hopefulheidi
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 335
Well this is definitely a post I never wanted to write but I would appreciate a wee spot of advice at this point because I''m not certain what to do about some disappointing results on the engagement ring my boyfriend just had custom made for me. To make a long story short, I pointed my boyfriend in the general direction of a jeweler that I''ve used a few times in the past. Just last year this individual created a custom pendant for me that matches the design of the engagement ring that I''ve been dreaming about for the past couple of years. There was a small issue with the size of the milgraining that I pointed out both in the CADs (was assured the milgrain would be smaller in person) and in photos of the finished piece. The jeweler did an amazing job of creating the piece in record time and although I was still a bit underwhelmed by the milgrain when I received the necklace, he did, in good faith and at no cost, polish it down for me to make it appear more delicate. I didn''t really have any qualms about him creating my engagement ring from inspiration photos that I sent his way.
To start off, we were told the process would take 5-6 weeks but somehow it stretched into a 16 week ordeal. Obviously this was a bit disappointing but I''m not even going to complain about that aspect as even jewelers are human and things happen. There were certainly times when my boyfriend could have been quicker to respond to the jeweler''s emails, so I''m willing to say that both parties had a hand in the protracted timeline. The first CAD of the ring was created fairly quickly but it was obvious that this jeweler had missed some of the more important details from the photos (ie the center head was sitting on top of a solid band rather than snuggled down into the band, attached to the inner portion of the shank, the scallops were round rather than elliptical etc). Of course what we wanted to accomplish with a 2 ct stone and a flat edge for the wedding band to run up against, was a bit tricky and the design of that head took forever to tweak to perfection and I''m also understanding of that fact.
I start to lose some of my patience when it comes down to issues that we pointed out on the CAD and that we were told wouldn''t be an issue in the finished piece; mainly a gap between the sides of the band and the center stones. My boyfriend mentioned his concern a couple of times and was told it wouldn''t be noticeable in real life so he signed off on the design with the expectation that this was the case. When we were sent small photos of the "finished" piece (jeweler forgot to engrave the bottom of the shank even though we had mentioned that point in our original request) we were able to see the gaps but we were again told that it wouldn''t be obvious when we saw the ring in person.
So we received the ring and my boyfriend immediately noticed that the center stone seemed a bit cockeyed and that the gap was in fact noticeable to the naked eye. Also, the portion of the shank that had been engraved was thinner than the rest of the band even though this engraveable bit was designed in to the original piece. The heads on the center stones don''t touch as they did in the CAD design so the two accent diamonds aren''t tucked underneath the center stone quite as much as I wanted. A few bits of milgraining aren''t quite straight but we''re willing to overlook that as we understand this is a custom piece.
When I broadly mentioned to our jeweler that we had some concerns about the finished piece, he was quick to tell me that my boyfriend signed off on all of the design elements so anything that we don''t like about the design can''t be changed. I totally agree with this statement as the design was our ultimate responsibility and he isn''t to be blamed for our choices. He also went on to say that "these things are not designed to be critiqued with a 10 power loupe in hand, as I don''t use that much magnification when making them" which I don''t entirely agree with. We don''t even have a loupe. We''re not looking at magnified digital images. We''re simply noticing things that are visible in normal lighting conditions at an arm''s length away. These are things that we were assured would not be an issue on the final piece which is the only reason my boyfriend signed off on them.
Which basically leads me to my question...
I would like to persue these concerns with my jeweler, but I''d like to make sure my expectations are reasonable. Technically we did sign off on the designs and the photos of the finished piece, but we only did so under the advisement of our jeweler; we trusted him at his word. When we received the ring, our concerns were realized and there are some things about the ring that we''re not quite happy about. We don''t want to cause problems with this jeweler but we''d also like the ring to be up to our standards. I also don''t want to wait another 16 weeks to get the ring back as we''re already planning our Oct ''08 wedding so I''m anxious to officially be engaged already.
In my non expert opinion, the issues that we''re noticing could quite possibly require a CAD redesign and an entire recasting (provided our jeweler is even willing to offer this as an option). Should I just write myself off as being overly critical and accept this beautiful ring, perceived flaws and all or are we right to ask that these issues be addressed as we originally mentioned them in the CAD process and we still feel they are a problem on the finished piece?
Please help me define my expectations on a custom piece of jewelry.
To start off, we were told the process would take 5-6 weeks but somehow it stretched into a 16 week ordeal. Obviously this was a bit disappointing but I''m not even going to complain about that aspect as even jewelers are human and things happen. There were certainly times when my boyfriend could have been quicker to respond to the jeweler''s emails, so I''m willing to say that both parties had a hand in the protracted timeline. The first CAD of the ring was created fairly quickly but it was obvious that this jeweler had missed some of the more important details from the photos (ie the center head was sitting on top of a solid band rather than snuggled down into the band, attached to the inner portion of the shank, the scallops were round rather than elliptical etc). Of course what we wanted to accomplish with a 2 ct stone and a flat edge for the wedding band to run up against, was a bit tricky and the design of that head took forever to tweak to perfection and I''m also understanding of that fact.
I start to lose some of my patience when it comes down to issues that we pointed out on the CAD and that we were told wouldn''t be an issue in the finished piece; mainly a gap between the sides of the band and the center stones. My boyfriend mentioned his concern a couple of times and was told it wouldn''t be noticeable in real life so he signed off on the design with the expectation that this was the case. When we were sent small photos of the "finished" piece (jeweler forgot to engrave the bottom of the shank even though we had mentioned that point in our original request) we were able to see the gaps but we were again told that it wouldn''t be obvious when we saw the ring in person.
So we received the ring and my boyfriend immediately noticed that the center stone seemed a bit cockeyed and that the gap was in fact noticeable to the naked eye. Also, the portion of the shank that had been engraved was thinner than the rest of the band even though this engraveable bit was designed in to the original piece. The heads on the center stones don''t touch as they did in the CAD design so the two accent diamonds aren''t tucked underneath the center stone quite as much as I wanted. A few bits of milgraining aren''t quite straight but we''re willing to overlook that as we understand this is a custom piece.
When I broadly mentioned to our jeweler that we had some concerns about the finished piece, he was quick to tell me that my boyfriend signed off on all of the design elements so anything that we don''t like about the design can''t be changed. I totally agree with this statement as the design was our ultimate responsibility and he isn''t to be blamed for our choices. He also went on to say that "these things are not designed to be critiqued with a 10 power loupe in hand, as I don''t use that much magnification when making them" which I don''t entirely agree with. We don''t even have a loupe. We''re not looking at magnified digital images. We''re simply noticing things that are visible in normal lighting conditions at an arm''s length away. These are things that we were assured would not be an issue on the final piece which is the only reason my boyfriend signed off on them.
Which basically leads me to my question...
I would like to persue these concerns with my jeweler, but I''d like to make sure my expectations are reasonable. Technically we did sign off on the designs and the photos of the finished piece, but we only did so under the advisement of our jeweler; we trusted him at his word. When we received the ring, our concerns were realized and there are some things about the ring that we''re not quite happy about. We don''t want to cause problems with this jeweler but we''d also like the ring to be up to our standards. I also don''t want to wait another 16 weeks to get the ring back as we''re already planning our Oct ''08 wedding so I''m anxious to officially be engaged already.
In my non expert opinion, the issues that we''re noticing could quite possibly require a CAD redesign and an entire recasting (provided our jeweler is even willing to offer this as an option). Should I just write myself off as being overly critical and accept this beautiful ring, perceived flaws and all or are we right to ask that these issues be addressed as we originally mentioned them in the CAD process and we still feel they are a problem on the finished piece?
Please help me define my expectations on a custom piece of jewelry.