How safe is it to leave loose diamonds at jewellers?

[shara]

I bought some expensive loose diamonds.

I also have a design for ring and studs. Based on that I bought these loose diamonds.

My questions:

Is it safe to leave these diamonds at the jewellers. How do I identify that they have used my stones when i placed the order? Any tips and tricks to do that?

Could I ask them to first make the gold ornament, which is the stud or the ring, and then approach them with my loose diamonds so that all they would need to do is to set the stones?

What is prong setting? Do the jewellers actually need my stones handy to do their initial work?

Please give me some detailed information on this and also how I could get round setting stones making sure that they are my stones and not replaced ones. Thank You.

 

[mandyd]

This is not an ideal situation if you don't know your jeweller personally. There is no way to tell if the diamonds are going to be the same ones you gave. In this situation you would need to go to a very reputed jeweller, give a local address and not let on that you don't live in India. Since i don't have any idea of how many diamonds and how large they are it is difficult to come up with a solution but a foolproof solution would be to buy cubic zirconia's in the exact same size and have them made and then have them replaced with the diamonds when you return to the US. If the diamonds are large you could ask them to make the item and then have the diamonds set in front of you, but this would depend on whether the jeweller would be willing to do so, depending on the size and design. Without knowing more about the diamonds and which city in India you intend to do this, I cannot give you a more precise answer.

 

[kenny]

Is it safe to leave these diamonds at the jewellers. How do I identify that they have used my stones when i placed the order? Any tips and tricks to do that?

If the diamonds have lab reports with plot inclusions bring in the reports and Xerox copies and have the store manager examine the diamonds under the loupe to verify they match the reports.
Have them weight and measure the stones.
Have him/her put in writing on your receipt that they have verified the reports and the stones match. (include report numbers and specs)
Leave the report copies with them.

When you pick up the jewelry have the same person meet you and both of you should immediately verify the inclusions and measurements match the reports again.
Obviously you can't weigh them but the diameter can often be verified.

If you do not have confidence in your ability to match stones to reports bring a knowledgeable friend or even hire a pro to go with you.

If your stones do not have reports send them to a reputable lab to get grading reports first.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Any customer of ours who questions my staff in this manner is politely suggested that they should find a jeweller they can trust. If they can not tell that being surrounded by many millions of dollars worth of diamond jewellery would indicate that several thousand people trust us.....................

But if you are dealing with a small cheapest vendor in town who is likely on the brink of bankruptcy..................

If you feel this way then it is likely the job may not turn out anyway.
For example many people on this board trust their diamonds to delivery boys to and from countries and jewellery makers of repute who would be bankrupted by a claim of switching stones.

You can alsways have an appraiser send your stone to the maker and have the maker send it back immediately after setting - a good approach anyway incase of damge during setting.

 

[shara]

Thank You all.

 

[Lookinagain]

OP did you buy these in India and don't live there? I don't see that information in your post but the first reply seems to indicate that. I think answers will vary based upon that info.