Help, my diamond looks different after being set

[ShariMichele]

I was days away from getting my ring done after a year and a half, and now this! I took my stones to a jeweler to have set in a custom platinum setting with two other stones. (they looked great together while loose, and all have excellent everything, the numbers looked perfect on Cut Advisor (scored 1.4, ex ex ex vg) etc). Now the center stone looks totally cloudy and horrible with the two side stones. The jeweler isn't admitting anything. What could cause this? They were all H SI1 stones. Could they have damaged it while setting? Do I just pay to take it to an independant appraiser to see if the specs still match? What if they don't? I am so mad I could cry. Please help.

 

[D&T]

do some good cleaning yourself, then take it to an independent appraiser (that does sell jewelry themselves) to see if your specs still match, You should have written documentations and maybe be able to state your claim with the jeweler. I'm sorry this has happened to you. Good luck

ETA: fixed. Thanks DD!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:25:11 PM
Author: D&T
do some good cleaning yourself, then take it to an independent jeweler (that does not delve in jewelry themselves) to see if your specs still match, You should have written documentations and maybe be able to state your claim with the jeweler. I''m sorry this has happened to you. Good luck

I think she meant appraiser here...

Ditto this advice. Most likely they did not clean the diamond properly when they set it.

 

[yssie]

Thritto - a good clean may just work wonders

. If that doesn''t fix it though, get thee to an appraiser pronto!

 

[decodelighted]

If the specs on your cert don''t match the diamond you got back that would be a crime, no? Wouldn''t you need to report that to the police if you think they stole your stone? If they *damaged* the stone that''s a different matter. Do you have insurance on the stone ... or were you relying on *their* insurance for the setting process? Did they sell you the setting AND stones? Or just the setting? Or none of the above.

Hope you figure it out! Good luck!

 

[ShariMichele]

could a reputable jewelers that''s been in business for 30 years seriously not know how to clean a diamond?

 

[yssie]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:30:36 PM
Author: ShariMichele
could a reputable jewelers that''s been in business for 30 years seriously not know how to clean a diamond?

Sometimes crud just gets left on there from the setting and polishing - even a little bit of dust settled on the surface can make a big difference in sparkle.

 

[ShariMichele]

I didn''t have insurance as my insurance co will not insure loose stones. I think they damaged vs switching, as he said so far the measurements match exact and the inclusion looks to be in a similar place. I bought the center from a B&M, the two sides from blue nile and they were just doing the platinum setting.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Well I don''t know what type of damage would make a stone look cloudy. Sounds like polishing compound or something else.

 

[D&T]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:26:45 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 12/16/2009 6:25:11 PM
Author: D&T
do some good cleaning yourself, then take it to an independent jeweler (that does not delve in jewelry themselves) to see if your specs still match, You should have written documentations and maybe be able to state your claim with the jeweler. I'm sorry this has happened to you. Good luck

I think she meant appraiser here...

Ditto this advice. Most likely they did not clean the diamond properly when they set it.

Yes I did mean appraiser

. Thanks DD

and I agree with DD that it could be polishing compound

 

[ShariMichele]

I hope you are all right about just needing cleaning. He took it out of the setting after I left and said it looks a little better. It looked like and I3 stone in the setting. I''ll go look at it again tomorrow with the GIA to try and verify it''s the same stone. I don''t like that he''s saying "all the measurments match", but saying nothing about how completely cloudy it looks for an Excellent cut. Any thoughts here?

 

[decodelighted]

Are you certain that the stone did not have any clarity enhancement? If that kind of treatment isn''t disclosed to the jeweler setting the stone sometimes it can affect the visual performance of the stone/ treatment stuff inside.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:47:11 PM
Author: decodelighted
Are you certain that the stone did not have any clarity enhancement? If that kind of treatment isn''t disclosed to the jeweler setting the stone sometimes it can affect the visual performance of the stone/ treatment stuff inside.

gah! I hope not!

 

[yssie]

I really think you can calm down

.


If it was pre-treated and this wasn't disclosed you have a very good case to get your money back, I should think! Besides - the stone has a GIA cert... unless it's an old (pre-treatment) cert, which is very unlikely if the inclusion plot is the same, or the wrong/fake cert altogether, which isn't legal...

I can't think of that many things that might happen during setting to cause a previously sparkly, clear stone to look cloudy or opaque - it's not like the stone sprouted cloud or crystal inclusions on the bench!

The most likely explanation is a film of some sort on the diamond - polishing residue, perhaps. If he was very careless, there might be miniscule scratches that can be polished out - there shouldn't be, though, as it would take a lot of scratches to cause a cloudy appearance.

Nothing serious like a chip or fracture would cause the effects you're seeing.

 

[ShariMichele]

I asked when I purchased it about this and they said no. That''s all the certainty I have. What would they do exactly to enhance it?

 

[ShariMichele]

My fear is that I really bought a lemon... a $6,000, all the numbers "look right", looks great in the store, but like crap when set. Could three triple Ex HSI stones looks so different without the cleaning issue?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:53:04 PM
Author: ShariMichele
My fear is that I really bought a lemon... a $6,000, all the numbers ''look right'', looks great in the store, but like crap when set. Could three triple Ex HSI stones looks so different without the cleaning issue?

Diamonds don''t break down like cars

Read Yssie''s wise post above.

 

[HVVS]

There is another recent thread in this forum about diamond not looking right. That ring came back with some kind of residue on the diamond from the rhodium plating. There seems to be a slight epidemic of jewelers leaving plating residues and polishing compounds on customers' rings.

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:53:04 PM
Author: ShariMichele
My fear is that I really bought a lemon... a $6,000, all the numbers ''look right'', looks great in the store, but like crap when set. Could three triple Ex HSI stones looks so different without the cleaning issue?

I would go to a jewelers and have them blast it with steam and/or use an ultrasonic to clean.
Get the centre stone taken out, cleaned and make sure a trusted independant appraiser that you find confirmed the centre is the same as as what is stated on the certificate.

 

[Lorelei]

Don''t panic, if it doesn''t clean up with a good home cleaning get the ring to an independant appraiser ASAP so you know exactly what you are dealing with. It is possible something happened during the setting process with some compound or technique used that has caused this and that it can be taken care of.

 

[ShariMichele]

Ugh, this is not by my day. Typed a whole reply and it said "error occurred" and erased the whole thing. Let me try again:

The jeweler said today that he now sees there''s a giant cloud covering the whole stone that is making it appear dull. The cert only noted "clarity grading based on clouds not shown" and said it didn''t map it because it covers the whole stone. I feel so duped by GIA and the jewlery store for not making more mention of something so huge. I know this is why you always need to see a stone in person, but like I said, it looked fine in person, the numbers were perfect, it''s just compared to my other H SI 1''s in halogen lighting it looks horrible. Any suggestions for me?

 

[D&T]

sorry I''m a bit confuse, I thought you said you seen this diamond loose before it was set and it was nice looking did you not notice the haze before?

 

[ShariMichele]

I didn''t notice the haze when loose, but in the setting it was extremely noticeable.

 

[yssie]

Don't the "inclusions not shown" on GIA certs have pretty much no effects at all, and are only noted to complete the record?

 

[LGK]

Date: 12/17/2009 4:14:15 PM
Author: yssie
Don't the 'inclusions not shown' on GIA certs have pretty much no effects at all, and are only noted to complete the record?

I suspect in this case, where it says that the clarity grade is based on the clouds not shown, the cloud was so big that it would have been... like the whole inclusion plot, y'know? Which is kind of annoying since you'd rather want the inclusion plot to show the biggest clarity characteristic- it's easier to spot that than a footnote after all. I could be wrong though!

ShariMichele: can you return it? I hope so! It's true that SI grades are not created equal. And that some inclusions can hide in certain lights and pop out in others. Bummer! I'm sorry to hear it wasn't something easily fixable like gunk

 

[Rockdiamond]

Date: 12/16/2009 6:30:36 PM
Author: ShariMichele
could a reputable jewelers that''s been in business for 30 years seriously not know how to clean a diamond?

Great point Shari
One possibility is that the jeweler burned the diamond. this can happen of they needed to use a lot of heat- maybe to adjust the size- and did not properly shield the diamond
That can sometimes be repaired- but not always.

I agree with everyone suggesting to stay calm.
Insurance or not, you may have recourse if the jeweler damaged the diamond. You surely do if they switched it.
I really don''t like the fact they don''t seem to have any reasonable explanation.

 

[ShariMichele]

The most sad part of my never ending saga, is that the lovely store where I purchased the diamond is bankrupt and under bank control to liquidate. They close in 9 days. I have no recourse. How would I ever prove that the new jeweler burned the diamond if they will always fall back on the ambiguous "clouds not shown" in the cert? And I tried to be sooooo careful to protect myself, and got screwed anyway.

 

[stone-cold11]

No, because the comment was clarity grade based on cloud not shown, meaning that is the grade setting inclusion.

 

[ShariMichele]

Stone, I''m confused, what do you mean "that is the grade setting inclusion?"

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 12/17/2009 4:38:06 PM
Author: ShariMichele
The most sad part of my never ending saga, is that the lovely store where I purchased the diamond is bankrupt and under bank control to liquidate. They close in 9 days. I have no recourse. How would I ever prove that the new jeweler burned the diamond if they will always fall back on the ambiguous ''clouds not shown'' in the cert? And I tried to be sooooo careful to protect myself, and got screwed anyway.

Get an independent appraiser to look at the stone.