Advice on salvaging my antique rose cut ring?

[MBee]

My boyfriend recently purchased a Georgian Rose cut diamond cluster ring from San Francisco September last year. He proposed on Valentine's day and I researched a jeweler in my town (we live in Australia) who could resize an antique ring. Due to the foil-backing of the diamonds, it could not get wet in the process- which I explained to them. She acknowledged this and said they were able to resize it, no problems.

I went in to collect the ring and she told me it was not ready, as they had polished the diamonds in the process and the centre diamond had turned black. I again told her that it couldn't get wet because of the foil, she said they had soaked it and would get the black out. The diamond would have to be reset with claws. I told them I wanted it repaired to its original structure and she told me that it would look identical and that the claws would not be visible.

Suffice to say, it does not look identical. The before and after shots speak for themselves. They are now denying that the foil existed and that I didn't tell them about the diamond not being able to get wet. The believe the claws aren't visible and the ring has not been filled in with material- even though she previously questioned why there were so many gaps between the diamonds.

We have contacted the store where we purchased it from, as we are seeking compensation from our local jeweler to have this repaired. Although I think the ring looks well and truly destroyed.

Any advice would be much appreciated?



http://lola-pr.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/this-is-what-happened-when-i-asked-for.html

http://www.langantiques.com/products/item/10-1-4148 (The resizing was done by a local jeweler in Australia).

 

[Enerchi]

oh my! Yikes. I'd definitely continue to pursue this - that is very unfortunate.

Curious - How would you avoid water all the time, if this was a regularly worn ring?

 

[MBee]

^^It was made clear to me that it was a special ring only to be worn on occasion, which I was quite happy with. I was planning on purchasing two eternity bands for everyday use. One as a wedding band and one as an engagement ring. We chose this, as I am very sentimental, so loved its history, although I do not like wearing much jewelry on a day to day basis. We were also told that this ring was able to be resized as long as they took care to avoid the stones.

 

[MBee]

Does anyone know of a jeweler that specializes in antiques? We need to get quotes for repair in order to lodge a compensation case.

Thanks

 

[slg47]

MBee-I am so sorry about your ring. You might want to try contacting singlestone.

 

[MBee]

^^thank you! I've contacted them

 

[chel180]

thats is sooo upsetting. i'm really sorry for you. i hope you are able to sort it out.

 

[yennyfire]

I would contact Ari and Singlestone or Grace at Jewels by Erica Grace.

I have a ring with rose cut diamonds and it's been wet a million times and it's fine. To the best of my knowledge, there's no such thing as a ring that can't get wet. Leon Mege cleaned my ring in an ultrasonic machine and Ari told me to soak it in hot water with a drop of dishsoap and ammonia, so I can't understand why you were told to get your ring wet??? For reference, here's my sapphire and rose cut diamond ring:

 

[rubybeth]

I would contact Ari and Singlestone or Grace at Jewels by Erica Grace.

I have a ring with rose cut diamonds and it's been wet a million times and it's fine. To the best of my knowledge, there's no such thing as a ring that can't get wet. Leon Mege cleaned my ring in an ultrasonic machine and Ari told me to soak it in hot water with a drop of dishsoap and ammonia, so I can't understand why you were told to get your ring wet???

If you read the blog entry, you'll learn the ring was originally a button, and that the diamonds are foil-backed. Foil-backed stones cannot be gotten wet:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/foil-backed-diamond-ring.137431/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/foil-backed-diamond-ring.137431/[/URL]

 

[MyDiamondSparkles]

I'm so sorry to hear about your ring! I hope it can be repaired--I'm sure you're in good hands with singlestone.

I have a foil backed rose cut and I was also told to not get it wet. I also had recently been looking at another rose cut and it also said not to get it wet. It must somehow tarnish the foil backing, I'd guess.

 

[MBee]

I've actually been in contact with Ari at Singlestone and she has been so so helpful! I can't seem to find a jeweller in Australia that is really willing to offer much advice without seeing it in person, but the jewellers I've contacted in the US and UK have been extremely helpful. I think that this kind of piece is completely out of the realm of jewellers in my town. I was told it should have been resized using a laser and have been informed that no one in my city has one.

The ring can't get wet because of the foil backing, which I told the jeweller. She is denying that I told her that, hence when she resized it, she somehow caused the foil under the black diamond to get wet, it went black, they soaked it! and then removed the centre diamond ruining the original setting. She is now denying that the foil ever existed. So I'm not sure how anything went black! Their story keeps flipping to cover themselves.

We've spoken to Lang's who have been very very lovely and they are hopeful it can been fixed, now it's a matter of shipping it from Aus to SF and having it assessed. Gosh this is not what a newly engaged couple needs to worry about.

 

[GlamMosher]

Mbee, that is so sad, it doesn't even look the same ting.

I know ZahraLeyla has recommended this place before, but not sure if for repairs or just looking at all the lovelies:
http://www.keshett.com.au/

Whilst I was looking for the above, I found this place too, which seems to be right across the road:
http://klepners.com.au/services.php

Their repair section looks promising. I know both of these are in Melbourne, but it might be easier than sending it to the US if you can avoid that.

Good luck!

 

[MBee]

^^thanks I have spoken to both of those jewellers and feel at this stage that SF is probably the best option. We purchased it from there and they will know exactly what they're dealing with. Although I'm not very happy having to send it overseas.

Thanks everyone for being so lovely. The saddest thing is I've never even worn the ring yet, I dropped it into the jeweller the morning after my fiance gave it to me.

 

[Mike R]

I'm so sorry the sizing went terribly wrong for you, what a disapiontment.

Obviously the jeweller doing the sizing had no idea the special care these precious pieces need.

I can tell you why your diamond would have gone black during sizing.
When sizing a ring you have to heat up the join to melt the solder, to stop the head of the ring from getting hot it is normally placed in a water bath. (not possible with your ring)
Over time fine dust, dirt and grease would have gotten in between your diamond and the foil backing, when this dirt was heated during soldering it melted and stuck to the back of your diamond giving it a burnt black appearance. (sort of like what would happen if you burnt/melted suger crystals onto a sheet of glass)
Once the burnt film was on the back of the diamond the only way to remove it was to unset the diamond and scrape off the dirt.

It's really hard to tell from your "after" photo how bad the damage is because it's a little fuzzy, I can't really tell how well any claws were added. Can you post a clearer photo?

I can see the silver has lost its dark antique finish, this is really simple to reaply by a skilled jeweller who knows what they are doing and will make the ring look a lot better, this may be all that is needed.

Good luck, I really hope you can get this sorted out easily.

 

[lindacat]

Not all rose cut diamonds are foil backed. Some are; and others are set just like any other diamond can be set (prongs, etc). it is only the ones that are foil backed that cannot have any contact with water.
Also, diamonds are not the only stones that can be foil backed - there are many examples of early rings that have foil backed gemstones other than diamonds. So you just have to be careful with ANY foil backed stones.
I hope it all works out and you get your ring restored to original condition again.

 

[MBee]

Thanks for your responses! Mike here are some pictures of the claws (which we do not want- we've been told that they should not have taken the diamond out in the first place). You can see that there is now a gap in between the diamond and the ring. Before the centre stone was set level with the surrounding diamonds. They are denying this too

 

[Mike R]

Thanks for your responses! Mike here are some pictures of the claws (which we do not want- we've been told that they should not have taken the diamond out in the first place). You can see that there is now a gap in between the diamond and the ring. Before the centre stone was set level with the surrounding diamonds. They are denying this too

That's more proof that the jeweller does not understand these types of pieces, the center diamond was set too high when they were putting it back in. This would leave an ugly gap, the diamond can be lowered, this would also mean the claws would be less noticeable or possibly not needed at all.

Your ring can be repaired by a skilled bench jeweller, you would be really surprised how much better your ring will look once the dark antique finish is reapplied.

Happy to help if you have any other questions that you need answering from a jewellers point of view.

 

[MBee]

Thanks. I'm so glad to find a jeweller that recognises the terrible job that they have done. A lot of jewellers I have spoken to in my town have been very hesitant to speak against the work.

In your opinion, how should the jeweller have resized the ring in order to avoid this?

 

[Mike R]

To be honest I don't think they should have even attempted the job, they should have recognized that it was out of their area of expertise.
Working on pieces of this age always comes with some risk that should have been talked through with you opon take in of the job.
It's had to tell how I would have gone about doing the sizing without seeing the ring in person but having the job done with the aid of a laser welder would have taken away a lot of the risks involved.
If the ring needed to be made smaller I would have recommended sizing beads.

Have you had the ring checked by someone to make sure they didn't chip any of the diamonds, if you had the ring checked by a local appraiser they might know a specialist who can do the restoration locally. The might also be able to do a report on the cost of restoration so you could seek damages from the store that did the damage.

 

[MBee]

Thank you for your opinion, I really appreciate it! Unfortunately they did not talk me though anything and I foolishly assumed that they were capable (I have no idea how resizing is done), as they told me they specialised in this type of jewellery. I would have been more than happy to use sizing beads.

 

[Mike R]

I did want to say the fact that they manged to solder on the new silver claws without filling the head with solder does in my opinion show that the jeweller that did the work is actually very skilled at what they do, I just don't think they possibly dont understand what an antique piece is supposed to look like and could have paid more at attension to the original finish.

It really shouldn't be a big job to restore it to almost original condition, I can't see any major damage in the pictures.

 

[OldAndMine]

I am so so sorry to hear of your experience

I bought an antique ring from the US myself and I live in New Zealand. Firstly I had it re-sized in the US before it was shipped to me even though there was some uncertainty about translating the alphabetical sizing to that of the US numerical one, I decided that the risk with the sizing translation was smaller than the risk I have to take in taking my antique ring to any other jeweler anywhere else, even though some of them claim to have the knowledge of and experience with antique rings and deal exclusively with estate jewelry. I did look to as far as Australia to explore other options. It would have cost $400 to ship the ring securely back to the US and then back again to me for another re-sizing if the first resizing attempt were to fail. But I concluded that I have to be prepared to budget this into the purchase.

Since then, I had also gently and accidentally knocked the ring a few times since during daily activities (as one would expect) and this made me think about maintenance: checking that the setting is secure, fixing small scratches etc. I did a bit of research realized further that it requires a real specialty to work on these antiques and that there is no way of telling if a jeweler is qualified to handle your ring just from what they tell you. We can't tell what kind of antique rings they have worked on, which period and so what kind of settings and designs they are familiar with, whether they usually work with platinum or gold, and if they say they can work with platinum, whether in fact they treat platinum like they do gold as some would even though they should not, and you would not have known if they had, etc.

I guess what I am saying is that it is always the safest way to get an antique ring back to where you purchase it from, or to go to a jeweler which your antique seller have had many and regular dealings with. Because of the nature of antiques I am guessing that antique sellers will have to have some knowledge and contacts of reliable jewelers who have proven track records, or are themselves jewelers with good knowledge of antique repairs and reproductions.

Unfortunately for those of us who are far from the US, this can be rather costly. But I would personally painfully pay the cost and send it back to the US, rather than take any more chance that someone else might further ruin it in the process of trying to see if they can do the job. (And I would never buy an antique ring from someone who does not have any repair and maintenance support around them).

Sending you much positive energy Good luck!

 

[distracts]

I've actually been in contact with Ari at Singlestone and she has been so so helpful! I can't seem to find a jeweller in Australia that is really willing to offer much advice without seeing it in person, but the jewellers I've contacted in the US and UK have been extremely helpful. I think that this kind of piece is completely out of the realm of jewellers in my town. I was told it should have been resized using a laser and have been informed that no one in my city has one.

The ring can't get wet because of the foil backing, which I told the jeweller. She is denying that I told her that, hence when she resized it, she somehow caused the foil under the black diamond to get wet, it went black, they soaked it! and then removed the centre diamond ruining the original setting. She is now denying that the foil ever existed. So I'm not sure how anything went black! Their story keeps flipping to cover themselves.

We've spoken to Lang's who have been very very lovely and they are hopeful it can been fixed, now it's a matter of shipping it from Aus to SF and having it assessed. Gosh this is not what a newly engaged couple needs to worry about.

I really, REALLY hope that you are able to get compensation from the jeweler who repaired it. THEY are the professionals and should have known a) what foil backing meant in a ring, b) that many old rose-cut rings are foil-backed, and c) that you needed a laser welder to properly resize it. For future reference, I never, ever go to a jeweler for repairs if they don't work with a laser welder at all (it may not be needed, but I'd prefer that they at least have one), and never ever go to a jeweler for antiques unless they sell and repair antiques and can show me a whole case full of them and what they did to fix them. I also always talk through with the jeweler first what they think could possibly go wrong and what they will do if that happens. I really feel for you on this - my mom's antique wedding ring (not as old as yours, but still 90 years old) was recently destroyed by a jeweler who should never have touched it (the main jeweler at the store died and his son was... not experienced enough to handle things) and we've been conducting a city-wide search for who we trust to repair it.

I know you're sending it back to get fixed, but if you happen to have an auction house in your town that ever deals with antique jewelry, you could talk to their appraisers and see what jewelers they work with. That might give you some leads as to who to go to if you ever need work done on the ring again.

Hope this all works out for you and your ring arrives back in the condition you want!

 

[mrsjacob]

Oh no So sorry that happened! That jeweler should pay for your entire restoration.

 

[SparklyOEC]

I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you. The before and after photos may help a little with proving the ring did not look like it did after they did the work. I certainly hope things work out for you.

 

[junebug17]

I don't have anything really constructive to add, but I want to say I'm very sorry you are going through this. I can totally sympathize with you - I recently purchased an antique ring and had it sized by a jeweler (who had sized a ring for me and done a nice job) and now one of the prongs isn't touching the stone, not happy with the look of the sizing job, and I can't say for sure but I feel that the stone might have been chipped (can't prove it with 100% certainty though). I don't want to take it back to that jeweler, in hindsight I feel working with an antique was beyond his expertise but not sure where to go. I feel sick about it. A lot of this is my fault, was in a hurry to get it sized, should have researched better. I mistakingly assumed he would be able to handle the job, and I guess he did what I asked, but at a price.

Sorry to ramble on about my problems, just wanted to let you know I completely understand how you are feeling, I am feeling a similar way. I truly hope you can get some compensation from the jeweler. I am very hopeful that Langs can restore your beautiful ring to its original condition. Again, I am so sorry this happened to you, I know how it feels!

 

[MBee]

Thanks for your lovely reply Junebug! So sorry that you are going through this as well, it's such an awful feeling really. I feel the same way about researching. However I had used them the week before and had no idea that sizing a ring could be so risky (although I had told them all of the ring's specifications). Hindsight is so frustrating..

 

[junebug17]

And thank you for being so nice and not minding the threadjack MBee!! I was in a real funk when I posted, thank you for letting me vent in your thread!

Please keep us posted about your ring - I'm hoping and praying for a good resolution!

 

[Gabriellehb]

MBee I think you need to speak to consumer affairs in your state. I inherited a broken bangle (it was a wax filled rose gold bangle that my grandmother had worn to death) which other jewellers wouldn't touch and I ended up going to Mark's of Melb in Armadale who were able to repair it. This was about 6 years ago, but their main jeweller at the time was originally from the UK and well versed in dealing with antique jewllery.

 

[bunnycat]

Oh my! What a terrible thing to happen to such a lovely old ring! I hope that you are able to get it back in to shape. One thing you might want to do, like someone mentioned is have some antiquing put back on (all over, since that;s how the original photo looks). I think that's integral to the piece and it's not hard to do. Then you will have a better frame of reference to assess the damage that is left. (Of course, maybe do this after you have all the photos you need or perhaps make some progress with getting some satisfaction from the people who messed up.)

If you like old rings and jewelery, you may want to see if there's anyone specifically in your area that can deal with true antiques in the future, not just vintage Art Deco and 30-40's stuff. Someone with a laser welder that can work on very delicate objects. Also, someone who works on true antique pieces will also know to ask whether you want a patina polished out of a ring.

I got a very old piece as my promise ring in sapphire and rose cut diamond. Fortunately the stones were open back so the getting wet issue was not a problem, but the jeweler explained very carefully that he uses a laser welder so can work on very delicate pieces (most of the items in the shop were even older than the promise ring I got, like before 1800) and also that he leaves patina alone unless you want it taken off.

I hope it turns out well for you!