help! unsatisfied with setting.

[sfbayarea]

hi everyone,

i apologize in advance for the long post and i wish i had a digital camera that could capture what i am about the describe as it would make things so much easier but i don''t...here''s the story.

i recently had a HOF dream diamond (cut corner square) set in a simple four prong setting. i love the diamond and the ring in general but feel that the actual setting was done in a somewhat crude and mediocre fashion.

1) the diamond is very slightly off center (when looking at a profile view from the front, diamond looks like it''s offset to the right). it is very slight as i thought i was imagining it at first but then i got out the loupe and confirmed it.
2) plus, the diamond looks like its not sitting quite level...but this i MIGHT be imagining.
3) when viewing the diamond from the table with a loupe, i can see that the prongs are not in the center of the cut corner which throws off the square shape a little bit when viewing with the naked eye. my fiance seems to think that it is harder to set this particular diamond purely because of the shape being a square with cut corners as opposed to setting a round brilliant or princess cut. we saw some settings that he did that same day of rounds and they seemed much more professional (but of course, we did not really study them that closely). wondering if any knowledgable pricescopers can attest to that (which would lead me to believe that many other setters would also have problems)?
4) the prongs are also not properly finished--there are tiny little bumps where he had to cut into them to allow the diamond girdle to sit. i''m guessing these bumps are the least of my worries and they should be pretty easy enough to polish.

will be bringing it back to the jeweler''s soon to have it looked like but i''m just not super confident that this particular setter will be able to fix it--i guess i question his skill level if it initially passed his quality control to begin with. if i am not even in the business and i could notice these things, i feel like it should definetely not have been satisfactory to the setter who is a professional in the business.

realistically what are the chances that he will be able to fix the setting? or would it be recommended that i bring it somewhere else (any recommendations in the bay area)? i worry about damage to the diamond as well as damage to the structural integrity of the setting if he has to tinker around with it so much. but i feel that with such a big purchase, the work and product should be impeccable. i would like to give him another chance to rectify the problem (especially if it truly is harder to set a cut corner square versus a round) as maybe it was just a bad day for him but i don''t want to give him a second chance if it is going to be at my expense in terms of diamond/setting damage. any thoughts?

thanks for taking the time to read...

 

[caratgirl]

You know, I totally empathize with you. I am one who is very nitpicky about setting and finishing jobs. It is rare to come across a setter that will do a very good job on prongs...sigh...it really is a shame. I don't know what to tell you about this setter. Maybe you can speak with the store owner first and explain the situation, and get his guarantee that if the setter screws up again or messes up the setting, then they will a) get someone else to re-do it at no cost to you, b) fix the prongs if they get too messed up c) worst case replace the setting for you. Now, is your stone and setting insured? Did you buy your stone from them? I just want to make sure that you are covered in case of diamond chipping or breakage by the setter.

 

[sfbayarea]

caratgirl,

thank you for taking the time to respond. we did buy the stone and the setting from the same store--kind of ironic because i actually somewhat predicted that something like this might happen. initially i saw a setting at another place that i wanted but then decided to have the entire ring made at one place just in case something went wrong with the setting...sort of knew it would be a pain to have the place that we bought the diamond from guarantee that the setting would be perfect since it'd be so easy for them to say that the setting we brought them from a competitor store was defective or poorly made. so i tried to avoid that problem by purchasing from the same place, but, look what i got myself into now!

hmmm...well, to answer your other question, the ring has already been insured so i suppose it is not a huge deal but i'd just rather not have to deal with insurance THIS early! it makes me feel better when i hear that i am not the only one that is picky with setting work...i kept thinking that i was just being a pain in the you know what. but i really don't think it's too much to ask when you're buying a nice, expensive piece of jewelery that you're planning on keeping for the rest of your life, you know?

 

[sfbayarea]

my plan right now is to have the setter try to correct his mistake and if it turns out it's unacceptable then i will request that the store cast a new setting for us and we will take it somewhere else to get it set. but i am hoping that it will not come to that! cross your fingers for me.

if anyone else has any information on the ease of setting a round versus cut corner square stone, i'm still very curious about my fiance's theory...thanks!

 

[Jaded Gem]

Hey there, sorry to hear about your troubles.

It seems that you bought the diamond and setting from the same vendor, but they produced something that was not to your expectations.

Yeah, I know the feeling. I think caratgirl had some good advice, but I hope I could also offer some to you as well. Do you have a digital camera? Maybe you can take some pictures of it from all angles or just as well wear your ring and show it to an independent appraiser. Usually they look at diamonds and tell you about the quality, certificate matching up with the diamond, etc. etc. On the other hand, a lot of appraisers know what a decent ring setting looks like, and he/she may be able to write something down about poor setting workmanship in case the jeweler you're working with now doesn't see what you're talking about or think that he/she shouldn't do anything to rectify the situation. That way you can say, "look so and so, I'm not trying to trouble you, but I don't think this was done well." If they disagree then you have evidence of another expert on what they see as a badly set diamond ring. Hey by any means, could you post any pictures? I'm not an expert, but maybe somebody else on this forum can also give you advice and pictures would always help. Good luck to you. Hope everything works out at the end.

 

[harleywoman]

Hi sfbayarea,

I really agree that you should get an appraisers opinion on paper to back up your feelings, but I have seen many mounting jobs like you are describing and they are not only unsightly, they can cause damage to your stone. If you really feel that is the best the jeweler you bought it from is capable of doing, look around for someone more skilled to reprong the setting and remount your stone. You can try to get an adjustment on the price from the other place, but if you can't, in the long run a cracked or lost stone is not worth the extra cost anyway. It sounds like your intuition was right on so don't do what I usually do and ignore it next time. Follow your heart to a better bench jeweler.

 

[diamondsR4ever]

how did you pay-if by credit card then have them remove your stone and return the setting for a refund. take your stone (if you are happy with it) to another qualified craftsman. i can tell by your complaints the person who did your setting does not have high standards.

 

[harleywoman]

Very excellent suggestion DiamondsR4ever!

Sometimes I curse my CC's but other times I'm so thankful for them.

 

[sfbayarea]

thanks for the suggestions. i'll be making a visit to the jeweler next week to see what can be done. hopefully, everything will work out!