how common is diamond switching?

[sweetpea&babycorn]

i am about to drop off a ring at a jeweler''s to get rebuffed and repolished. since they are backed up with other clients and repairs, they said i would have to wait a week before it would be ready. i picked this jeweler because it was where we bought the ring from and they are very nice, local, and knowledgable.

however, i''ve heard some concerns and even some horror stories about people who drop off a ring and get their diamond switched out (!!!). i''m curious, does anybody know how common this is? should i be worried? i''m pretty sure the diamond has a GIA inscription on it (of course i can''t be really sure) but the idea of getting it switched sounds horrible!

thanks in advanced!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/22/2010 3:17:35 PM
Author:sweetpea&babycorn
i am about to drop off a ring at a jeweler's to get rebuffed and repolished. since they are backed up with other clients and repairs, they said i would have to wait a week before it would be ready. i picked this jeweler because it was where we bought the ring from and they are very nice, local, and knowledgable.

however, i've heard some concerns and even some horror stories about people who drop off a ring and get their diamond switched out (!!!). i'm curious, does anybody know how common this is? should i be worried? i'm pretty sure the diamond has a GIA inscription on it (of course i can't be really sure) but the idea of getting it switched sounds horrible!

thanks in advanced!

Diamond switching is extremely rare from what I understand. I would say if you are uncomfortable with a particular jeweller then find another but there are things you can do. Ask the jeweller to go over the diamond with you and map any visible inclusions, also if you have your own loupe and or you can see an inclusion with the loupe or the naked eye, that can serve as an indentifying feature. If the stone does have an inscription then that would help also. I wouldn't worry too much with your cushion being switched, trust but verify is the best advice I can give.

 

[bagelboy]

I am no expert by any means, but switching diamonds today is mostly a myth. A hundred years ago, when good loupes were fewer and the average joe did even know that most diamonds have inclusions and far more trusting than today made it very easy for a few crooks. To really pull this stunt off, you have to find a very similar but cheaper diamond. And hope never to be found out. In real life, it is far easier just to price his labor or products a little higher and make his money that way. ID theft is the real theft I would worry about today. Just know your inclusions by memory if you would like.

 

[Venice]

Can you keep your ring until they are ready to work on it, or drop it off the night before? If you don''t have a loupe, have the jeweler look it over with you and show you the inscription and any unique characteristics of your diamond before you leave it. Look at it again when you get it back.

 

[denverappraiser]

People worry about this WAY more than what the evidence supports in terms of real risk.
It’s helpful to look at the behavior of the insurance companies, since this is a covered loss under pretty much every policy. A typical policy costs about 1% of the declared value to cover ALL of their risks and have money left over for a profit. The biggest risk is theft, and this would be a part of that, but even if we assign half the thefts to jewelers, we’re talking about them estimating their risks to be below 0.5%/year. Possibly quite a bit less since they’re making a profit on this deal. That’s not zero, but it is pretty small and it gets even smaller if you use any level of common sense in choosing your jeweler.

Get it appraised and documented, get it insured, and then don’t worry about it too much. That won’t stop that one out of a thousand thief, but it’ll make it someone else’s problem. Inspect it with the jeweler when you drop it off, inspect it again when you pick it up and you'll be fine.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[sweetpea&babycorn]

thanks everyone! sorry if it was a dumb question, i don''t know too much about the industry, but i do love the sparklies!

lorelei - the ring that we are sending is not the ring with my cushion. it''s actually a different ring that we are consigning and the diamond is an RB.

i will make sure to have the jeweler go through the diamond with me, and have them repeat it when i pick it up. unfortunately, we didn''t get the ring independently appraised (yet) since the closest one to use is almost 3 hours away.

i wish i didn''t have to wait a week, but i called several jewelers in our area who quoted us the same amount of time, and i haven''t worked with them before. with this jeweler, we''ve done business with them in the past and they seem great

thanks for the feedback all!

 

[Kaleigh]

Not a dumb question, it''s only dumb if you don''t ask!!!

Here is what should happen when you drop your stone off...

They take your stone and go over it''s plot with you and mark the inclusions on the In Take ticket...

Once you get it back, they go over those inclusions, showing you the stone you got back is indeed your''s..

Honestly?? Jewelers are soooo not going to risk their long and hard reputation over switching your stone...

HTH< good luck and welcome to PS.