Supposed to be platinum-apparently gold prongs!! HELP!

[NYGirl0701]

Hi there,

I got engaged 2 years ago, already married for 1.5 years...today I was looking at my engagement ring, which is platinum, and noticed gold showing through on 3 of my 4 prongs holding my princess cut diamond in the center. There are 2 trillions, 1 on each side. My hubby brought it to a local jeweler and sure enough, he said that the prongs are 18K gold and that there was probably an error when the ring was made (it is a custom $30,000 ring). We called the jeweler (who does not live locally but in Boston) and she was embarassed and said she will replace immediately. I am mad that I have to mail her my ring. I don't want to be without it and don't feel comfortable mailing such an expensive item. I am mad that my ring will be forever changed from the one that I wore when I got married. I guess I have to mail it to solve the problem but I just wanted to see anyone's advice on this story. Any jewelers have any feedback for me? Have you heard of this happening before? I am so mad because we feel cheated on such an expensive piece of jewelry.

Thx,
N.

 

[centralsquare]

That is really annoying and upsetting!! I would definitely ask if they can offer anything to you to compensate you for the trouble. It could be as little as a free jewelry cleaner or a gift card to their store. I would be upset if this happened to me but feeling like I got something for my trouble would help immensely!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Is there a structural/longevity reason to change it out? If not, you could ask for compensation in some way from the jeweler and keep the ring as is, then the sentiment is maintained and the hassel avoided.

 

[NYGirl0701]

Yes, there is a big problem w the whole look of the ring now. It is all platinum except for the prongs which are starting to appear as the 18K gold that they are. Therefore, it is starting to have a 2 tone look to it...my husband paid for a platinum ring and that is not what he got. That is why it needs to be fixed. I don't want to know what it would look like after 10 yrs of marriage and wear and tear. Here he paid the extra $ for platinum even though I would have been happy w white gold in order to avoid me having to have a ring dipped routinely and now we are dealing w a similar situation. The jeweler does need to correct the problem, and that she gave absolutely no argument about, especially because my husband has given her a lot of referrals leading to sales in the last year alone.

Thx for your responses though, I am new to this site.

 

[oldminer]

You are in an "either/or" situation. You can get a complete settlement by having the correction made or you can leave it as is and request financial compensation. The first way hurts the sentimental nature of the ring a little, but it will give you what was paid for and make you whole. The second way will make you rhodium plate the ring every two years to keep it white and matching throughout, but it will be the entire ring you were given. The jeweler will no doubt want to give you a generous partial or complete refund on the mounting, and that is a good settlement, as well. A "settlement" implies a bit of reasonable compromise on the part of the individuals involved. It is rare that any settlement pleases either party totally. Some elements cannot be addressed by making a correction now and it is not reasonable to consider the impossible.

The world is not a perfect place and a business person who wishes to do the right thing for you is a good thing. They made a mistake, or someone who does their work made a mistake, which they failed to catch, but they are willing to do what can be done, so the choices, though not totally welcomed, seem reasonable although we all recognize your distress and concern.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am so sorry this happened! Very odd that it did considering it is more common for people to have a white gold ring and ask for platinum prongs! It is hard to imagine what they were thinking!

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that many of us have sent rings and other valuable jewelry by registered mail with no issues. It is not always fast, but the item is kept under lock and key the entire time until someone at the jeweler signs for it. That is the safest way. Your jeweler may have special insurance that will allow them to send it back another way.

 

[NYGirl0701]

Thank you both for your responses. The local jeweler who looked at it assumed that the jeweler who made it must have made some mistake when soldering it and rather than starting over-which he said should have happened-he made the prongs out of the 18K gold and dipped them. The lady who sold us the ring buys diamonds and works w a jeweler who actually makes it. I will be mailing it out in the next few days to have it redone. I'd rather have it all match then have to dip it every few years. Thx for the reassurance about the mail. Insurance will be provided so that's good.

Thx for your opinions, I appreciate it.

 

[LGK]

Yeah, and don't panic if registered mail takes longer than they quote at the PO- also they can kind of suck with the scanning updates along the way. So it's easy to freak out about it while you're waiting, but it really is quite safe- just slllooooow sometimes!

Glad the jeweler is happy to fix. That doesn't always happen unfortunately- some places (not just jewerly of course!) once they have your money, they couldn't care less. Fixing it years later? Great customer service, which it sounds like you *should* get for going with a nice, high end source like that. Nothing says more about a place than how they fix mistakes.

 

[NYGirl0701]

Yeah, mailed it out today. Post office couldn't guarantee Sat but said it could even take Mon or Tues to get from NY to Boston...registered mail that is and insured for what it's worth.

Yes, I am lucky she is willing to work w me here. Although, my husband has referred 3 people in the last year who have also purchased engagement rings and wedding bands from her. He is a surgeon and works w a lot of wealthy people who are spending big bucks w her so I think that also helps my situation. Hopefully, everything works out well..it will take 3-4 weeks to get back she said but she is going to try to do it faster than that.

 

[NYGirl0701]

Oh also, the prongs aren't all gold. They were just touched up at the top by the diamond w 18k gold and that was what was peeking through...just wanted to clarify in case anyone was wondering. It wasn't very noticeable to anyone I showed it to (not in the field) but I inspect everything thoroughly whether it be my jewelry, clothing, etc. and sure enough there was a problem!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yeah, mailed it out today. Post office couldn't guarantee Sat but said it could even take Mon or Tues to get from NY to Boston...registered mail that is and insured for what it's worth.

Yes, I am lucky she is willing to work w me here. Although, my husband has referred 3 people in the last year who have also purchased engagement rings and wedding bands from her. He is a surgeon and works w a lot of wealthy people who are spending big bucks w her so I think that also helps my situation. Hopefully, everything works out well..it will take 3-4 weeks to get back she said but she is going to try to do it faster than that.

I am hoping she wasn't serious about the 3-4 weeks, because I think she should have it back to you much faster than that! I am assuming the ring is fully insured, right?

 

[swingirl]

Oh also, the prongs aren't all gold. They were just touched up at the top by the diamond w 18k gold and that was what was peeking through...just wanted to clarify in case anyone was wondering. It wasn't very noticeable to anyone I showed it to (not in the field) but I inspect everything thoroughly whether it be my jewelry, clothing, etc. and sure enough there was a problem!

You mean they were partially gold and partially platinum? Sounds like it was a "fix" for something.

 

[Amys Bling]

I totally understand not wanting to part with your ring andnot loving the idea of sending it in the mail

Like others have said either you let it be (but then you have the two tone issue), send it to ger to fix for free, or have it done locally and eat that money....

 

[NYGirl0701]

The ring is fully insured, I have an appraisal on it, and it is GIA certified from this lady that I bought it from. She buys the diamonds and works w a jeweler who took the shortcut on the prongs. She said she did not know about all of this. She is a family friend, and is a legitimate gemologist who is GIA certified.

Yes, the prongs are platinum. My local jeweler assumed that when making the ring, the temp of the platinum got too hot and it wasn't perfect so in order to not damage the diamond, the person touched up imperfections w yellow gold and dipped those parts in rhodium. 2.5 yrs later, now I can see that gold. The guy really needed to start from scratch because my local guy said that when you buy a platinum ring, it shouldn't have any "pits" at all, and should be done w a laser so that you don't run into the problem of having to touch things up. Just for anyone's interest or future reference.

 

[NYGirl0701]

Oh and I wouldn't have it fixed locally for sure!!! The ring is worth $30,000 so it is the least she can do for me after my husband paid her that kind of money for my ring such a short time ago!