The Jeweler Chipped My Diamond!!!!

[lewood]

The unthinkable has happened, and my simple repair of my channel set band shank turned into a nightmare. Apparently while work was being done to the shank of the ring, the outer diamond in the channel set was horrible chipped....the diamonds are fairly large considering it's a 1 ct. with 11 diamonds. I noticed immediately and about fell to the floor. I get married next weekend. The jeweler was flabergasted and immediately tried to make it right. He sent it to a "specialist" to have the diamond changed out for a new one.........

......BUT I'M SUPER WORRIED.....because I heard that it's rarely successful to replace a diamond in a channel set band!!!!!!!! My jeweler said it is not an easy job and rarely turns out perfect, which makes me sick to my stomach. This just doesn't seem fair; I can't believe this is happening.

Someone please tell me that everything will be OK and my wedding band will turn out great. Did I mention those were special diamonds that my FI used to custom make my channel set band? Yes, they were from an anniversary band he got me years ago.....again, I am sick to my stomach over this.

Experts please fill me in on what happens when you replace a diamond in a channel set band- what's the success? Is my ring ruined? Like I said, it's the last diamond on one side- hopefully that make the situation better?


Thanks for the support

 

[mrs jam]

I'm so sorry this happened! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that your ring comes back to you in perfect shape!

Yours is the third diamond I have heard about chipping this week. My sister-in-law's 3 ct. diamond was chipped while a prong was being tightened, and a friend somehow managed to chip her original e-ring stone that she had reset in a bracelet. The girdle on my sis-in-law's round brilliant is described as "medium" on her GIA cert, so I was shocked that it chipped during a simple prong tightening. It's kind of scary how fragile diamonds can be.

 

[TristanC]

Oh dear that is really terrible. I am hoping with you that the jeweller will manage to right things with his specialist.

How do these things work? Is the jeweller's work covered by work insurance or something? I can't imagine if a jeweller were to chip a 3ct IF D diamond for example... how does compensation occur?

It is a pity about the chipped stone, but I hope it turns out well, and the new diamond will be a milestone diamond

 

[alvina]

this is so common these days .... last month the same happened with my elder sister.. she is still upset about it...

 

[Dreamer_D]

Typically if the jeweler was the one who sold you the piece then they will cover damage on their insurance; not the case for a piece made by another jeweler though. This is why one needs independent insurance on their jewelry if they are unable/do not wish to pay out of pocket to replace or fix a piece damaged like this.

If the fix is not perfect I would insist the jeweler remake the ring and replace the damaged stone.

 

[Phoenix]

I'm sorry to hear this.

Ditto what Dreamer said.

 

[lewood]

Yes, I intend to have the ring done to my standards, and if it is not, then I will insist on a remake; however, my wedding is in 9 days, and there is no time for a remake. The jeweler suggested it, but he said he needs 10 days to have it made, plus a day or 2 in shipping. I guess I'm a very big sentimental sap and don't want the ring that was blessed on my wedding day to be scrapped. I intend on getting anniversary pieces in the future, and, as a result, I may not always wear my "wedding" band, but I will still have it nonetheless. It would just severely upset me to use a wedding band that looks messed up on my wedding day, have professional pictures taken of it, and then after I get back from the honeymoon be sans wedding band for 2 weeks while a new one is made.......this is just all a very unfortunate and heartbreaking situation.

I'm wondering if anyone knows about replacing a diamond in a channel set? Like I've said, I heard it's a very difficult job/benchworker's nightmare. The diamond that was chipped is on the very end, so maybe that will make it easier to replace???? I've just got so many questions and worries...........I'm looking for anything that will give me a string of hope that my actual ring will turn out OK and I won't have to scrap my blessed wedding ring.

FYI, when I pictured getting reading for my wedding, this is NOT something I envisioned myself going through or having to worry about!!!!!!!

 

[denverappraiser]

Usually it's not that hard a job and this is one of the common repairs that passes over the typical jewelers bench. I can't give a straight answer but it sounds like the jeweler is making food on it and unless there's something about your particular design that is causing problem they should be able to do it with 100% success and within few days.

 

[Dreamer_D]

The issue is that your jeweler is sending it out of house to be fixed. You need to have a jeweler with an in house bench fix it. I would tell the jeweler that his fix is not acceptable and he needs to pay or find a way to fix in by your wedding.

Worst case, the diamonds will still be blessed if you remake the ring. It is not what you hoped for, but sometimes in life you have to choose not to let things become big issues and cause you so much upset.

Another option is to buy a plain gold band for the wedding, engrave it so it is special, and bless that. That way you always have the blessed ring. Plus a plain band is really useful for many situations in life.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I notice you have had nothing but issues with this wedding band already. I would start over with another jeweler on this band, and get a plain band for the blessing at the wedding.

 

[lewood]

I did have one issue with my custom made wedding band, but it only happened after the jewelery store's benchworker sized the ring. I was not happy with her work; she thinned and shaped the bottom shank oddly. My ring was sent out to LA to be custom made and then sent back to my jeweler. It's my fault that I am in the situation I am now in- I shouldn't have allowed her to work on my ring given I wasn't happy with the work she had already done on my ring. Well, she did a decent job reshanking the ring, but in return, she chipped my precious (and yes it is precious to me because they were anniversary diamonds) diamond. Since I have already had the ring made for 2 months now, I can't just demand my money back (and diamonds from the band) and go elsewhere. I'm sure it wouldn't happen. To be quite honest, I just want to be done with this whole ordeal- I just want to be a married and have a beautiful wedding set.

Here is an update to the situation though: my ring arrived in the hands of a platinum specialist, not in Pittsburgh like it was supposed to, but rather Grovecity, PA. My jeweler changed his mind last minute because the jeweler in Pittsburgh didn't sound 100% confident that he could do the job. I guess the jeweler from Grovecity (a friend of his) told my jeweler point blank, "I can only tell you if I can replace the diamond in the channel set once I see it." I guess the man assessed my ring and said with confidence, "Boy, you're lucky, I know I can fix this easily. She won't be able to tell which diamond was replaced." My jeweler said if the guy said, "Oh, I don't know if I can do this...", then I was going to have to pick my ring up as is, get married in it, and then send it out to LA (through him) to get fixed. My ring will be in the hands of my jeweler on Monday....it would be Saturday, but my jeweler's daughter is getting married and the shop will be closed. I'm really kind of nervous still....I just hope to God that I look at it on Monday and it looks as if it never had a chipped diamond or any work done to her at all! Please keep me in your thoughts.