BOB’S FLASHES – DAMAGED RINGS – WHO IS TO BLAME?

[dimonbob]

BOB’S FLASHES – DAMAGED RINGS – WHO IS TO BLAME?

Bobby Cool buys a beautiful $7000 diamond engagement ring from a B&M store or an Internet vendor. Several days later Bobby notices that the prong is bent or the shank is out of round or there is a scratch in the platinum.

Bobby’s first thought is, “They give me a faulty ring!!” “I am going to make them fix it!”

The problem is, it is not likely that the ring had a problem when he received it.

Example: Shank is out of round. This cannot happen because when a ring is sized, it is put on a ring stick and tapped a few times with a leather hammer to make sure of the size and roundness of the shank. The ring stick is round and the jeweler always looks to see if there is any daylight between the stick and the ring. Plain and Simple.

Example: Scratch in the platinum. This could happen but is not likely. The last piece of work done to the ring before it goes to the steamer and quality check is the polishing. The polisher’s job is to polish the ring which includes taking out any scratches. Unless the polisher is blind or does not know what he is doing, any scratches would be taken out.

Anything can happen to a ring on the first day of wearing it. You can hit it on something and any of the above can happen to it. I have a $15,000 ring that I had custom made when I was in L.A. The very day I picked it up I dropped it in the parking lot and put two big dents in my brand new ring! I was upset but whose fault was it. Mine!

Stuff happens. Either live with it or go get it fixed. We all have to be careful with our jewelry. Gold and platinum is not steel. They bend and scratch.

Do not be anxious to put the blame on the store or vendor. It is possible they messed up but not likely.

 

[Daniela]

Fair enough, Bob. You make very valid points. You must have had trouble lately with getting blamed for these kinds of problems?

I didn't buy from you guys, so this is just a general, related comment. The ring that I received had two tiny pits in the platinum on the bottom of the shank when I received it brand new from my vendor. When I mentioned it in an email to said vendor, they of course said that they could fix it and would do so at my request. But I was not about to send my ring back just yet, considering that I had gone through the trouble of bringing it into Canada, and that it would have been a hassle to send it back. So I'm going to have it fixed when I upgrade this summer, and do everything at once.

My point is this: sometimes it happens that a vendor sends out a platinum (or gold, or whatever) ring that is less than perfect, no matter what kind of quality control they supposedly have going on. I know this from experience. I can't attest to a ring being out of round or scratches or anything, but I'm just saying that something similar did happen to me, and it had absolutely nothing to do with me, and everything to do with what the ring looked like when it was shipped out.

But I also agree that people have been known to bang their jewellery around more than they should, and that the vendor isn't necessarily always in the wrong.


Daniela

 

[fire&ice]

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On 1/30/2004 3:11:32 PM dimonbob wrote:

BOB’S FLASHES – DAMAGED RINGS – WHO IS TO BLAME?

Shank is out of round. This cannot happen because when a ring is sized, it is put on a ring stick and tapped a few times with a leather hammer to make sure of the size and roundness of the shank. The ring stick is round and the jeweler always looks to see if there is any daylight between the stick and the ring. Plain and Simple.
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Nope, it's not that plain & simple. It can happen. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion. It's not an exact science. It's a craft.

That said, most "imperfections" do happen from everyday wear. Again, it's a Zen thing - I kinda like things that aren't perfect from the store. It starts to become your history.

 

[dimonbob]

One thing that I forgot to mention is porosity which is the jewelers fault. You ring can have porosity from the original casting caused by uneven heat when it is cast. Another place that porosity shows up is when a ring is sized. If done improperly the solder joint will have tiny bubbles along the joint which look like little tiny pits. This is poor workmanship.

 

[aneelcon]

So what makes a ring have an "out of round" shape? What would the wearer have done to make this happen?

 

[valeria101]

Not all rings are made well... and quite a few a shipped to the buyer. What can one do if, say, the finish of the ring is not quite what you expect? have you had the "pleasure" to fix obvious wear and tear damages occured during shiping or simply usage during whatever time the customer has to inspect the work (such as just-dropped-the-new-ring scenario)? I know I have a few minutes to inspect the pices and say "tanks" when I pick them up in person from the maker, but what happens remotely? Has this been tricky or downright bad, Dimonbob?

 

[gunsuka]

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On 1/30/2004 6:06:19 PM aneelcon wrote:

So what makes a ring have an 'out of round' shape? What would the wearer have done to make this happen? ----------------

A ring can loose its shape in many ways through daily use. I often had rings go squishy when lifting weights with a ring on, the iron bar is much harder than the gold ring and with enough weight flattens the bottom of the ring.

I had a car door slammed on my hand one time (it was an accident!) but it did not hurt, because the ring stopped the blow but of course got slightly squished in the process.


Robert Gunther