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Bad workmanship on my wife's engagement ring?

JimmyC23

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
4
Hi All,

I apologise in advance if my post doesn't belong here.

I'm going cut a very long story short and attach a few photos of my wife's ring. Basically, I need to know if I'm being paranoid or the workmanship on the ring is poor and is of an apprentice's.

List of defects: (all rings are platinum)
- The ring doesn't not stand 90 degrees upright and is bent towards one side
- Some claws are bigger than others
- One of the sapphires below the main stone isn't centred
- The socket where the above sapphire sites in isn't rouned

As for my wedding band, I could see a line where the ring was soldered together. The jeweller tried to fix it twice and the line was still visible. I've just been told that the solder line should now be fixed after a third attempt, which I have yet to go and pick it up.

What was said to me: I asked the jeweller when I went to pick up the 2 rings for the first time about the imperfections and why the ring looks bent. I was told that because it's a handmade ring it's impossible to get it perfectly symmetrical. I didn't accept it at the time but he was the expert and I wasn't, so I took the rings and convinced myself to live with it.

20171204_191124.jpg 20171204_191308.jpg 20171204_192850.jpg
 

marymm

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
5,520
Looking at the photos, the craftsmanship of the setting looks to be shoddy ... like you noticed, the head/basket should not be tilted, the little bezel should not be lopsided in thickness ... these should have been caught by your vendor's quality control inspection and then fixed/redone by your jeweler before you even set eyes on the piece. Unfortunately it sounds like your vendor cannot do better. If you are able to, I'd suggest getting a complete refund and going somewhere else who has an experience bench.
 

Bonfire

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Messages
4,232
There is no way I would except this ring. Obviously it’s beyond the scope of their skills.
 

metall

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Sep 15, 2017
Messages
843
The bezel on the sapphire looks awful!

I think that if your band is platinum they might not be equipped/have the equipment to properly size it for you.
 

WillyDiamond

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
1,452
Hope you can return it and come back here for help and use of PS vendors.
 

rubybeth

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
2,568
No, this is unacceptable to me. The bezel is really wacko. The head is obviously not centered, either. Looks really weird. Maybe this would be okay for a couple hundred dollars, but I'm guessing this cost a whole lot more than that. Go back or call and ask what can be done. Can the item be returned/refunded at this point?
 

doberman

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
2,417
Yikes. I'm totally not a nitpicker, but this would seriously irritate me.
 

HappyNewLife

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
2,534
I'd get a refund and walk far away from this vendor
 

JimmyC23

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
4
Thanks for your replies everyone. I thought I was being too paranoid, at least that's the impression I got from my jeweller.

So, here goes my long story. I found my jeweller through google and at the time they had pretty good reviews, with pretty much no complaints. Plus I was recommended by a close friend. We went through the design and the everything that involves getting a diamond ring made. Several weeks later I got the call to go in and inspect the ring, and to my surprise, the ring came out totally different to the original design. They then decided to remake the ring, and this time, they nailed the design but everything else was shocking (as seen in photos). I asked the jeweller about the defects especially the tilted head. I was told that the ring is handmade and it's impossible to get it 100% symmetrical, and that I would have to go casting for it. Prior to this I had already been to casting and had a very bad experience with it. Was lucky to get a full refund for both rings. Anyway, because of previous bad experience with casting I believed my jeweller and took his word for it. After all, he's the expert and I'm just a customer. And because they screwed up the design the first time I only had 3 weeks till our wedding day at this point. Bit my tongue and paid for the rings and tried to convince myself that the defects are expected with handmade rings. I also had to convince my wife as well.

Just before our wedding day I decided to inspect my ring close up and to my surprise I found a joint line where the ring was soldered. I emailed my jeweller after our wedding about the finding and he said that this was again normal, but he would refine the line if it bothered me. I started researching on the web and everything I found about the solder line was pointing to bad workmanship. At the end, we agreed to refine my ring 12 months later because that's when our rings were due for a complimentary polish. Fast forward 12 months (this was last week) I took our rings in for a polish and told the jeweller to get rid of the solder line. Took them a few days but the line was still visible. I then gave the ring back and told him to get rid of it as this shouldn't be happening. Second time around he still couldn't fix it. So, I decided to take the ring with me and went to get a second and third opinion about my ring. Both jewellers said solder line should not be visible at all times, or at least it shouldn't be if it was made by someone who knows what they're doing. This didn't surprise me at all. So, I took this opportunity to show them my wife's ring. Again, to my expectation they pointed out the defects and said that this ring was probably made by an apprentice. They also said that this ring shouldn't have been given to me in the first place. :wall:

A day later I decided to make an official complaint to my jeweller and demanded a resolution. We had a good meeting about it. But unfortunately I've made a big mistake as I should've made this complaint from day one, or even better I shouldn't have accepted them. I told him that because I believed in his word about how handmade rings aren't meant to be symmetrical and I had no time, I was under the pressure to accept the rings. I guess this will be a very expensive mistake for me. I also should've sought for second opinion earlier to confirm my suspicion :cry2:

I gave my jeweller a third chance to fix the solder line and now he reckons that the solder line is no longer visible. I have yet to go pick it up. He also made an offer of buying my wife's ring back at 50% of what I've paid for. I haven't accepted anything but I got in touch with fair trading to see if I have a chance at getting a full refund on my wife's ring at least.

Sorry for my long-winded post but this has been stressing me for a few weeks now. Something I do want to go experience again ever!
 

rockysalamander

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 20, 2016
Messages
5,105
Can you tell us where you are located, country and nearest large city? Maybe we can recommend a jeweller for you. Repair may be possible still.
 

JimmyC23

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
4
Can you tell us where you are located, country and nearest large city? Maybe we can recommend a jeweller for you. Repair may be possible still.

Sorry. Totally forgot to mention that I'm in Sydney, Australia. Thanks.
 

rubybeth

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
2,568
With all that pave on the prongs, I am not sure about saving this ring. Others can chime in, but I know that doing work on pave is challenging, and with the head not being straight, I am not sure another jeweler would want to touch this. I'd suggest starting over, either with a stock setting, or with a custom jeweler who can make the same ring without issues. There are multiple jewelers in the US who could do this, not sure about Australia.
 

JimmyC23

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Messages
4
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