Refurb gone really wrong - what to do?

[bunnycat]

Circe that's great news! I can't wait to see some pictures!

 

[Circe]

Circe, that is very great news!!! Can't wait to see this!

I do hope in the end you can reference the good repair bench and the poor one in order to help others looking for repairs in NYC.

+1 on referencing at least the good one

Congrats on having it back!!! Will be checking back for pics!

I would love to - he's the most amazing craftsman I've ever met (seriously, he does everything from make weird little ring-size perfect tableau of the canals of Venice out of precious gems to crafting mechanical dragonflies that actually fly to carving mother-of-pearl cameos the size of the palm of your hand that you'd swear came out of Cellini's workshop). The last time I asked him if he'd mind the publicity was when he made my pendant, and he asked me not to, then ... he's one of the old-school types who didn't initially love what the internet was doing to the jewelry trade. But I will definitely ask him again!

 

[IE_Princess]

IE, I remember the pic of your ring from your thread - it is very beautiful, and I very much hope that you find a jeweler who can repair it properly. What on earth did they do to that gorgeous antique?

It's a long story. DH bought the ring in 2008 as an anniversary present; it was sold to him as a platinum diamond and emerald ring (for our platinum anniversary). A couple of years later an emerald fell out (luckily not lost) so we took it in for repair and the employee said it was a white gold ring. I recalled having seen it on their website also captioned as a white gold ring (this was soon after we bought it -- they kept it up for several years as an example of their estate offerings), but DH felt at the time that it was just a mistake on the website. Anyway, the employee showed me the shank and how it was clearly white gold as the rhodium plating had worn away. Since the owner sold it to us as a platinum ring she surmised that at some point the bottom half of the shank must have been replaced.

Fast forward to January of this year; it had always bugged me that the ring was part white gold so we took it in to have that portion of the shank replaced with platinum. We talked with the owner and he said that he hadn't known that the ring was part white gold when he sold it to DH. Unfortunately, more of the ring was white gold than they realized and they damaged the ring while using the laser. Someone (I don't know who or even who knew about it) cut the head from the rest of the ring and crafted a new platinum band (including shoulders) for the ring. The also replaced a cracked side emerald.

When I picked it up the emerald job was the first thing I noticed; it looked wrong and poorly done. Something else was off but I just didn't know what it was at first. I refused to take it home and said I would make an appointment to see the owner. Later I had my "aha" moment and realized that the entire shoulders and shank had been replaced. I couldn't even sleep that night (seriously, I got maybe two hours) and I just cried.

We had to wait more than a week for an appointment. It started off poorly but ended with them offering to do what they can to satisfy us. There is no fixing the ring because the shoulders are gone. They are putting on a new, die-struck shank, matching the emeralds and fixing the bezels. If I'm not satisfied they have offered a refund of the purchase price. I do think that the owner came up with the best solution he could and we will see where it leads us. It is taking much longer than the owner originally thought it would; they've been working on fixing their mistakes for five weeks now; they've had the ring since January.

All along communication was poor, with me doing the contacting. I kept getting put off and I think it is because of the damage and someone's unwillingness to tell me. I can't say that the owner even knew about the damage until after the fact; I simply don't know. But he is willing to do what he can to make this right (or as right as it can get), at his expense. I am trying to suspend judgment until they have finished. Little things jump out at me, like the owner mentioning that they did the rehab on the ring when it first came in (including cutting the calibre emeralds) so I don't know why they didn't know that a significant portion of the ring was white gold. But again, I don't know who supervised the initial rehab.

My ring as I loved it is gone -- I have to accept that. I can't go back and undo any of this. I have learned a lot through the process however. 1) To ask about the risks of working on an antique piece, since none were voluntarily disclosed to me. 2) To get testing done on any piece we buy or may potentially buy (if an independent assessment hasn't been done). 3) To live with imperfections; in this case it would have been preferable to keep the white gold portion of the ring and the cracked emerald rather than risk the damage. 4) To insure all my pieces. I had always felt that the ring was irreplaceable and thus never insured it. I'm really fortunate that I am working with an owner that is trying to do right by me, but it could have gone really wrong. No one touches any of my jewelry from this point forward until I have every single valuable piece appraised and insured.

We did talk to our lawyer and were advised that this would be a case for small claims court if the owner wasn't willing to work with us, but he is.

 

[backwardsandinheels]

SMTB! SMTB!

 

[Circe]

SMTB! SMTB!

Oh, I am going ALL OUT for my SMTB thread. There will be flower shots. Macaroon shots. Hell, RA-coon shots, if I can convince the local zoo to cooperate. Possibly shots of the racoon doing shots (tequila?) while admiring the ring on his ratty little paw.

But in the meantime, since it seems ... mean ... to leave you guys hanging after you've all been so nice and supportive and helped keep me from losing my mind over the course of the last three months ....

... voila! There is this strange and particular pleasure in seeing something that is done ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. If god is in the details, my custom guy is a votary, because, seriously: the stone is oriented perfectly in relation to the prongs AND he hid the messed-up faceted girdle under the prongs without my having to ask him. The milgrain is perfect, the polish is perfect, the proportions are perfect ... and I haven't even shown you the profile yet!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Ahhh, gorgeous!!! The details are perfect!!!

 

[Circe]

Even the inside of the head is perfectly polished. Even the underside of the head where it touches the finger is aesthetically pleasing. I feel so much happier, words cannot even describe.

 

[vinjewels]

WOW! looks like a brand new ring! Its making me look at the re-tip job I had done...I will take a look back thru the thread to see who you used (if its there) I may eventually have mine done on my ring. Amazing.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh my goodness! What an incredible difference!!!

 

[Circe]

P.S. - the angles of the shots aren't identical. But here is the third attempt from the first guys (I am not even going to repost images of the first try) vs. my custom guy's out-of-the-gate redo. Just to show how different two interpretations of a single design can be once you factor in, not skill, but the simple element of taking pride in one's work.

 

[GemFever]

SMTB! SMTB!

Oh, I am going ALL OUT for my SMTB thread. There will be flower shots. Macaroon shots. Hell, RA-coon shots, if I can convince the local zoo to cooperate. Possibly shots of the racoon doing shots (tequila?) while admiring the ring on his ratty little paw.

Circe, first a ♥ to you personally for making me LOL at my desk. I love it!

And of course a bunch of to your perfectly redone ring! Beautiful!

 

[IE_Princess]

SMTB! SMTB!

Oh, I am going ALL OUT for my SMTB thread. There will be flower shots. Macaroon shots. Hell, RA-coon shots, if I can convince the local zoo to cooperate. Possibly shots of the racoon doing shots (tequila?) while admiring the ring on his ratty little paw.

Circe, first a ♥ to you personally for making me LOL at my desk. I love it!

And of course a bunch of to your perfectly redone ring! Beautiful!

+1

 

[yennyfire]

Wow! It's PERFECT! While I wish you hadn't had to suffer through all of this, in the end, it's exactly as it should be! Now you can wear it for the next 60 years with total happiness! Congrats on your "new" ring! It is most well deserved!

 

[Laila619]

Amazing result!! This guy is gooooood!

 

[TC1987]

Now that's more like it. He really did a super job.

 

[Rhino]

Great news Circe and glad to see it get resolved so nicely for you.

 

[JulieN]

That's beautiful, finally!

 

[Enerchi]

YAY!! Its PERFECT now, just PERFECT!!! I'm so glad it worked out for you and now you can wear it with pride and confidence nothing will go wrong!

... and add me to the growing list who want to see the bling wearing/tequila drinking racoon bling shots!!!

 

[LibbyLA]

Circe,

I know a place where you can take shots with coons and you don't even need any special permission. It does have to be night photos, though. There's one little thing. You have to take home with you every one of them you use in your photo shoot...

liz

 

[susanrachel28]

WONDERFUL!! I haven't had a chance to read all the details yet, but the pictures are LOVELY!! I need to get your repair guys information!!!

 

[Trasid]

Circe - Your ring is fabulous!!!! I am soooooo glad you found the perfect person who fixed it correctly.

 

[sonnyjane]

Wow looking at your side-by-side comparison is like apples and oranges! So glad it came together like this in the end!

 

[Circe]

Thank you Bastetcat, DS, Gemfever, Laila, Backwards, Vinjewels, Yenny, TC1987, Rhino, JulieN, Enerchi, Liz (... seriously? I ALWAYS WANTED A PET RACOON!), SusanRachel, Trasid, SonnyJane! I continue to be over-the-moon.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Wow what an am amazingly gorgeous head. I think it looks even better than the original!

And the difference between the botched and the new is also partly the type of differences you get in mass-produced cast versus hand made, correct? Or was the new head also cast (but still presumably hand carved).

Can I ask why you opted not to use this particular artisan the first go around? Just curious.

 

[Circe]

Thanks, Dreamer! They were both custom made to fit the stone - same methods (insofar as I'm aware) which only underscores the difference. As for why I didn't go to him in the first place ... BECAUSE I AM AN IDIOT.

He's an amazing craftsman, and I didn't want to "bother" him with something as simple as building up a prong. I figured going to somebody specializing in vintage was more sensible. More fool I!

 

[hearts-arrows_girl]

Circe, it looks amazing! The delicate craftsmanship and the polish are pure perfection. Congratulations on getting it done so beautifully. They say "Good things are worth waiting for". Even if the first guys had done it right, it wouldn't have been as gorgeous and detailed as it is now. I am glad you let a true artist fix it for you!

 

[Christina...]

Hi Circe! I've been following along, but had no experience or wisdom to share, but I wanted to tell you that I'm so happy that you have your ring back and that you are thrilled with it! It's absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see many more pics!

 

[Demelza]

It looks absolutely amazing!! What a huge difference!! I am so happy for you that this is finally resolved. I hope you are promptly reimbursed by the original jeweler (?) and can finally put this all behind you.

 

[Circe]

Circe, it looks amazing! The delicate craftsmanship and the polish are pure perfection. Congratulations on getting it done so beautifully. They say "Good things are worth waiting for". Even if the first guys had done it right, it wouldn't have been as gorgeous and detailed as it is now. I am glad you let a true artist fix it for you!

Thank you, H-A_Girl! You're right, this is definitely a cut above. I would have been just as happy to have skipped the three months of stress and to have had the old head fixed ... but since this is how it's shaken out, I'm reveling in the sheer prettiness of the new design. It's got this great vintage/modern thing going on with the chunkiness and the clean lines, I love it!

Hi Circe! I've been following along, but had no experience or wisdom to share, but I wanted to tell you that I'm so happy that you have your ring back and that you are thrilled with it! It's absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see many more pics!

Thank you Christina! As soon as I get this current stack of papers out of the way, PICS THERE SHALL BE.

It looks absolutely amazing!! What a huge difference!! I am so happy for you that this is finally resolved. I hope you are promptly reimbursed by the original jeweler (?) and can finally put this all behind you.

Thanks, Demelza - you've been a rock through all this, and I can't begin to say how much I appreciate it. I haven't gotten the invoice from my custom guy yet - I think he's waiting until he finds that elusive quality marquise, he just wanted me to have something on my finger for the anniversary. So things are still a leetle tense on my end until everything's resolved. But, hey, being able to see the ring gleaming up at me does wonders as a panacea!

 

[susanrachel28]

Wow. just... WOW. I finally had a chance to look at the details and the comparison photos - and you really do say it best with "pride in one's work". It REALLY shows here! WOW!!! I am so happy for you! What a great anniversary gift!