Loose/rattling diamond after two months

[jac81]

My fiancée’s princess-cut diamond is loose (you can hear a rattling noise) after two months. When I ordered it from Blue Nile (one of their Signature Diamonds), they had called the day it was supposed to ship and left a voicemail. When I returned the call later that night, they said they wanted to let me know that there was difficulty in setting the ring – there was a “pressure sensitive inclusion” or feather near a corner. They said that it was “level 3” severity – supposedly they won’t sell anything higher than that. However, they wanted to make sure I received the ring on time, so they had went ahead and shipped it.

We didn’t notice anything wrong with the ring when we received it. I called Blue Nile after we noticed the rattling noise two months later and they said that if I shipped it to them ($25 - $30 out of my pocket after insurance), they would fix it and return ship it for free. I haven’t taken it yet to any place locally to see what the exact problems is and the cost.

I was wondering if anybody thinks that this may be a recurring problem. I’m not a jewelry expert, but thought that if the prongs can’t be as tight as they should be, then there’s a high likelihood that the diamond will more easily become loose. Any suggestions? My fiancée doesn’t want this to be a recurring problem, and thinks we should find out if we can just replace the diamond.

Thanks.

 

[:)]

Maybe take it to an independent appraiser for a look? (a real independent one, not one who sells jewelry) If it were a problem with setting the appraiser may be able to tell, then you may have an argument for BN to absorb the whole cost. The appraisal would cost you $ though.

 

[stone-cold11]

Get it appraised? Maybe it is a loose setting or maybe the stone is already chipped?

 

[stone-cold11]

Also, I think you could ask BN to absorb the cost if it is their workmanship problem.

 

[honey22]

Ditto - I would get is appraised. Has she given it a knock or dropped it? Maybe the inclusion got worse or chipped. I would certainly not wear it until you get it fixed.

If if turns out to be BN workmanship, I would def try to recover the costs of shipping the ring back to them.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/9/2008 7:49:13 PM
Author: honey22
Ditto - I would get is appraised. Has she given it a knock or dropped it? Maybe the inclusion got worse or chipped. I would certainly not wear it until you get it fixed.


If if turns out to be BN workmanship, I would def try to recover the costs of shipping the ring back to them.


Good luck and keep us posted.

Ditto. Unfortunately after this long it might be something your FI did to the ring. But if you can get BN or an appraiser to acknowledge that it was set that way or sold to you that way, then you might have more leverage with BN. Otherwise it'll be hard to prove that your FI didn't do it...unfortunately diamonds can and do get chipped/loosen with a good thwack sometimes.

 

[oldminer]

Obviously, BN had tepidations about over-tightening the diamond in the first place. Many diamonds get loose while someone is wearing them, especially ones which were set with less than maximum tightness to begin with. It could well be truthful that this diamond has a weak point and BN does not want to break it. If you go to your local jeweler and he breaks it, then BN is off the hook. If you spend the bucks for shipping to BN, you will be far better off. Don't risk damage to the diamond from a different repair shop.

 

[jac81]

Just wanted to provide an update on my situation. So when I spoke to BN about the rattling diamond and asked about taking it to a local jeweler, they told me that no jeweler would touch it and instead send it to BN to fix. So I asked them why they shipped the diamond to me in the first place if the problem was that severe...they had assured me after they shipped it that everything was fine and that if anything happened to the diamond because of the inclusion, then it would be covered since it was one of their Signature diamonds. It turns out that they meant anything that happened in the next 30 days - half of that time the ring was sitting in the box, so obviously nothing was probably going to happen to it.

Anyway, to make a long story short, a supervisor called me back after I complained enough and said they would replace the diamond, so I''m sending the ring back and paying for the difference between the old and new diamond. Ultimately though, BN''s customer service did not come close to what I was expecting.