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Jeweler broke my wife's diamond... what to do?

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markw

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May 13, 2001
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Hi all. I need some advice here.My wife decided to get her engagement diamond re-set. During re-setting, her jeweler broke off .03 points off the bottom of the diamond. The diamond originally had a superior cut, but now lets a lot of light through and has lost much of it's sparkle. The jeweler has offered to replace the diamond, but my wife decided to buy it back at it's value now (according to the jeweler's estimate) and get the free replacement too. My question is:- The original diamond was originally a VS2 E princess cut 38 points (my wife opted for a smaller stone with better clarity--it had a remarkable sparkle).- The jeweler is offering a VS2 G replacement, and selling her old diamond back repaired as a VS2 G 36 points (the the diamond was also appraised as a "G").? What is the dollar difference between a VS2 E 38 point & VS2 G 38 point diamond? Will the fact that the old diamond needs repair further diminish its value? Why would the jeweler sell me an "E" diamond that appraises as a "G" diamond?I'm worried we're getting ripped off here. Any advice on how we should proceed, diamond gurus?
 

Iiro

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 7, 2000
Messages
204
Hi,My thoughts
smile.gif
I do not take any risk when doing repairs to customers jewellery. The risk is always customers.If a diamond gets chipped or damaged in the prosess it is customes loss, not mine. Has never happened yet, but it may happen some day.
S
 

Garry H (Cut Nut)

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
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Aug 15, 2000
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18,418
Sorry James you missed my point.Who said the original stone was an E ?Maybe the jeweller is saying he calls it a G ? and therefore is replacing it with a diamond of the same color - I would suggest that Mark checks this out personally and examines the replacement to see if it is the same color, face down in a grading paper and with a grading light.I see lots of D-E's that I call G and H.This stone is unlikely to have been certified.
garry
 

Wizard

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 15, 2001
Messages
5
In the legal sense, mentioning the tort of conversion might persuade the jeweller to pay you the value of the diamond before she damaged it and based on her original E colour appraisal. Take the money and buy the best cut, carat, colour and clarity combination from elsewhere. I suspect that your wife will always have bad feelings and it might be better to make a clean break.
 

Garry H (Cut Nut)

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
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18,418
Sounds to mme that the jeweller is saying your E is actually a G.
If that is the case (and he is selling it to you at a G price then he seems to be doing the right thing.Ask to see your chipped stone face down in a diamond color grading 'paper' with master stones. this is how we grade color.
if it is a G not an E then you have no problem.
Do a search here for G VS2 .38ct and you will find the range of prices. Search for H&A's to find the prices of the best cuts too, and then you will find the internet value of the original stone.The value of the chipped stone is
1. recut weight at its color and clarity (clarity sometimes improves, color will stay the same)
2. minus cost of recutttinghope this helps.
garry
 

markw

Rough_Rock
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May 13, 2001
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Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies.My original point was she (the jeweler) sold the diamond to me as an E. It then appraised as a G. This seems strange to me. I paid for an E (the price checks out against other E stones of similar characteristics) and it appraises as a G. I'm no expert but this stone is colorless, and i did compare it with 6 other stones (not masters) in a folded piece of paper. I'm proceeding on the assumtion she appraiser made a mistake (he appraised it in a setting), as he also gave us an extra point, and she (the jeweler) wasn't trying to pull a fast one.She did not have a cert for the diamond, claimed that nobody certifies diamonds under a carat (a lie?). When i insisted on a cerified diamond she then showed me a cert claiming it was for my diamond but refused to give me a copy. Fishy, no?The broken diamond has a chunk out of the lower facet. The jeweler (same one who broke it sold it to us) will polish it, not recut it. So, how much less will this diamond be worth (estimate), essentially damaged and NOT recut but polished (so we can tell if we're getting a fair deal on buying back this damaged stone)?Thanks in advance.
 

Garry H (Cut Nut)

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Aug 15, 2000
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18,418
Sounds like you are happy with all the goings on (strange as they sound) so I will stick to the question.
>>Get the stone re-polished and see if you can tell any difference with your naked eye.
If you can then price it off pricescope as an I1 or I2 for its new weight.
If you cant see it and you want the stone because it is your original stone then look for a fair discount from a retail price.
Remember too that the internet prices are lower than is fair to expect a retailer to sell you a diamond for.
Does that sound fair?
garry holloway
 

markw

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2001
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3
Thanks again, folks. We're waiting for new stones to come in, and I'll use eveything I've learned here to make sure we're satisfied.
 

jamesd

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2001
Messages
106
Your original diamond was an E. If the jeweler just replaced it with a G you would lose money.To compensate it appears that the jeweler is selling back the repaired diamond as a G rather than the E it really is. The reduced price for that compensates for the reduced color of the replacement diamond and you don't lose money because of the lower color of the replacement.It also sounds as though the jeweler is accepting the risk of damage in recutting, which is unlikely but possble. That is a good thing.Not a bad deal from the sound of it, as long as the free replacement is as attractive as the original diamond in spite of the color difference.If you weren't buying back the original the jeweler would have to find some other way to compensate you for the color difference. As it is, you have an easy solution by adjusting the price of the buy back.This makes more sense to me than the option Garry suggested. Thoughts from those in the trade?
 

jamesd

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2001
Messages
106
Well, Mark clarified that and Sibelious gave a fair expression of common opinion that it is the customer's risk, so getting anything is way better than being told tough luck.Mark, sounds as though Garry is giving a fair enough number for polished but not recut, remembering that I'm a consumer and he's the pro.A couple of grades out on color for a mounted appraisal doesn't worry me and I'd hope the appraiser would err on the low side if in doubt.You can easily get stones way below one carat certified by GIA. The several weeks it can take and the extra cost on relatively low value diamonds are sufficient reasons why the store might not do it routinely. I don't like the sound of saying it was the right certificate but not letting you have a copy.
 
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