Post by alexis5 » October 24th, 2008, 9:11 am
Hello,

I am devastated that the engagement ring we bought is not what we thought it was in terms of stone and setting quality. We are getting married in four months and need to return it and find a new one before then. After a long saga i really need advice about what to do from here. Please help!

Basically:

- we got engaged in geneva, switerzland (where my fiance was born)... we were living in london at the time.
- decided on the approx specifications we wanted (E-F, VVS- VS1, just above 1ct).
- found a beautiful ring in a reputable, family owned jeweler in geneva (was set in white gold and we wanted reset in platinum which they would do).
- we were told it was an E, VS1, 1.07, their own cut (emerald like cut but more facets). we knew there was some mark up for name but felt this was a trade off for knowing that we were getting exactly what we paid for.
- they said they had a GIA certificate but was in a vault at other store and would get it to us.
- they could not locate it but said we didn't really need another certificate ( i understand this sounds dodgy from the outside but again, they have a great reputation).
- we inisted we wanted GIA. they contacted a few weeks later and said it would take 2 month turnaround b.c of courier from Switerland and it being christmas time. they suggested EGL Antwerp who they felt were excellent and then we would be able to pick up the ring on our scheduled trip back to Geneva (if not we would have had to return again after the 2months was up). they said that should we ever want GIA cert we could do that once we had the ring and they would pay for the cert.
- we spoke to a few people who felt EGL was fine, this was a trustworthy jeweler... so we decided we were just being fussy. we agreed to get EGL with the option of GIA in the future if we needed it.
- Cert came back F colour,VVS - so one colour down and one clarity up. we didn't think this was a big deal given the whole 'its how you feel about the stone, don't get to caught up in the stats stuff'.
- we pick up ring as scheduled. it is now set in platinum for us.

- 7 mths later the diamond is a little loose (has four prongs holding it on each corner, suspended).
- we decide that given it needs to be reset and we are now living in New York so we will get a GIA certificate.
- we speak to original jeweler and they say we can send back to them to do all of this but will take a long time so we may as well go local for such a small job as removing and tightening.
- we take to a jeweler in NY to remove stone, they say two of the prongs are not quite holding one side of the diamond correctly and haven't been shaped perfectly (said not a big fault but noticeable). when he points it out you can see it with the naked eye.
- take stone to GIA. cert come back last week as H, VS1.

given they gave us the initial price on an E, VS1 stone (telling us this info was from a GIA cert) and were then given a relatively close cert surely this is a misrepresentation?!

i understand that it is all about falling in love with a diamond not the stats but you also don't want to feel people have been dishonest and that you haven't gotten a fair price. we also had the original ideas of what we wanted from color etc. we are also really disappointed at what has felt like bullying 'don't be so rigid re GIA', 'are you suggesting we are lying' type message we have constantly received from the lady we have spoken to at the jeweler. it has been such a long going back and forth process that we have had to drive so the customer service has not been fantastic. this may not be a huge amount of money for them but it is a lot to us.

so we are now left feeling devastated about the whole process and want to return the ring and never deal with them again. this is not just the stats of the stone or the fact the setting was faulty and the stone was loose after such a short amount of time, it is also the poor service and possible dishonesty.

we are looking at our consumer rights in Switzerland and are planning to call the owner (although we have not been able to speak to him throughout all the issues above, the vice president has wanted to deal with everything herself but we will insist on speaking to him this time).

If anyone is still reading (?!) can you please can you give any professional advice on steps to take from here, what our rights are (taking into account that 8mths has past), whether the problems with the stone and setting would alter price significantly and any similar cases to ours? We absolutely don't want them to replace the stone now given the emotional associations with this ring but would we have to accept this if that is what they offer?

i am sorry this is so long, i just thought it was better to give all the facts... I am so upset but don't want this to cloud our judgment or be rude in anyway.

thank you so much for any comments