melee question

[TLS]

i was at a jewlers the other day and told him I was having problems determining whether the melee diamonds I was looking at in stores were well cut since obviously no one does a sarin on diamonds this small. He told me this can be determined from looking at the diamonds under a microscope. I told him I thought the only thing that told you was the clarity.

Has anyone ever heard anyone say this before? This didn''t make any sense to me after all the research i have done, this didn''t sound right at all to me...can you tell the proportions by looking at the diamonds under a microscope. also this made no sense for melee that is already in a setting?

 

[Brian Knox]

Date: 2/1/2005 12:15:41 PM
Author:TL1

Date: 2/1/2005 12:15:41 PM
Author:TL1


... I was having problems determining whether the melee diamonds I was looking at in stores were well cut

...can you tell the proportions by looking at the diamonds under a microscope...

Hi ,

Two different questions.

A knowledgeble jeweler can look at melle and tell if it is well cut.

Telling proportions from ''eyeballing'' is less scientific than a sarin but many better jewelers could give very close approximations.

 

[TLS]

Hi Brian,

I think part of the problem is that some jewelers i have been to will basically tell me anything they sell is well cut, so it makes it hard for the consumer to figure out. Edited to add: It is also hard to figure out who you trust when you have no previous relationship to base it on.

Brian can I ask you another question since you are a jeweler. I have spoken to a couple jewelers who said my diamond would be insured through the setting process...that they are completely "bonded" but than another one I spoke to was a little reluctant to commit to this and basically told me "yes" but i warn people that there is always some risk involved in the setting process. I have to admit this really scared me to hear this.

I have a new diamond, I can't insure it until it's set and I thought most jewelers were 100% covered by their own insurance policy if for some reason my stone was damaged during the setting process.

Is this something you guarantee to your customers who are buying a setting through you, but who did not purchase the stone through you?

Thanks again !

 

[Brian Knox]

Date: 2/1/2005 1

8:47 PM
Author: TL1


Hi Brian,

...



I have a new diamond, I can''t insure it until it''s set and I thought most jewelers were 100% covered by their own insurance policy if for some reason my stone was damaged during the setting process.

Hi TL,

Good question

Jewelers are not insured for damage done by their shop.

For all practical purposes , they are self insured.


As a rule, jewelers that undertake this work for customers take on the liability for the work ( whether they know it or not, because of implied warranties) unless they and/or you specifically sign off on a waiver.



Is this something you guarantee to your customers who are buying a setting through you, but who did not purchase the stone through you?

It depends, round diamonds, I seldom turn down the work, as they are usually troublefree.

Fancies, especially princesss cuts, it is a case by case consideration.

The industry is headed towards a two tier pricing system which of course would be based on the jeweler assuming and not assuming the risk.

Brian

 

[noobie]

TL1,

My appraiser gave me an indication of how well cut 6 pt melee was under a microscope in a piece I had him look at. I believe they base their judgement on their expereince looking at stones.

However, I was able to get a feel of cut quality with the idealscope, even with stones that small. The well cut stones had full idealscopes and in some cases showed arrow patterns in an H&A viewer. Even though all stones were full "Russian" cut, some were deep which showed in a white ring under the table and a lack of arrows. That being said, I could not see the difference in actual perfromance in normal conditions with stones of this size between the very well cut and the well cut stones. I don''t personally believe there is a noticable difference in very well full cut stones and "H&A" ideal cut when they get this small.

 

[TLS]

thank you both for your help. I have yet another question.

The setting that they had in stock was white gold... with 2 or 3 pointer diamonds almost all the way around. It was way too big for me, maybe a size 6 and I am a 4... the jeweler told us that he could size this particular setting for me... I was told by another jeweler that you can''t size these types of rings without screwing up the diamonds. Who is right?

thanks