Newbie needs advice! Love my stone but not my setting!

[kateofdiamonds]

My fiance really pulled out all the stops with my engagement ring. He picked out a gorgeous 2.15 carat cushion-cut center stone, which is exactly what I wanted, and had it set in a custom platinum setting with over a carat of pave side stones. However, while the DESIGN of my setting is beautiful, the craftsmanship is NOT. His discerning man-eyes saw what he thought he ordered and how sparkly it is, and failed to notice that the halo is slightly crooked, the inside of the basket is not polished, the pave is a little uneven and there are visible solder marks on the metal edge of the halo.

It is still a stunning ring, and I only noticed these things after meticulously inspecting it, but because of how wide the basket is at the base of the ring, we can''t find a wedding band that will fit around it without a huge gap. Now my fiance wants to have a custom wedding band made by the jeweler who made my e.ring. I''m contemplating having my e.ring setting completely re-done by a different jeweler, but if I told my fiance he would be crushed. I just don''t want him to go to the trouble and expense of another custom design if it''s just going to have to be redone!! Any suggestions?

 

[bgray]

Personally I would nt be able to live with the workmanship. Where, generally, do you live. We can recommend a number of top notch craftsman and jewelers throughout the country.

 

[kateofdiamonds]

Thanks, Bgray. We are in Raleigh, NC. Any great craftsmen nearby who won''t break my bank?

 

[bgray]

Raleigh-not sure? Someone can chime in I am sure. Quest Jewelers in Northern Virginia is unbelieveable and me and my mom had our things made long distance via pix over email and phone.

 

[bgray]

Kateof......

check out www.artofplatinum.com. Now this guy does PERFECT micropave.

 

[kateofdiamonds]

Of course it would be Leon Mege... sadly, in order to afford him I would have to tell the fiance I want to have the setting redone that he so lovingly designed himself. (Cries)

 

[bgray]

Date: 12/8/2009 3:01:41 PM
Author: kateofdiamonds
Of course it would be Leon Mege... sadly, in order to afford him I would have to tell the fiance I want to have the setting redone that he so lovingly designed himself. (Cries)

yes....however Quest does amazing work. I know personally and its quite affordable

 

[decodelighted]

No matter WHO you go to ... aren''t you going to have to tell him anyway? Especially because he wants to have your wedding band done at the original jeweler?! How long has it been since you''ve been engaged? Maybe this will settle down with time. We went to a different jeweler eventually to repair my e-ring after the original jeweler didn''t repair it correctly. Maybe he''ll *warm* to the idea that the ring isn''t *exactly* what he wanted ... slowly ... little by little so its not so crushing. And then - PARTY ON!

 

[emeraldlover1]

Date: 12/8/2009 3:01:41 PM
Author: kateofdiamonds
Of course it would be Leon Mege... sadly, in order to afford him I would have to tell the fiance I want to have the setting redone that he so lovingly designed himself. (Cries)

I''m so sorry the work isn''t that great. Can we see pictures? There are flaws in my Tacori ring as well and I think some of that is common with hand made rings. However what you describe is far worse than that. Can you ask the original jeweler to fix it? I highly suggest filling your fiance in if you are going to have the ring re-made. While he might have man eyes he''ll probably notice a new setting.

 

[Circe]

Kate, your username cracks me up. Are the issues with your ring the sort of thing that could be fixed by another jeweler? Solder marks can be polished away, pave can be tidied, a halo could (conceivably) be filed even. I understand your wanting to protect your FI''s feelings, but I don''t think he''ll be hurt if you tell him you love the design and sentiment and are determined to keep the ring, but just want to tidy it up a bit!

 

[MustangGal]

Could you take it back to the original jeweler and point out what you''re not happy with and ask them to fix their work? It''s probably worth a try...

 

[Liane]

Egh, sorry to hear this. I''m going through something similar at the moment (just shipped a couple of pendants back to a jeweler because the work was imperfect and it was bugging the crap out of me; hopefully that gets fixed), but that didn''t have the added complication of being a gift, and such an emotionally sensitive gift at that.

Still, a stone so expensive and so beautiful deserves a perfect setting. And your FI''s lovely design isn''t being done justice by the jeweler''s clumsy execution.

I would tell your FI basically what you told us. You love the ring, the design is beautiful, but the execution is just not up to par. It shouldn''t hurt his feelings, because the problems are not of his making and have nothing to do with his choice of beautiful stone or beautiful design; it is solely and simply that the jeweler who made it didn''t have the necessary skill to do a good job (or was too busy, or too careless, or too high on glue-huffing, whatever. We don''t know and ultimately it doesn''t matter; the finished product is all that counts).

Given that you love everything about the ring except its execution, and truly appreciate the care and expense he took in designing something so special, I think it''s fine to raise these concerns with him. I definitely would not sit silent and let him spend more money getting a matching w-band from a jeweler who didn''t do a good job on your e-ring (and a lavishly expensive e-ring, at that) in the first place.

 

[kateofdiamonds]

Thanks, bgray, I will definitely check out Quest. And yes, (sigh) I''m going to have to suck it up and tell my fiance... we''ve been engaged for seven months now, so I almost feel like I have no right to complain at this point. And honestly, I probably never would have if it weren''t for this whole wedding band issue. At first I just thought I saw "little flaws" that would be inevitable in a handmade piece, but the closer I looked at it the more I realized it looked kind of... sloppy. And it''s such a shame!! My wonderful, sweet fiance came up with this beautiful idea, (which was actually based on a Tacori design--I LOVE Tacori, EM1) got me a way bigger diamond than I ever expected, had it made in platinum, which I never expected, and then the jeweler kind of butchered it.

EM1, I will definitely try to post some close-ups tomorrow. From even a reasonable distance away it still looks stunning--the center stone makes up for a lot--which is what I''ve been telling myself since I got engaged.

Liane, I actually snort-laughed at your glue-huffing theory! And I''m sorry about your pendants.

Isn''t it so frustrating to pour hard-earned money into something and then be unhappy with it?

And Circe, I could conceivably take my ring to a different jeweler and say, "See all these problems? Can you fix them?" I''m sure the solder marks could be fixed and the inside of the basket could be polished, but there are problems that I think will live as long as this ring does... and since I''ve had the ring for seven months now, I have noticed things about its design that I would change just to make life easier, if I had it to do over. For example, the durn basket sticks out so far at the base that even curved WBs don''t fit around it, I''ve already cracked one of the small pave diamonds on the palm side of the band. Also, the "prongs" which form the basket have pave diamonds on them, but since they''re curved, the diamonds face DOWN and are essentially wasted. When will anybody ever look at my ring upside down?

 

[kateofdiamonds]

...and thank you all for your advice!