make sense to me. He show redo it or give you a refund.

 

[strmrdr]

did he pay with a credit card?

No you dont come accross as anything other than a very nice person who is maybe being too nice to the jeweler in this situation.

A good Jeweler will own up to the problem and correct it free of charge.

You didnt get what you paid for thats not being ungrateful insensitive or overbearing.

 

[MrsFrk]

You are neither a simpleton for thinking of the jeweler''s feelings nor overbearing for wanting exactly what you paid for.
Every time I have had a custom piece made I have seen a wax, and communicated to the nth degree with my jeweler. A few times he made me exactly what I described (in wax) and I then realized that I hated my idea. The beauty of wax is that you can just start over.

Your ring looks nothing like your drawing- he needs to either make you the ring you paid for, or refund your $$$ and you can go elsewhere. Since you describe him as your "soul mate jeweler", I think that if you have a sit down with him, he will make things right. Good luck!

 

[MrsFrk]

You are neither a simpleton for thinking of the jeweler''s feelings nor overbearing for wanting exactly what you paid for.
Every time I have had a custom piece made I have seen a wax, and communicated to the nth degree with my jeweler. A few times he made me exactly what I described (in wax) and I then realized that I hated my idea. The beauty of wax is that you can just start over.

Your ring looks nothing like your drawing- he needs to either make you the ring you paid for, or refund your $$$ and you can go elsewhere. Since you describe him as your "soul mate jeweler", I think that if you have a sit down with him, he will make things right. Good luck!

 

[butterfly 17]

I am sorry that you are having problems with the ring, but it is evident that the ring that your jeweler made and the ring you drew are completely different.
A cathedral shank and a peg head are two completely different things.
Did you specifically mention "cathedral" or did you just give him the picture and let him use his artistic intuition to interpret your drawing?
Either way, it doesn''t change the fact that there are other problems with the ring, such as the gold soldering and the pitting that you describe . Even if he did use gold to solder the head on, he should have at least rhodium plated it before giving it to you!!!

I would sit with him nicely and explain to him what is wrong with the ring and if he is a reputable jeweler, he should remake the ring for you. If not, then I would demand my money back and have another jeweler make it.
Don''t worry about reusing the platinum, that''s really his problem isn''t it? If he had made the ring properly to begin with, everything should have been fine.

 

[denverappraiser]

Effie,

Ok, since you’re concerned, let’s talk about the loss that the jeweler is possibly going to take here. Platinum grain costs about $55/dwt. at the moment. A piece like this is going to take about 8 dwt so we’re talking about a $450 metal cost. The salvage is worth about $40/dwt and for arguments sake he’s going to recover 7 dwt from the old piece (there is some metal lost in the finishing and refining processes). This means he’s going to take a hit of about $150 on the metal. All of the diamonds can be reused as is and your design doesn’t require any additional parts. He’s going to have to carve a wax, cast, finish and set everything or pay someone else to do these things. Since these are where he cheaped out in the first place, I have no sympathy. Yeah, it’s a lot of work to redo a job. It’s a lot easier to do it right the first time. A lot of people have a hard time with this lesson, not just jewelers. The only place I would cut him slack is on the deadline and I wouldn’t give much there. The custom jewelry business gets very busy at Christmas season and you don’t want to get buried in it. You may already be too late. Put some time pressure on the wax. A week or so should be plenty, even if he’s using an outside carver. This is a redo - that gives it priority. Expect another week or so after you approve the wax.

He underbid the job. Again, I have no sympathy. This is not an excuse for doing a half-assed job. He took the job in and you are even giving him the opportunity to just give you back your money and your diamond and for you to take your business elsewhere. You’re being NICE. If he doesn’t want to do it he can ask you to shop elsewhere and you'll quietly leave. If he needs more money to do what you require because he or you didn’t understand all of the issues, he can say so and then you get to decide if it’s going to be worth buying at the new price. If not, take your money and head for the door, you will have done him no wrong.
Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[Demelza]

I think Neil has given you some good advice and a peek into how things work behind the scenes. I completely understand being concerned about the jeweler and worried about coming across as unreasonable. I probably would feel the same way. BUT that doesn't mean it's so and we are here to tell you that HE is being unreasonable if expects you to accept something other than what you paid for. Now, hopefully he will be gracious and apologetic and do what is necessary to make it right. I have to say, though, that I am often suspicious of jewelers (or anyone in business) who make a point of saying what a great price they're giving you and how they're taking a loss. That, to me, is another way of saying, be grateful and don't complain. I can guarantee you he wouldn't have agreed to make the piece knowing that he would be losing $500. Perhaps he gave you a bit of a discount, but there is no way he intentionally lost money on this deal. I hope you can feel confident going in there on Monday knowing that what you are asking for is reasonable and fair. Keep us posted.

 

[Skyblue]

Wow, that really sucks (for lack of a better word).

This is such an important and special piece of jewelery for both of you and for you to be so disappointed is not right. It sounds like not only did the jeweler not produce the piece you asked for but he also did a very shabby job. I cannot help but think he tried to "pre-justify" it by his comments to you regarding the $500 "deal".

I had a custom wedding band made for my engagement ring over 7 years ago. When I received it, I pretty much hated it. However, like you, I did not think I could do anything about it and blamed myself for the result. Maybe I was not specific enough, maybe I am too picky, maybe it was my then fiance''s fault for negotiationg the price, etc. etc. I never did go back.

Well, recently I went to a new jeweler to set a new (online- GOG) diamond into a new setting. In the course of shopping there, I inquired about my wedding band (which still bugged me after all these years and I usually never wore). The difference in just the attitude of this jeweler was incredible. He gave me great suggestions, did an excellent job on modifying my wedding band so that I now love it and pretty much kept repeating that we will do it until you are happy. I knew right away that he was interested in my business for the long term.

I guess what I am trying to say is that how the jeweler handles this situation will really show whether he is your "soul jeweler". A good jeweler who wants your business for the long term will not be hurt or offended when you point out the disparities and deficiencies in the ring. If he tries to put you on the defensive or acts offended, then he is not the jeweler for you. If that is the case, then you might have to start over with someone else.

This ring is too important for you to be this unhappy with the result.

I really am hoping for the best for you. You might be pleasantly surprised. Congratulations also on your engagement. Let us know how things turn out.

 

[effie]

thanks skyblue!

as far as everything else, i should say that i havent yet talked to this guy. so he may very well be accommodating. in fact, my fiance seems to really like him (this of course makes things worse, b/c its hard to tell people that you didnt like their work) so i''m very hopeful that he will be willing to work with us. of course the excellent point has been made about how we should go elsewhere...but i think we''ll feel better if we can get the ring we want through this guy and leave with no hard feelings.

i guess i just wanted to know what the industry standard seems to be on this matter. this has all been great advice!

thanks denverappraiser for breaking it down for me. it does make me feel better,a nd its great to know that its not the end of the world for the jeweler...in case it''s made out to be...

 

[Rebemdee]

I feel the same as you, it''s hard for me to say anything if I''m not happy. I went to a well recommended local jeweler to get my wedding band, a 2 mm channel set platinum eternity band with milgrain and engraving on the sides. I could have gone online, but I wanted to have a local B&M store that could do polish and check the stones, and it wasn''t that much more money going with the B&M store. It had to be ordered, so last week I picked it up, tried it on, it fit, said thanks, and left. Got it my car, pulled out the ring and looked at it, and was horrified. The engraving was just awful; it wasn''t complete, it was misshapen, it was lumpy, it wasn''t evenly spaced, it pushed the milgrain out, it just looked awful. There was a huge score going from one side of the band to the other. I couldn''t bear to think of that as my wedding band, AND I couldn''t believe I had paid that much money for such a awful, horrid, poorly made ring.

I went in, red as a beet and totally embarassed, and stammered, "I''m really sorry to be difficult, but I don''t think this is how this ring is supposed to look." The salesgirl helped me at first, and she stared at the ring quizically, hemming and hawing, but then the owner came out, took one look at it with and without the loupe (I could see the problems without a loupe) and was horrified I had left the store with it. She immediately gave me back the check I had just written (I had put down 1/2 deposit and then paid the rest when I got the ring), told me she was going to hand make the ring, set the diamonds, use better diamonds, and call me when it was done. This was last week. I got a call today; the ring is done, and I can go get it this week. Of course, with Thanksgiving, I can''t get it until next week. But I thought it was great customer service! She said to me that I shouldn''t be embarassed about saying I was unhappy, because she wants her product to show how good a job she can do, and the first ring was not representative of her standard.

I feel your pain! I was totally disappointed sitting in my car, and debated if I should go back and say anything. The bottom line is that the ring I wanted wasn''t cheap for us, we had to save to buy it, it took months of looking to find what I wanted, and it has emotional significance. So you go to that jeweler and show him the drawing and put the ring next to it, and say, "Do these look alike? They don''t, and I don''t think you would want me to wear something that wasn''t truly your best custom work. What can we do about this?"

I hope you get the ring of your dreams. The drawing is beautiful.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 11/19/2005 5:30:49 PM
Author: effie
strm- i''m in the shenandoah valley. this jeweler is in charlottesville.

hii am from charlottesville--mind telling me who it is..............i know them all and i may be able to advise you