Minor disaster-is my ring ruined?

[MarionC]

Got my platinum ring back with damaged prongs. It's 35yr old "shared setting" Tiffany 5 stone ring. The outer prongs are wide, flat "slabs". The ring felt a little rough after the down-sizing so I looked at it under the loupe. One outer prong has a hole melted in it so you can see the side of the diamond poking through and the other prong has a big gouge in it. I am heartsick. This was my Mother's wedding ring that I finally had sized so I could wear it.

The guy who sized it made me a wonderful & perfect ring about 20 years ago, so I felt I would not trust the ring to anyone else. A big Mistake. What do I do now? How do I prove he did it and will the ring have to be rebuilt?
The kicker is that I didn't even want him to polish the ring because I wanted the ring to have the patina and be exactly as my Mom wore it.
This sucks.

 

[MarionC]

also... the detail on the metal around the last diamond on one side is gone. The metal previously wrapped roundly around the stone, now it's just a flat place on the ring. I guess what he did was size the ring by cutting the shank near the diamonds, not on the "bottom side". I had asked that the engraving, serial # and logo not be disturbed.
I'll take the ring in to show them and then call my insurance company. I don't want that guy near my ring again! sure don't want to pay for a new Tiffany setting. Have no idea what to do, except try to chill out.

 

[Tourmaline]

Ack! How sad.

 

[MarionC]

Ack! How sad.

Thanks. The guy made me a perfectly executed & beautiful wedding set from scratch years ago. Guess he's getting old
and had a *whoops* : )
I looked on Yahoo and there was a similar complaint recently. I appreciate your response. It helps.

 

[Laila619]

Oh gosh, so sorry.

I had a ring botched by a local jeweler too, although it wasn't a priceless heirloom like yours. I called the store up and demanded my money back for the work they did, but I never got my ring fixed. I'm not really sure what you can do in these situations. I hope DenverAppraiser sees this so he can offer some guidance.

 

[VRBeauty]

I'm very sorry. It must have broken your heart when you saw what had happened to your mother's ring.

Are you near a Tiffany's? It's a long shot, but you could take it in to them to see whether they can do any sort of restoration.

I think the other option would be to send it to one of the fine jewelers who specialize in period-look rings for restoration. They might be able to restore the damaged part without dismantling the entire ring. SingleStone in Los Angeles comes to mind.

Please see if you can post a picture of the damage.

 

[MarionC]

here's one side. This is a bar-set ring and there is supposed to be a solid bar here. There is a hole in the bar and you can see the edge of the diamond.

 

[MarionC]

I have an appointment tomorrow to look at the ring with the person who did the appraisal recently. He does not recall any damage or says he would have noted it.
The following day I have an appointment with the person who sized it.
The appraisal person, who is also a gemologist & jeweler, said not to worry. It can be made good as new...or...um...old.

 

[MarionC]

I'm very sorry. It must have broken your heart when you saw what had happened to your mother's ring.

Are you near a Tiffany's? It's a long shot, but you could take it in to them to see whether they can do any sort of restoration.

I think the other option would be to send it to one of the fine jewelers who specialize in period-look rings for restoration. They might be able to restore the damaged part without dismantling the entire ring. SingleStone in Los Angeles comes to mind.

Please see if you can post a picture of the damage.

Good ideas, and thanks. I did post one photo.

 

[MarionC]

Oh gosh, so sorry.

I had a ring botched by a local jeweler too, although it wasn't a priceless heirloom like yours. I called the store up and demanded my money back for the work they did, but I never got my ring fixed. I'm not really sure what you can do in these situations. I hope DenverAppraiser sees this so he can offer some guidance.

thanks. It's a frustrating experience no matter what! I can still wear the ring and I hope the appraiser tells me it's OK to wear. I think the stones on the end are stable. Just part of this ring's long history
I've gotten more philosophical since this morning!

 

[MarionC]

I feel as though I talking to myself making so many posts in a row, but here is the end of the story:

I took the ring to it's original appraiser. He and 2 other jewelers looked at the ring. They finally concluded that when the ring was sized down almost 2 sizes, the metal cracked and various things happen with, and had to be done to, the end-stone bars.
BUT the ring is safe to wear, the stones are still secure. They offered to reconstruct it properly for $175.

I went back to the place that sized the ring and got my $200 sizing fee back [it was a set] and, incidentally, passed on their offer to work further on the ring. I will wear it "as is".
Not sure what the lesson is - but maybe this is it: from now on I will photograph any & all jewelry before leaving it with anyone and I will loupe-check the same jewelry in-store before paying.

 

[junebug17]

Jimmianne, I've been following your thread but didn't really have anything constructive to offer so I didn't comment - thank you for coming back with the update, it's great the store refunded your money, that's a decent chunk of change! Glad you seem to be feeling a bit better, but I am very sorry this happened, especially to such a special and sentimental piece.

 

[VRBeauty]

Jimmianne - please treat yourself to "reconstructive surgery" for your precious ring! Don't let yourself just get used to the ring as it is now - honor yourself and your mother by getting it restored to its original condition!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Jimmianne - please treat yourself to "reconstructive surgery" for your precious ring! Don't let yourself just get used to the ring as it is now - honor yourself and your mother by getting it restored to its original condition!

+1000

And my advice from here on out is to only let Tiffany work on it. In the case of signed pieces, it is always best for the original designer/jeweler to do work on the ring. It is worth the price.

 

[junebug17]

Jimmianne - please treat yourself to "reconstructive surgery" for your precious ring! Don't let yourself just get used to the ring as it is now - honor yourself and your mother by getting it restored to its original condition!

+1000

And my advice from here on out is to only let Tiffany work on it. In the case of signed pieces, it is always best for the original designer/jeweler to do work on the ring. It is worth the price.

Oh yes, I agree Jimmianne, I think you should have it restored too!

 

[MarionC]

Jimmianne - please treat yourself to "reconstructive surgery" for your precious ring! Don't let yourself just get used to the ring as it is now - honor yourself and your mother by getting it restored to its original condition!

+1000

And my advice from here on out is to only let Tiffany work on it. In the case of signed pieces, it is always best for the original designer/jeweler to do work on the ring. It is worth the price.

Oh yes, I agree Jimmianne, I think you should have it restored too!

Thanks for your support!. I'll contact them. [On their website they request that repairs be shipped to the main shop for evaluation and pricing].
Although I imagine it will be quite a bit more than $175... even that seemed a bit high to just laser-repair 2 small holes and polish out the repair. Guess I won't know until I try.

 

[Circe]

I was just about to suggest finding someone with a laser ... you're way ahead of me. I hope they can fix it for you: botched repairs are the worst.

 

[MarionC]

I was just about to suggest finding someone with a laser ... you're way ahead of me. I hope they can fix it for you: botched repairs are the worst.

thanks, Circe.