Ring broke - What would you expect?

[MrsFS]

My husband bought my e-ring, wedding band, and an anniversary band from one of the forum vendors. My daughter is getting engaged and I'm going to help her bf with the ring. We were talking about settings and she likes mine (2mm knife edge) but I have a pear, she wants a round. As we're looking at my ring, I notice the head and the shank are not attached on one side.
It looks as though the solder broke.
I contacted the vendor. They have a "lifetime warranty." They say I can purchase a shipping label from them and that there may be a "small fee" for the repair. And they asked if I have insurance. The ring is almost 4 years old.
What would you expect? The vendor to fix it free of charge? That I should pay for the repair?
Also, my daughter is not sure she wants that setting after she saw the damage, but I'm wondering if rings like that come with heads that accommodate round diamonds and they had to change mine for a different shape, causing them to have to solder it on either side. Would that not be an issue with a round? Not sure we're going to use this vendor until we see how my issue is handled as I've seen a few complaints about them and our initial interactions were not the best, but the owner did make it right.
Any thoughts?

 

[madelise]

What does the lifetime warranty entail?

I don't think jewelers need to pay for themselves to fix things that break due to normal wear and tear or accidents. That's like taking your dress back to the store after you've worn it and washed it multiple times because the fabric's ripped. Things happen. Rings are meant to be worn. And while they're worn, they may be damaged.

I should know. I broke my engagement ring 2 times before getting married, then one more time half a year later. I also misshapened my wedding ring. And I've broken the shank on another RHR, broken a .20ct diamond on an eternity band (yes CRACKED the diamond!), and who knows what else I can't recall right now.

If it broke within a short period of time since you've received it, ie, it may be due to manufacturing defects, yes the jeweler should cover it. If it's lived a nice life, no, it should be on you.


Now this is all a moot point if this jeweler's "lifetime warranty" covers 100% of all accidents and wear/tear..

 

[madelise]

Re your daughter: she shouldn't be concerned. Accidents happen. Just cus my friend crashed her car doesn't mean I will.

 

[oldminer]

Very little to nothing is guaranteed forever. A separation of a solder joint such as this is something that does not occur often. While one could say it is a defect in manufacture, it could be argued that factors beyond the control of the maker might have influenced the separation. A major cause of such failure is soaking in chlorinated pool water or a hot tub. Chlorine often interacts with gold alloys to create brittle solder joints and brittle metal overall. This may not be the case with your ring, but is just one example of several why something unexpected can happen.

 

[Austina]

Has the ring ever been resized? I just wonder in case that's affected the integrity of the mount.

 

[tyty333]

I am curious to what the Life Time Warranty says? In general, after 4 years of ware I would expect
that the cost of repair would be on you (but it really depends what the LTW says). Do not invoke
insurance for this...I would consider it a minor repair. I would not expect it to be too expensive.

Edit... curious to how wide your band is? 2mm or wider?

 

[Tophat1]

I would expect a warranty to cover that, after four years of wear and without any work on the piece (if that's the case)

Shipping will probably be on you though

 

[MrsFS]

Thanks for the replies.
The ring is 2mm and it has not been resized. The only work done was when it was purchased - they put a gold head on the platinum ring (which was strange because it was ordered as a platinum ring, not sure why the head would be gold) and they had to change it to a platinum head.
I do not soak in chlorine with it and I wish I had a hot tub!
I guess I will just have to see what they say when I send it to them.

 

[FeFeV]

What does the lifetime warranty entail?

I don't think jewelers need to pay for themselves to fix things that break due to normal wear and tear or accidents. That's like taking your dress back to the store after you've worn it and washed it multiple times because the fabric's ripped. Things happen. Rings are meant to be worn. And while they're worn, they may be damaged.

I should know. I broke my engagement ring 2 times before getting married, then one more time half a year later. I also misshapened my wedding ring. And I've broken the shank on another RHR, broken a .20ct diamond on an eternity band (yes CRACKED the diamond!), and who knows what else I can't recall right now.

If it broke within a short period of time since you've received it, ie, it may be due to manufacturing defects, yes the jeweler should cover it. If it's lived a nice life, no, it should be on you.


Now this is all a moot point if this jeweler's "lifetime warranty" covers 100% of all accidents and wear/tear..

Great response! I learned during the ring deciding and buying process that it is VERY important to choose a ring style and setting that truly accommodates your real lifestyle. My DH was over encouraging for me to design a full two row eternity ring for my wedding band... He knows that I'm super hands on and not delicate, but he also really wanted my wedding ring to be a fantasy "dream" piece of jewelry even if it's impractical. My better judgement designed a beautiful double row 3/4 eternity ring with a super heavy palm side ring band to balance out the diamond weight. I am so happy I went this way! My ring is so sturdy, heavy, and resists being misshapen from heat and wear. I rock climb and free hang off of mountains with my 6ct ring glinting in the sunlight and no worries of damage to palm side diamonds! Considering your true lifestyle when purchasing permanently worn, daily jewelry is an important (often overlooked) factor to choosing.

 

[LLJsmom]

Great response! I learned during the ring deciding and buying process that it is VERY important to choose a ring style and setting that truly accommodates your real lifestyle. My DH was over encouraging for me to design a full two row eternity ring for my wedding band... He knows that I'm super hands on and not delicate, but he also really wanted my wedding ring to be a fantasy "dream" piece of jewelry even if it's impractical. My better judgement designed a beautiful double row 3/4 eternity ring with a super heavy palm side ring band to balance out the diamond weight. I am so happy I went this way! My ring is so sturdy, heavy, and resists being misshapen from heat and wear. I rock climb and free hang off of mountains with my 6ct ring glinting in the sunlight and no worries of damage to palm side diamonds! Considering your true lifestyle when purchasing permanently worn, daily jewelry is an important (often overlooked) factor to choosing.

You go FeFeV. That is awesome!!

 

[oldminer]

Ah, a new fact has emerged and may be of importance. There looks to be some solder with a bit of color on the shank end that has detached. That might be gold solder since the original head, installed in error, was a gold one. There are platinum solders which likely would have given that joint higher strength, but since gold solder was used first possibly the manufacturer just re-soldered using a gold solder joint. That might have been inherently less well joined than a platinum based solder joint. It ought to be a fairly inexpensive repair and shipping by this time is going to be on you. This repair, done right, should never fail in the future.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Considering that they changed the head and changed metals I'm thinking that with a 'lifetime guarantee' this repair may be on them. It doesn't look to be something that you did and I'm guessing that the position of the break would indicate a weak spot. However, the repair itself shouldn't be difficult and the cost minimal at any rate. Please keep us posted as to their response and good luck! I definitely wouldn't turn this into insurance though - the repair could possibly be less than your deductible - if you have one - and I wouldn't want future premiums based on this type of repair.

 

[totallyfree]

Assuming the repairs are the responsibility of the jeweller, I would expect shipping to be on the customer as your location isn't their responsibility.

Hopefully you can get a timely repair - I hate it when my jewellery breaks!