Risk of Damage During Setting?

[skeeve47]

I recently bought a 2.4 ct very nice princess stone off of pricescope (from ADOL). I am having it set next week and the local jeweler I''m working with is farming out the job to a guy who works at the best store in town. In any case, the jeweler is very nervous and says that I have to assume the risk of damage. He explained that 99.9% of the time there is no problem, but because of the replacement cost of the stone he''s not willing to assume the risk.

So I am wondering: is 99.9% accurate? Is this common, or should I try to get insurance beforehand? Thanks for any advice..

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Insurance beforehand will give you peace of mind.

The chances are small, but they do happen. The points on the princess cut are the problem. You have to notch the prongs JUST right, and set it JUST right. Most the times it's not a problem for a pro, but I've seen plenty of less than professional jewelers screw it up.

 

[dbretton]

Why should you assume responsibility for the damage of your goods performed by a working professional whose occupation is to perform services of this very nature?

This is analagous to a framer damaging a precious painting or an electrician performing a wiring mistake and burning down a house.

It may very well be that your insurance would cover you, but the insurance company would be suing the framer/electrician for negligence.

The very moment a jeweler/salesman states that you are responsible for the damage a diamond may incur while in his possession, you should pick up your business and leave.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Because of the volume factor, value factor and risk factor involved in their work, diamond setters and diamond cutters can not get insurance to cover the process. Private individuals can, and should, get insurance to cover their diamonds just as you would get insurance to cover a valuable painting.

The courts have ruled time after time that all precious stone setting and cutting is done at the customer's risk. The client is banking on the ability of the tradesman doing the work. Insurance is the medium designed to cover this risk.

When you look at it objectively, it's unreasonable to expect a tradesman who is making $30 profit to be responsible to pay thousands of dollars out if the stone should break. No one would volunteer to set stones if they had to personally assume that kind of liability.

I know many setters who have made some sort of recompense to the client when the stone has broken upon setting, but they do that purely out of their own sense of responsibility, when they can afford to. No court would force them to do so if it came down to it.

The obligation is upon the client to cover all risks to his valuable possession with insurance.

 

[mike04456]

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On 8/27/2003 7

8:39 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:
The courts have ruled time after time that all precious stone setting and cutting is done at the customer's risk. The client is banking on the ability of the tradesman doing the work. Insurance is the medium designed to cover this risk.

When you look at it objectively, it's unreasonable to expect a tradesman who is making $30 profit to be responsible to pay thousands of dollars out if the stone should break. No one would volunteer to set stones if they had to personally assume that kind of liability.

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Richard is correct here, and it is for precisely the reason he cites. The courts have held that it is unreasonable for a stone cutter or setter to be forced to act as an insurer for damage to a diamond when he or she is being paid such comparatively small sums for the work. Diamond owners have sued cutters who broke their diamonds on the cutting wheel and have repeatedly lost. This is understood in the trade and usually explicit when dealing with consumers. Insuring that risk is for insurance companies who can quantify it and spread their losses around.

Only in a case of gross negligence could I foresee any kind of recovery, and even then I would not bet against the jeweler.

 

[fire&ice]

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On 8/27/2003 7

8:39 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:

Private individuals can, and should, get insurance to cover their diamonds just as you would get insurance to cover a valuable painting.

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Rich, many insurer's will not insure a loose stone. Mine did. He was pretty freaky about it though. He told me to keep it in the safety deposit box & let him know the minute it was set. I think the only reason he did insure was because he has all of our business.

Funny thing, it was a non-issue if the stone was set & then reset. He was more concerned about total loss than loss associated w/ a chip resulting in a recut.