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Am I being too picky, or is this not right?

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Rebemdee

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
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I ordered a custom made channel set eternity band from a reputable jeweler. The first band was awful, the not custom made one, so the jeweler said she would hand make the second band. I picked it up and it looked very nice, and I was happy. However, I took some photos of it up close, and I''m not sure that it is as good as it should be. I''m not one for confrontation, but especially after reading about how people wont settle for a ring that is less than perfect, I wonder if I should go back and ask for it to be fixed. Or are my expectations off? Please take a look and tell me if what I''m seeing is natural variation in a ring, or if this is a problem. What I see is a stone sticking way out of the channel. Thanks!

rebseternity03.JPG
 
Here''s another view

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And here''s the ring front view

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I see what you mean, at least one stone is not "right". It also doesn''t look "straight"...Take it back.
 
lousy craftsmanship.
That stone is just waiting to fly out.
there is ridge and a dip there someone slipped with a tool and damaged the setting while seating the diamonds.
By the looks of it it will require a remake to fix or a steady hand on a laser welder.
 
I agree, take it back. It wasn''t made properly. What a shame.
 
How do I go about taking it back? I think I'm done with this jeweler. The first ring I was given was horribly mangled, so the owner offered to make it. That's how the custom piece came about...I didn't ask for it, she offered. Now, seeing the ring the owner created is not well made, can I just take it back and say that I would rather take my business elsewhere and ask for a refund? The ring cost about $1200, and I know I can get a similar ring from Signed Pieces for about the same. I wanted to support a local business, but it seems I will be settling for an inferior product if I do. I just find it hard to believe a jeweler would let two badly made pieces leave her store, and not think I wouldn't notice eventually something was wrong. I did email her and said I thought there was something wrong with the ring, and she said to stop by and bring it in, she wanted me to be happy with it. Is me asking for a refund out of line, even though I've had it in my possession for 2 weeks?
 
did you wear it for 2 weeks?
When did you notice the damage?
 
I''ve never worn it, other than just putting it on at home to see how it looks. It''s never left the house, because it was supposed to be my wedding band, which is in April ''06. I noticed the problems when I was taking a photo to email to a friend a few days ago, and accidently had the camera on macro, so it got a REALLY close-up big shot. I noticed the stone sticking up, and once I saw it in the photo, I noticed I could then see it with my naked eye, and when I run my thumbnail over the ring I can feel it. I emailed the owner the next day and told her there was a problem, and she said to come in after the new year (her shop will be closed next week). So the damage can''t be due to wear, as it hasn''t been worn for more than the minute it took to take photos of it with my plain band and e ring.
 
request a refund, start out nice just saying it isnt working out and you want to move on.
 
Do you like the ring besides the stone sticking out?

I would just see if they can fix the stone and reset it into the setting. If it's bead set channel which looks like it is, it may not be a big deal at all. The owner already wants to make sure you are happy, so why not just get the stone fixed?

The Signed Pieces one if you are talking about the ones that Demelza got with the bead set channel, were not aligned very well either in the sample she got, she is having them make them from scratch for her so we'll see how those turn out, hopefully better!

But I would almost say bird in the hand because if you love the ring other than that one stone, I'd just get it fixed and call it a day rather than dealing with a refund and a new vendor etc.

The ring looks beautiful!!
 
Mara:

I do like the ring a lot, but returning it will be my fifth trip to this jeweler, and then a sixth to pick it up again. And strmdr mentioned that there may be damage to the setting, which makes me suspicious that if the stone is just pushed in, it may not make it right. It isn't bead set, I don't think. There is one diamond substantially sticking out above the rest, but the others aren't smooth and even; they are sorta lumpy all around, now that I've looked at it up with the macro setting on my camera. That's why I asked if I was being too picky, because I'm not sure if it is normal to have some natural variation in the depth of the diamonds in a channel set eternity, or if they really should be fairly uniform. But I am nervous going back to this jeweler, particularly in that she let two bands of substandard quality leave her shop. Where's the quality check? That just doesn't sit right with me.
 
Is this a hand-made setting? If so there WILL be some non-uniformity in the setting, that's just how hand-made is. It could also just be your level of expectation of a hand-made vs machine-made etc.

strm may be well-meaning but without seeing the setting, no one knows if there is 'damage to the setting' so I wouldn't overly worry about that, until you see the jeweler. I'd see the jeweler first and see what she has to say and tell her how you feel about the quality and that you are frustrated. If she doesn't respond to you in a satisfactory way to you, then ask for a refund. But if she wants to make it right...

In the end, do whatever you feel is best...I am not that picky about my jewelry...I love hand-made stuff that is more unique than machine-made perfection, but sometimes stuff that is like that drives people insano! This is part of why I don't loupe most of my jewelry...hehee.

But, regardless of whether or not you are being too picky, you should be happy with the ring...you paid for it so it should be as you desire!
 
This setting is handmade. The milgrain is a bit uneven, and there are some toolmarks on it, which didn''t bother me a bit because it is handmade. But if I can feel a diamond sticking out, well, that''s just not okay. And if she made it, she should have seen that there was a problem. It can''t be blamed on an outside craftsman. I''ll take it and see what she says. Its just one more trip back to the land of bad parking and inconvenient left turns.
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haha I actually find parking down there pretty nice, I don''t know if I get lucky or what but I went over there a week ago and figured it would be INSANE with parking but I found a spot right across from Gussied Up and got all my shopping done in 10 minutes, woo hoo!! Though yes the u-turns are a big drag!!

Good luck!! Please keep us posted...whatever you decide. I do think the setting is really pretty, maybe third time is a charm? I WOULD tell her that you are frustrated and that you feel that QC is lacking, it''s feedback if nothing else...it doesn''t have to be confrontational at all to give constructive criticism!
 
Date: 12/24/2005 5:52:56 PM
Author: Rebemdee
This setting is handmade. The milgrain is a bit uneven, and there are some toolmarks on it, which didn''t bother me a bit because it is handmade. But if I can feel a diamond sticking out, well, that''s just not okay. And if she made it, she should have seen that there was a problem. It can''t be blamed on an outside craftsman. I''ll take it and see what she says. Its just one more trip back to the land of bad parking and inconvenient left turns.
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Click to expand...

I don''t think you''re being too picky. I''ve had several handmade peices and I would not have described them like that at all. The ring Quest did for me was perfect to my eyes, I could not find any flaws, uneven melee/beads, miligran, nothing. If you''re unhappy take it back and tell her, like mara said, you don''t have to be mean, just honest about your expectations and her seemingly lack of quality control. Those types of thing would drive me nuts but I am very picky when it comes to things like that..
 
So... it looks a bit uneven under this much magnification. But I can't tell what makes the stone in cause to look like that - it may be cut differently so it didn't line up with the others, or the seat for it is cut differently. Who knows...

It may be no problem wearing it. Just don't know. It sounds odd that you didn't have a chance to inspect the ring before receiving it. It is done with custom work all the time.

Aside the respective detail, the ring looks so nice. I hope things can be done right. Too bad it had to be the 6th time!
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If anything, handmade is supposed to be better. Nothing else can get the fine detail quite as well. Which doesn't mean that these diamond studded settings are easy to make - this is precisely why so many shortcuts from hand work are popular. Perhaps a specialist can do it better than any mass production way, but there is no way to mass-produce those skills
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E.g the channel band below looks pretty darn perfect. And it is handmade too. It surely can be done.

(see next post)
 


pavebandsIH.JPG
 
I think you''re right to go back and ask for it to be done right. I''d see if they can do it for you as Mara suggested before starting over from scratch with someone else altogether. I''d be more concerned about the security of the stone and it feeling flush when you run your finger over it. Nobody will be looking at it in macro mode when you''re wearing it so I wouldn''t worry about anything that can''t be seen with the regular eye :)
 
Fixing that diamond shouldn't be all that hard. Take it to a different jeweler, show it to them and explain your problem. It's likely that the problem is in the depth of the seat but it may simply be the crown height of the stone. In either case, the solution is relatively straightforward -- break out the diamond and replace it with a different one. While it's out, they can cut the seat deeper if required. If this won't work (and it might not) a decent setter will be able to tell you right away and without any damage to the piece by a brief inspection. They may have a different solution to recommend. From what I can tell in the photo, this looks like a decent job with a fixable error. A total rework sounds like overkill.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver
 
Thank you everybody for your insight. It''s disappointing to have to take it back again, but at least it''s a 15 minute drive instead of sending it off to another city, or even country for some people!

I''ll give the jeweler a chance to make it right. She did upgrade the stones from SI1 to VS2 after the first awful ring, so maybe she''ll do what it takes to fix the ring and make me happy. I think I''ll ask her to buff out some of the tool marks as well, although I don''t worry too much about it, since platinum gets that "patina" so quickly. Especially after my ering was gouged by a revolving file cabinet at work, the "shiny new factor" of platinum is gone for me now.

I will talk to her about quality assurance, however, because it really is disappointing to have to go back so many times, and to have less than ideal rings leave her store. I''ll be very nice about it, but just mention that her store comes really highly recommended and I''m very disappointed to have so many problems, and quality control could have prevented 4 out of my 6 trips to her store.

I''ll post again after I see her in two weeks.
 
I just got back from the shop; it took the fix-it guy 5 minutes to correct the problem. The diamond was set at an angle and now it''s fine. She said he opened the channel, dropped the stone into place, and closed the channel. I give this company an F for quality control, a B for product, and a B+ for service. The owner was perfectly nice and helpful, but I really shouldn''t have had to go through all this to get a simple channel set ring. I didn''t talk to her about my concerns regarding quality control, as I didn''t see what it would solve. She was totally pleasant, but I don''t think she was particularly interested in hearing about what I thought. So, the diamonds are all smooth and in the channel now, and it does look very pretty, so I''ll leave it at that. I''m not thrilled about all time, effort and trips it took to get this, but now that I have it and it is fixed, I''m happy with it. I''m not doing this AGAIN!
 
Here is the photo of the set, with the eternity band and the platinum 2mm band. The next one is just with the eternity band.

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With just the eternity band.

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You''re right! Take it back!!
 
Beautiful rings. I am glad that you took it back and it was easy to fix. I really like both looks with the plain band and without. Your engagement ring is very, very pretty!

I wish you well,

Bridget
 
All''s well that ends well - I am glad you are happy. Those two bands make a nice set with your ering - I like the look.

Aren''t you glad that''s all behind you now?
 
Very pretty set!
 
glad you got it fixed rebemdee. your rings look great together!
 
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