Just got a custom-made engagement ring, I love it. (slight flaws/imperfections... your opinions app

[justgotaring]

Thanks Gecko and Diamond Dana!

I asked my question on a jewelry "ask an expert" website and this is the response I got:

Question:

Hello,
I just had a custom engagement ring made and I absolutely love it. After inspecting it very closely at home, I noticed there is a small chip on the outside edge of the ring at the bottom of the "bezel"?... I am not sure of the proper terminology. Please see the image attached. Is this fixable? I plan on going to the jeweler soon but would like to get your opinion first before I go back. I really hope this can be fixed. Thank you!

Answer:

From the picture Im assuming you mean the bottom left section which appears like small dents in the ring with a larger one closer towards the center stone is that right???
This is what is known as porosity in the metal. When the ring is cast from gold from a wax model or mold tiny air bubbles can get into the melted gold just before it hits the mold and when the metal cools and conforms the tiny bubbles appear. This is common in centrifuge casting using equipment that is still used by some. However, today we have much better equipment although more expensive but gives perfect results. It is also likely that the gold used although Im sure is good gold, may be used or scrap gold and was not cleaned or processed as it should have. This an be repaired with proper files and hand labor although tedious and may also turn into a nightmare if there is a larger air pocket under the smaller ones....then the entire ring would have to be remade.
It is also possible to hammer the gold together and smooth the finish out......either way, if you got a deal you may have to learn to live with it, although this would be unacceptable in our shop.
Your Jeweler should offer to remake the ring for you.....
all the best




Hmmm.... now I''m a little nervous....

 

[justgotaring]

Hello all,

I went to my jeweler this morning and showed him the nick. He said it was going to be a pain in the butt to fix it, because he would have to either reheat the metal and mold it or do some kind of filing or something. He said he would have to refinish the ring too. He didn''t seem too happy and he told me to call him in "a day or two". He also mentioned that "she will do more damage to it on the first day than this"... which I don''t fully agree with.

I guess I can try to put myself in his shoes, but am I wrong for wanting the nick to be fixed? I just hope he fixes it properly and it doesnt mess up the structure of the ring or anything else......

 

[geckodani]

Date: 9/2/2008 10:46:01 AM
Author: justgotaring
Hello all,

I went to my jeweler this morning and showed him the nick. He said it was going to be a pain in the butt to fix it, because he would have to either reheat the metal and mold it or do some kind of filing or something. He said he would have to refinish the ring too. He didn''t seem too happy and he told me to call him in ''a day or two''. He also mentioned that ''she will do more damage to it on the first day than this''... which I don''t fully agree with.

I guess I can try to put myself in his shoes, but am I wrong for wanting the nick to be fixed? I just hope he fixes it properly and it doesnt mess up the structure of the ring or anything else......

No, she will not do that much damage in the first day of wearing in. Yes, you are totally justified in asking them to fix the nick for you.

 

[justgotaring]

Thanks, Gecko. I feel I am too. I just pray to god that it turns out alright and nothing gets messed up. I have a tight deadline!

BTW, your loose diamond is really nice and sparkly.

 

[Demelza]

First, congrats on your upcoming engagement!

As for the ring, I would suggest getting an independent appraiser to take a look at it. If the expert you consulted online is correct and there is in fact porosity in the metal, your jeweler should definitely offer a remake if the porosity is severe enough to compromise the integrity of the ring. If you do take it to an appraiser, make certain he/she is not affiliated with another jewelry store. I don't know where you're located, but I can personally recommend Rich Sherwood. Porosity can be a serious issue, so, in my opinion, it's really worth getting it checked out.

I would also recommend posting these pictures in Rocky Talky where it's more likely an expert might chime in on the issues you're having with the ring.

And, for whatever it's worth, I definitely see what you mean about the line being wavy between the rose gold and the white gold. I don't know enough about jewelry-making to know whether that's inevitable, but I have seen pictures of similar rings where the line is much straighter.

I'm sorry your jeweler isn't being more accommodating. I definitely think he should be. You're not asking him to do anything at all unreasonable.

Keep us posted on what happens!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 9/2/2008 11:23:37 AM
Author: justgotaring
Thanks, Gecko. I feel I am too. I just pray to god that it turns out alright and nothing gets messed up. I have a tight deadline!

BTW, your loose diamond is really nice and sparkly.

Thanks.

 

[justgotaring]

Date: 9/2/2008 11:43:42 AM
Author: Demelza
First, congrats on your upcoming engagement!

As for the ring, I would suggest getting an independent appraiser to take a look at it. If the expert you consulted online is correct and there is in fact porosity in the metal, your jeweler should definitely offer a remake if the porosity is severe enough to compromise the integrity of the ring. If you do take it to an appraiser, make certain he/she is not affiliated with another jewelry store. I don''t know where you''re located, but I can personally recommend Rich Sherwood. Porosity can be a serious issue, so, in my opinion, it''s really worth getting it checked out.

I would also recommend posting these pictures in Rocky Talky where it''s more likely an expert might chime in on the issues you''re having with the ring.

And, for whatever it''s worth, I definitely see what you mean about the line being wavy between the rose gold and the white gold. I don''t know enough about jewelry-making to know whether that''s inevitable, but I have seen pictures of similar rings where the line is much straighter.

I''m sorry your jeweler isn''t being more accommodating. I definitely think he should be. You''re not asking him to do anything at all unreasonable.

Keep us posted on what happens!

Thanks, Demelza. Well I dropped off the ring with my jeweler this morning and he said he would try to fix it by heating up or doing some hand filing. Hopefully there isn''t too much porosity in the ring to compromise the integrity. So for now, everything is in his hands, I don''t even have the ring.

I think I am over the wavy part on the gold ring, from what I hear, this is what happens in alot of custom rings, so it isn''t really a big deal I guess. I just hope that nick gets fixed adequately. I didn''t realize I would be running into these problems!

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 9/2/2008 10:46:01 AM
Author: justgotaring
Hello all,


I went to my jeweler this morning and showed him the nick. He said it was going to be a pain in the butt to fix it, because he would have to either reheat the metal and mold it or do some kind of filing or something. He said he would have to refinish the ring too. He didn''t seem too happy and he told me to call him in ''a day or two''. He also mentioned that ''she will do more damage to it on the first day than this''... which I don''t fully agree with.


I guess I can try to put myself in his shoes, but am I wrong for wanting the nick to be fixed? I just hope he fixes it properly and it doesnt mess up the structure of the ring or anything else......

Very unprofessional response.

It doesn''t make a bit of difference even if she were going to ding it up in the very first minute. New merchandise shouldn’t be defective when it’s delivered and it shouldn’t matter a bit if it’s a ‘pain in the butt’ to deliver what was agreed.

This is sloppy work. Maybe sloppy work is what you contracted and paid for, but it''s a lame excuse to say that it’s somehow your fault for noticing.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver

 

[justgotaring]

Date: 9/2/2008 12:59:00 PM
Author: denverappraiser

Date: 9/2/2008 10:46:01 AM
Author: justgotaring
Hello all,


I went to my jeweler this morning and showed him the nick. He said it was going to be a pain in the butt to fix it, because he would have to either reheat the metal and mold it or do some kind of filing or something. He said he would have to refinish the ring too. He didn''t seem too happy and he told me to call him in ''a day or two''. He also mentioned that ''she will do more damage to it on the first day than this''... which I don''t fully agree with.


I guess I can try to put myself in his shoes, but am I wrong for wanting the nick to be fixed? I just hope he fixes it properly and it doesnt mess up the structure of the ring or anything else......

Very unprofessional response.

It doesn''t make a bit of difference even if she were going to ding it up in the very first minute. New merchandise shouldn’t be defective when it’s delivered and it shouldn’t matter a bit if it’s a ‘pain in the butt’ to deliver what was agreed.

This is sloppy work. Maybe sloppy work is what you contracted and paid for, but it''s a lame excuse to say that it’s somehow your fault for noticing.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver

Well, let''s see what happens. He seems to be a good man so I will hold any judgement until I get the final product again.

For the record, Denver, I did not contract and pay for sloppy work. Who would for an occasion like this?

Thanks.

 

[stone_seeker]

Pictures magnify everything!! Also, I was having a hard time noticing the golds because the picture looks tinted.

 

[vita*dolce]

i don''t think you''re wrong for wanting the nick to be fixed, even if your soon-to-be-fiancee does nick it, you shouldn''t have to give it to her with a flaw that bothers you. he should fix it and he should be happy to do it.

that said, i think the ring is gorgeous!! good luck and congratulations on your upcoming engagement!

 

[justgotaring]

Thanks Stone and Vita.

 

[LostieLovesBling]

If it were me, I could get over the wave but not the nick. I think I am pretty middle-of-the-road too when it comes to anal vs. laid-back. GOOD LUCK and I hope it gets fixed. It is such a gorgeous ring. Of course you want it to be free of obvious imperfections. Hugs.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 9/2/2008 1:17:38 PM
Author: justgotaring

Well, let's see what happens. He seems to be a good man so I will hold any judgement until I get the final product again.

For the record, Denver, I did not contract and pay for sloppy work. Who would for an occasion like this?

Thanks.

By all means, see what he does to fix it. Maybe he was just having a bad day when he made that excuse and maybe I'm just having a bad day to be sensitive to it.

There are a lot of ways to make a ring for less money. The biggest is to reduce the amount or quality of materials involved but the next is to reduce the amount of labor required. The labor for a piece like this is largely in the finishing work and the redo work if it fails a quality control process and goes back to square one. As was pointed out in a previous post, the problem here happened with the casting, which is actually a rather early step in the process. The real solution was to start over at that point. Seriously compulsive jewelers take extra time and charge extra do to it, just like seriously compulsive chefs, mechanics, doctors or anyone else does. If this came from a high end store with a high end price, I would suggest that you insist that they do it over from the beginning and do it right. Yes, it’s a pain in the butt. It’s usually a lot easier, a lot faster, and produces better results to do a job right than do it over but this isn’t what I stepped on him for. That’s his decision on how to approach the job.

On the other hand, if it’s a low cost bidder who quoted it as a 4 hour job with a discount rate in order to get the sale and now you come back with a microscope and demand workmanship that’s going to take him 20, he’s right to be miffed. He may not even have the tools or the skills to do it but he’s certainly not feeling like he’s being paid to do it if what you are showing is his standard level of craftsmanship and that's what he delivered. I don’t know your jeweler, I don’t know you and I haven’t seen the merchandise. If you want professional assistance in the quality control step, and frankly I recommend it, hire an independent appraiser to assist.

In answer to your question, people hire jewelers to do sloppy work all the time. It’s the reason that sloppy jewelers can stay in business. It's the same reason that mediocre restaurants outnumber the really fine ones. Why do they do it? Because it’s cheaper. There’s nothing wrong with that, we all work within a budget but, at the same time, there are some tradeoffs. You would not be having this problem if you had contracted with Cartier.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver

 

[justgotaring]

Thanks Lotsie and Denver.

 

[justgotaring]

Hi everyone!

I just got the ring back from the jeweler and the nick is gone! All in all, it looks great and I can''t wait to give it to her in a couple weeks!

Thanks for all of your help and opinions/advice. It was greatly appreciated!

I''ll let you know how everything turns out!

 

[motownmama]

1. Beautiful ring! Glad your jeweler responded
2. keep us posted - hand shots soon?
3. don''t point out the color difference or anything else to your GF
4. try to keep it in perspective - it''s a very happy time - don''t let anything negative infringe on it
5. good luck!

 

[LostieLovesBling]

Yahoo!!!! Good luck on your proposal