so excited!

[lavatea]

I will try to post some pictures today. If I don't get to it today it may be a few.

 

[Arcadian]

Wow, sorry to hear it.

No you're not being too picky at all. You want a ring where the stone is set correctly is all. Is it possible there's something wrong with how the setting was made? Those type of rings always look very interesting but seems that so many things could go wrong with them. They have to be dead on perfect.

-A

 

[MontageCreations]

Also very sorry to hear about your troubles.

Being handmade does not mean lower than trade standard in quality, especially in the case of custom jewelry work. In my mind, being handmade is synonymous with superior quality, true there may be subtle variations in fit , or scroll work, or finish but these should be very subtle and not deter the eye or value.

As a professional, I want my customer to be happy, it means repeat business for me and more business when they tell/show their friends. I would alert your vendor to the situation and allow them to make it right, I know I would want that opportunity.

 

[lavatea]

Ok, so this isn't the best picture. Hopefully you can see what I mean. I didn't want to drag out the big camera, but I will if these are too blurry. I copied the picture and circled the two most obvious places where you can see the stone is crooked.

Let me know if you want clearer pictures, and I'll try to get to that.

 

[Indylady]

Sorry to hear that the stone is tilted.

How tilted is it? I can't quite tell myself from the pictures. If you'll look up TGal's padparadascha ring, you'll see her comment that Leon set the stone a slight tilt/one prong was slightly smaller or something like that--after a moment, she realized that setting the stone that way eliminated a window that would have otherwise been visible. There might actually be a reason behind the tilted stone/uneven U prongs the first time around, and it might be that the stone, even though precision cut, has something that throws it off balance. However, it might not be and it might a problem that was caused entirely by Daniel M. Personally, I don't loupe my gems or jewelry pieces; for me, life is just a little easier not worrying about some of the details, provided that those details don't affect the structural integrity of my stone or jewelry or have some other major (major is subjective of course) impact. In any case, you could consider contacting Daniel M to ask if there is anything off with the gem, because it seems to be set at a tilt, and if you do think the problem is severe and keeps you from wanting to wear the ring, then you should definitely ask if it can be fixed.

 

[lavatea]

Sorry to hear that the stone is tilted.

How tilted is it? I can't quite tell myself from the pictures. If you'll look up TGal's padparadascha ring, you'll see her comment that Leon set the stone a slight tilt/one prong was slightly smaller or something like that--after a moment, she realized that setting the stone that way eliminated a window that would have otherwise been visible. There might actually be a reason behind the tilted stone/uneven U prongs the first time around, and it might be that the stone, even though precision cut, has something that throws it off balance. However, it might not be and it might a problem that was caused entirely by Daniel M. Personally, I don't loupe my gems or jewelry pieces; for me, life is just a little easier not worrying about some of the details, provided that those details don't affect the structural integrity of my stone or jewelry or have some other major (major is subjective of course) impact. In any case, you could consider contacting Daniel M to ask if there is anything off with the gem, because it seems to be set at a tilt, and if you do think the problem is severe and keeps you from wanting to wear the ring, then you should definitely ask if it can be fixed.

I don't loupe mine, either. That's part of what upsets me. I can see this with the naked eye. If there was a problem with the gem and that was the reason the prongs were uneven to begin with, I'd think it would have been to their benefit to tell me from the outset. I guess I should contact them, but I really don't want to send it back again for reasons mentioned above (risk to stone, S&H costs, hassle). They were very easy to deal with during the first return, although there was no communication after the initial, "go ahead and send it back". IDK.

Anyway, I may try to take some better pictures in a minute.

 

[K9]

I don't loupe mine, either. That's part of what upsets me. I can see this with the naked eye. If there was a problem with the gem and that was the reason the prongs were uneven to begin with, I'd think it would have been to their benefit to tell me from the outset. I guess I should contact them, but I really don't want to send it back again for reasons mentioned above (risk to stone, S&H costs, hassle). They were very easy to deal with during the first return, although there was no communication after the initial, "go ahead and send it back". IDK.

Anyway, I may try to take some better pictures in a minute.

If you ask me - I'd personally be very bothered by the lack of communication on the return. It would have been nice of them to communicate that they completed the fixes and that the ring was en route back to you. It's called customer service. I don't blame you one bit for not wanting to send it back (again).

 

[lavatea]

Here are some clearer (I hope) pictures. I double checked my Etsy account just to be sure a notification of a conversation from DanielM didn't slip through the cracks. The last communication I received from them was dated April 5. It took me a few weeks to mail the ring back to them after that. I wish I had the packaging from when I received it back to be sure, but I'd guess the ring was returned to me the 2nd week of May or thereabouts.

 

[Aoife]

Those last photos show the problem perfectly. It's not a subtle, visible-only-to-nitpicky-PS'ers kind of problem, it looks like plain old careless workmanship. I'm not sure how much money you've already sunk into this, but IMO you have two options:

1) Scrap the setting and have your stone reset by someone who will pay attention to details like "Does the stone sit straight in the prongs?"

2) Send these photos to Daniel M and ask that he take one more shot at getting it right. I really am having a hard time imagining why any artisan with pride in his work would send out anything like this.

Of course, the problem with either of those options is that anytime you mess about with a gemstone there is the risk of abrasion, chipping, etc. But as it is, I personally would never wear this ring.

 

[Sparkly_Not_Gaudy]

Lovely!

ETA: Oh wait...I just saw the second page. Sorry that it was not all you wanted it to be!

 

[1001smiles]

Sorry about the frustration you are going through, lavatea. I just wanted to say that I had a similar experience with them. The setting I got was so crooked and poorly finished that I didn't even want to send it back for a remake, I just scrapped it. It's too bad, because for what I paid for their silver setting, plus what I would have to pay for another silver setting, i could have gotten a nice gold setting in the first place. The funny part is when I told them the setting is not acceptable and I don't even want to try remaking it because it was so bad to begin with, they offered me a 30% discount on making another setting. Why would I spend more money with them if the first one was so bad? I guess I won't be using DanielM in the future either. On the positive note, it does seem like they have other happy customers.

 

[lavatea]

Sorry about the frustration you are going through, lavatea. I just wanted to say that I had a similar experience with them. The setting I got was so crooked and poorly finished that I didn't even want to send it back for a remake, I just scrapped it. It's too bad, because for what I paid for their silver setting, plus what I would have to pay for another silver setting, i could have gotten a nice gold setting in the first place. The funny part is when I told them the setting is not acceptable and I don't even want to try remaking it because it was so bad to begin with, they offered me a 30% discount on making another setting. Why would I spend more money with them if the first one was so bad? I guess I won't be using DanielM in the future either. On the positive note, it does seem like they have other happy customers.

This is what I'm afraid of. I haven't even contacted them regarding the ring, because I really don't know what I'm after. I don't know that I trust them to do it again. And even though I'm unhappy, I'm not seeking a refund b/c they did spend the time and materials on the ring. I guess if they were a B&M store I would ask for a refund, but I feel bad doing that to "the little guy" IYKWIM. Maybe I just wanted validation that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, and the setting is indeed off.

Thanks to everyone that has offered comments/suggestions so far. If you have anymore, I'm all ears.

 

[Kismet]

Wow, that is a crap setting job. I'd get it reset by a local guy that you trust and send the original vendor the bill (assuming the setting is fine in other respects.)

 

[T L]

This always happens it seems.

1) A new etsy vendor is found and is the latest hit
2) Five million people use them
3) The vendor struggles to meet orders in a timely period
4) Workmanship quality decreases
5) Go back to #1

I suspect, as with other vendors, that workmanship is declining due to the fact that they're so swamped with orders. I know JKT had her issues with workmanship as well, which is probably why she put out a long wait list. I assume she wants to "get it right" than "get it done quickly."

In any case, Daniel M is very economical, and he will always fit a niche here for some people. However, they may need to rethnk how they get orders done. You can't have too many workmanship issues without people complaining at some point, even if your price points are low. They have had their huge share of happy customers too, and I've seen some really nice workmanship come out of that shop.

Sorry about your ring Lavatea.

 

[bluebirrrd]

I never shared the before photos of my heart sunstone ring but the U prongs were incredibly wonky. Wonkier than anything seen here. I sent it back and they were straightened. The area where the shank meets the basket was not smooth at all either. Similarly I didn't receive communication for some time until I finally asked. I still really like DanielM but my impression is that the cheaper the project, the less care that goes into it. I've seen some very beautiful projects from them here though.

 

[Arcadian]

Are U-prongs a bit problematic to set? I keep hearing of issues of about them.

-A

 

[y2kitty]

I'm sorry, that tilt is totally noticeable and would drive me crazy. I'm sorry it has not worked out with them.

 

[1001smiles]

I don't mean to thread-jack, but my setting wasn't u-prong and it wasn't cheap. It turned out that the oval was oriented the wrong way, the rails were straight instead of curved as we discussed, and everything seemed crooked. Here's two pictures, one shows the side which to me looks uneven (unless I'm going cross-eyed from looking at the computer all day). The second photo shows unfinished metal on TOP of the ring (especially between the stones) and prongs are crooked (which I don't know if you can tell from the photo because my camera was refusing to focus). When I let them know about the quality and that I didn't want to remake it, they just said "we do not accept returns or refunds on custom order" and offered me a 30% discount off the next order. There won't be a next one...

 

[Lovinggems]

This always happens it seems.

1) A new etsy vendor is found and is the latest hit
2) Five million people use them
3) The vendor struggles to meet orders in a timely period
4) Workmanship quality decreases
5) Go back to #1

I suspect, as with other vendors, that workmanship is declining due to the fact that they're so swamped with orders. I know JKT had her issues with workmanship as well, which is probably why she put out a long wait list. I assume she wants to "get it right" than "get it done quickly."

In any case, Daniel M is very economical, and he will always fit a niche here for some people. However, they may need to rethnk how they get orders done. You can't have too many workmanship issues without people complaining at some point, even if your price points are low. They have had their huge share of happy customers too, and I've seen some really nice workmanship come out of that shop.

Sorry about your ring Lavatea.

JKT still has workmanship issues (amongst others) even though her prices are on par or even more than some of the bigger online jewellers. Here's AJ thread about her bracelet.

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...e-real-problems-with-jkt-custom-piece.161029/

 

[T L]

I thought AJJ's JKT bracelet was well executed, but it wasn't a very functional or comfortable piece. However, I didn't read that whole thread, so I don't know all the details. I have seen some JKT pieces that were just not well executed at all, and appeared poorly done. I know she is capable of very fine workmanship, so I would have to attribute that to hasty work.

In any case, I think most vendors on this board, whether they're Etsy, Leon, etc. . . have all had some craftsmanship issues. Hopefully the vendors learn from these issues, and improve.

 

[jstarfireb]

The ring looked gorgeous in the first few pictures, and I'm sorry that PS's collective suggestion to send it back resulted in a product that was arguably worse than the original. Something similar happened to me with a different vendor...I sent back a ring because the stone had come loose in the setting, and in the process of tightening the prongs, the stone shattered. It looks like you have 3 options...live with it, send it back to Dan M again (I'm sure he'd be happy to fix it for you, but ask for macro photos before they send it back to you again), and have it scrapped and reset by a local person. I'd probably go with the second one.

As TL mentioned, PS is both a great boon and the kiss of death to a small Etsy vendor.

 

[Indylady]

Lavatea, I was so wrong--the pictures show a very obvious tilt.

 

[Lovinggems]

I thought AJJ's JKT bracelet was well executed, but it wasn't a very functional or comfortable piece. However, I didn't read that whole thread, so I don't know all the details. I have seen some JKT pieces that were just not well executed at all, and appeared poorly done. I know she is capable of very fine workmanship, so I would have to attribute that to hasty work.

In any case, I think most vendors on this board, whether they're Etsy, Leon, etc. . . have all had some craftsmanship issues. Hopefully the vendors learn from these issues, and improve.

It does look beautiful but the orientation of the bracelet is different from what was specified from their original agreement ( I think). So I'll still attribute the issue as a workmanship defect., but that's just my opinion only.

I'm not sure whether there'll be improvements, their heightened popularity means they now have lots more customers, too many for them to handle perhaps. Maybe it's easier to gloss over some defects than to address them, since there'll always be another customer waiting in line.

Lavatea your stone does look tilted in ring, I wonder if it needs a complete remake, at least the head component.

 

[FrekeChild]

I don't mean to thread-jack, but my setting wasn't u-prong and it wasn't cheap. It turned out that the oval was oriented the wrong way, the rails were straight instead of curved as we discussed, and everything seemed crooked. Here's two pictures, one shows the side which to me looks uneven (unless I'm going cross-eyed from looking at the computer all day). The second photo shows unfinished metal on TOP of the ring (especially between the stones) and prongs are crooked (which I don't know if you can tell from the photo because my camera was refusing to focus). When I let them know about the quality and that I didn't want to remake it, they just said "we do not accept returns or refunds on custom order" and offered me a 30% discount off the next order. There won't be a next one...

Did you not sketch it out beforehand? I'm not sure how the center stone orientation would translate badly? Several times if my descriptions are too cryptic, she'll ask for clarification and I'll end up sending her sketches instead of more words. That system seems to work pretty well, and now I often start out with sketches...

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Sorry to hear of all the troubles.
I did two projects with them, and actually the one in silver turned out much better than the one I did in 18k gold. I was disappointed in the bezel work so I scrapped it and sent it to another etsy vendor to reset. But I don't regret the order because had it worked out, I would have found another great jeweler. I knew the risk I was taking when I ordered it, and it's a bummer I had to end up scrapping the gold setting, but it happens. I'm still sending most of my things to one etsy vendor, haha.

 

[lavatea]

Another quick update:

I just received a very nice message from Caren & Dan through Etsy asking that I return the ring to be fixed. And they offered to pay the shipping costs.

I had not decided whether to contact them or not (I was leaning toward not), but I guess they either found this thread on their own or someone pointed them this direction. In either case, I'm going to give them another chance.

The power of PS.

Thanks everyone for your input! I'll update when the ring comes back my way once more.

 

[Aoife]

That's great, Lavatea! I hope it all works out well, and am looking forward to seeing the photos of the re-do.

 

[arjunajane]

Another quick update:

I just received a very nice message from Caren & Dan through Etsy asking that I return the ring to be fixed. And they offered to pay the shipping costs.

I had not decided whether to contact them or not (I was leaning toward not), but I guess they either found this thread on their own or someone pointed them this direction. In either case, I'm going to give them another chance.

The power of PS.

Thanks everyone for your input! I'll update when the ring comes back my way once more.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles lava but glad that Daniel M has sought you out to offer a solution, thats great news - the power of PS, indeed - I would be out in the cold with my bracelet issues without it.

 

[Lovinggems]

This always happens it seems.

1) A new etsy vendor is found and is the latest hit
2) Five million people use them
3) The vendor struggles to meet orders in a timely period
4) Workmanship quality decreases
5) Go back to #1

I suspect, as with other vendors, that workmanship is declining due to the fact that they're so swamped with orders. I know JKT had her issues with workmanship as well, which is probably why she put out a long wait list. I assume she wants to "get it right" than "get it done quickly."

In any case, Daniel M is very economical, and he will always fit a niche here for some people. However, they may need to rethnk how they get orders done. You can't have too many workmanship issues without people complaining at some point, even if your price points are low. They have had their huge share of happy customers too, and I've seen some really nice workmanship come out of that shop.

Sorry about your ring Lavatea.

JKT still has workmanship issues (amongst others) even though her prices are on par or even more than some of the bigger online jewellers. Here's AJ thread about her bracelet.

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...e-real-problems-with-jkt-custom-piece.161029/

Thanks for mentioinng my situation, LG. I know many CS'ers may not have seen my thread as they don't go to hangout much.
I was considering re-posting in CS as this is where most of JKT's customers reside, but decided against it (at this stage).

You're correct that, at least in my case, the retainer situation Julia has introduced certainly didn't help - my piece was neither done correctly or quickly.

TL - you're right that it looks very pretty, but I did not pay for a paperweight It is unwearable and has serious structural issues, ones that should have been picked up and communicated much earlier. If I had known what I know now, I would have aborted the project and also would have been happy to sacrifice any retainer fee. The situation now is incredibly messy and a real drain (time-wise, emotionally etc).

At the end of my thread I have stated that Julia has offered recourse, which is great - but I will say that communication is still very thin on the ground, and difficult. I am waiting for a reply at the moment so as I can proceed with our agreed remedy.

I too have recognized the trend of quality slipping as popularity sky rockets, especially with etsy vendors - in some ways this is natural, as etsy by its nature is intended as small, personal, often perhaps part-time businesses.
In JKT's case I personally think bringing in another set of hands is required at this stage - if not for actual work, than for customer service at least. Her original business model is seemingly not supporting the demands of her ever increasing clientele, well, at least not in my experience of being a client 'from the start'.

Hi AJ

Hope it gets resolved quickly. I think I've been too much of a busybody posting a link to you thread and I apologised.

 

[chrono]

Caren and Daniel are stepping up to the plate on this and I am glad for all parties involved. I believe the stone is precision cut so there should be no issues with setting it straight, unlike TGal's stone which is a native cut and needed some minor adjustments for setting it.