Chipped Diamond

[Simon Graham]

I bought my wifes engagement ring and wedding band as a set from a jeweler in South Africa. The ring was a solitaire set in a platinum ring and the wedding band was also platinum cut to fit the engagement ring so that they looked like one set. The band had 4 small 1/8th Ct diamonds set within the platinum band.

We paid over the odds on this set as the diamonds were of good colour quality and cut.
3 years later one of the diamonds in the band has chipped, and the solitaire housing has split away from the platinum band.

The after sales service that i have received from this jeweler has been attrocious.
They will not accept any blame for the chipped diamond or the damaged housing.

My question is this. "Do i have any ''come back'' with the jeweler ?"
If not is there a jewelery governing body, to whom i could complain.
Any help or advice would be gratly appreciated.

Regards

Simon

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi Simon. For the head splitting away from the housing, there's two possibilities, or a combination of the two:

One, the ring took a "knock" which caused it too happen.

Two, the area of attachment was defective in some way, allowing the split to occur.

Three, a combination of the two.

As for the chip occuring, the possibilities are pretty much limited to the ring taking a "knock" in some way, chipping the diamond.

A jeweler should be responsible for a defect in merchandise, but he should not be for wear & tear which happens to a ring/diamond which is beyond his control.

That is where insurance comes into play. Same as a car.

As far as governing bodies, I would expect that you have consumer groups over there such as the Better Business Bureau, etc. Possibly the jeweler belongs to organizations which you could complain through, such as a Jeweler's Vigilance Committee of some sort.

In order to justifiably complain though, you'd have to first prove that the problems were the fault of the jeweler. The chipped diamond is clearly not (it was not chipped when you purchased it), and the split housing could or couldn't be. You would need a gemologist or metallurgist to examine the setting in order to determine that.

 

[pyramid]

Were there any feathers on the edge where the stone chipped?

Some appraisers and gemologists advice against buying that type of stone as it is susceptible to damage.

See posts on Diamondtalk by Rockdoc who is a well trained appraiser with lots of years behind him it is his believe that these types of feathers cause damage to a stone.