Question about damaging a diamond in setting process

[Cricketcat]

I was reading another thread earlier today and have a question. What is the likelihood that a diamond will be damaged during setting and the damage is covered by a prong (be it a nick, chip, abrasion, etc.), so you don't even know it's been damaged unless for some reason the diamond becomes unset again and it gets looked at very closely. Is this kind of thing happening a rare occurrence?

 

[Karl_K]

It happens more often with princess cut or other pointed corner stones.
It is fairly rare but it happens.

 

[Skhii]

Is the jeweller required to take responsiblity and tell the customer the stone has been damaged during the setting process? Who would have to pay for it?

 

[Karl_K]

Is the jeweller required to take responsiblity and tell the customer the stone has been damaged during the setting process? Who would have to pay for it?

They should but they don't always.
It depends, usually if you buy the stone from the company doing the setting they cover it.
If your bringing in an outside diamond then it is your liability.
There are ways to arrange insurance with jewelers mutual that will cover the diamond during setting,

 

[Cricketcat]

How is the best way to arrange something like that with Jewelers Mutual? I have a ring that is insured through them. I had it set with one jeweler, but they didn't do a good job - first a crooked diamond, then when they supposedly fixed that, they didn't finish the job and left 3 out of 6 prongs unsecured. Now, it's going to be set with a higher end jeweler probably in the next week. Whenever I ask Jewelers Mutual about the setting phase, they tell me it's the jewelers responsibility, so I figure I have to hope for the best.

 

[Karl_K]

How is the best way to arrange something like that with Jewelers Mutual? I have a ring that is insured through them. I had it set with one jeweler, but they didn't do a good job - first a crooked diamond, then when they supposedly fixed that, they didn't finish the job and left 3 out of 6 prongs unsecured. Now, it's going to be set with a higher end jeweler probably in the next week. Whenever I ask Jewelers Mutual about the setting phase, they tell me it's the jewelers responsibility, so I figure I have to hope for the best.

I believe that is incorrect but before I give you bad info let me ping some people who know more about JM than I do.

 

[denverappraiser]

The usual JM policy covers 'all perils', which would include damage caused by someone working on the piece but they are the ones who get to say what's covered and what's not with every policy. They would normally reserve the right to subrogate against the jeweler and their own insurance, which adds a whole new wrinkle. JM is the largest insurer of jewelry stores by far and this would, in effect, be suing themselves. In any case, that would depend on the terms and conditions of the jeweler and the nature of the agreement you have with them.

It's a bit hard to estimate risks here. You are describing two items. Damage by the jeweler and a deliberate coverup. I used to run a tradeshop, which is a shop that does this kind of work for other jeweler. We set thousands and thousands of stones. I can't say I never had a worker who broke one but we sure never buried it when we did. Our breakage rate was WAY under 1% and I think that's true of pretty much any capable setter. As other sideways evidence, the insurance companies typically charge a premium of about 1% to cover this and a bunch of other losses and they're apparently making a profit on that deal.

As mentioned above, the biggest risk by far has to do with the points on princesses, marquise and pears. Nearly always the damage can be spotted with a microscope during the appraisal process, even if it's underneath a prong but there are exceptions here. Are you suspecting that it's broken now, meaning the first setter broke it, or are you being worried about the second setter?

 

[chrono]

Neil,
Can stone damage be spotted for stones that are bezel set or those in chevron prongs?

 

[denverappraiser]

Sometimes, but obviously it's harder. You can sometimes see the reflection of the girdle in the pavilion mains under high magnification and you can use this to effectively inspect the condition of the girdle from the inside by getting the viewing angle just right. It takes some practice and it helps if the stone is squeeky clean and you use a high power scope.

 

[chrono]

Thanks Neil. I asked because many coloured stones are bezeled and they are also softer/chippier than diamonds, so I was just wondering.

 

[denverappraiser]

The same trick works with color but obviously transparency is a big issue. You're not going to be able to do this with a typical emerald. Also, most colored stones don't take a good a polish as diamonds so the internal reflections aren't nearly as clear.

 

[WinkHPD]

How is the best way to arrange something like that with Jewelers Mutual? I have a ring that is insured through them. I had it set with one jeweler, but they didn't do a good job - first a crooked diamond, then when they supposedly fixed that, they didn't finish the job and left 3 out of 6 prongs unsecured. Now, it's going to be set with a higher end jeweler probably in the next week. Whenever I ask Jewelers Mutual about the setting phase, they tell me it's the jewelers responsibility, so I figure I have to hope for the best.

I believe that is incorrect but before I give you bad info let me ping some people who know more about JM than I do.

Just to add my personal experience to Neil's excellent answer.

JM will indeed cover the risk and subrogate against the jeweler's insurance. If they also insure the jeweler then they will not actually file the subrogation.

This was a question I asked many years ago before accepting a large setting job on a ring that I prepared the JM evaluation for insurance purposes for. If the diamond was damaged it could have put me out of business to be liable for it.

JM assured me that since I was insured by them that they would cover the damage for my client and not sue themselves or me for the damage.

As expected, no damage occurred, but I slept better for having the answer BEFORE the work was done.

Wink