QuestionThomas,
My fiancee proposed in December of 2010 (Just 3 months ago). My ring is a beautiful 1ct princess cut stone mounted on a platinum band with channel set princess cut diamonds in it. In January of 2011 one of the side stones came loose in the setting. I immediately took it in to the jeweler for them to repair the ring. A week later it came back even worse than before. The jeweler had left a huge gap between two of the diamonds in the channel set and one of the diamonds had was nose-diving toward another diamond. After weeks of repair trouble shooting the jeweler gave me an entirely new band saying that the other band was beyond repair. Not even two weeks later I noticed that this band too had troubles. There is one stone in the channel set that is tilting at about 15 degrees (this time toward the edge of the band rather than another stone). I have been told that channel set is the safest way to set diamonds but now I am beginning to have doubts. Is this a problem I should expect with any channel set diamonds or is does this particular ring/jeweler have a design flaw?
Thanks so much for all your help,
Barbara
AnswerDear Barbara,
There is an old saying about "don't hurt the messenger" and that applies here. There is no way you should have experienced these problems. The first time, it makes me think the bench jeweler simply did not know how to repair the ring. The second event tells me even more: Poor craftsmanship is suspected in the first place. This simply sounds like faulty merchandise and a jewelry store not equipped to back it up.
If the factory can provide a ring with no problems and the jeweler will do that, would you still worry about the quality of the stone setting in the ring? My first thought is try your best to get your money back and shop somewhere else.
This should never happen to anyone but I see it more and more with jewelry today. Much is out sourced and very little is actually made in this country. If you are not is the USA, you might ask the store the name of the manufacturer. Excellent jewelry is made in Thailand, Turkey, India, China and other countries. The same countries produce poorly done work, all depending on the company.
Properly done channel setting is very durable and secure. If poorly done, problems tend to multiply.
Barbara, when shopping you do the best you can and depend on the jewelry business to help. In this case, to the disappointment of both you and your fiancee, the ring should have been better to begin with. Point out the problems with the ring to the store and let them know that you are not satisfied with this most important ring. You do not want to worry about it over time and want a ring with properly set stones. If they cannot provide that, they should refund your purchase price.
I am very sorry this happened to both of you. God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
