need advice from picky consumers

[lavatea]

I have been working with a vendor for several months now on a ring of extreme sentimental value. I plan to wear this ring everyday. I mention this so you guys will know where I''m coming from emotionally on this.

First off, let me say that I cannot recommend this vendor more highly. The customer service is OUTSTANDING, in my experience. I used this vendor in the past based on a recommendation from a PSer. The quality of the items purchased, in my opinion, was very high and the prices were very competitive. So when I decided to have this ring made, I naturally went back to this vendor. Every step of the way, this vendor has held my hand and answered countless questions. In the past, I''ve been blown off by other vendors, and I can only assume that it was because of the countless questions I bring to the jewelry buying process.

The ring is now complete and I received a photo yesterday. On first glance, it looked awesome. But when I posted the picture earlier, something caught my eye. Well, the ring arrived ahead of schedule, and it is on my finger as we speak. As I was beginning to fear, I have already found things wrong with it. I do not own a scope, so this is all stuff I''m noticing with the naked eye, albeit very up close and personal.

From a normal distance, nothing really jumps out as being off. I think an average consumer would find the ring perfectly adequate. But, thanks to PS, I''m not your average consumer anymore. To me, the stones do not seem to be set at the same level and some of the prongs seem bent differently than others.

My main problem is having the courage to proceed. I was assured that this ring was fully returnable and would be made to my satisfaction. But I hate being a pain. And I''m worried that it will be remade and I still won''t be satisfied. What would I do then? Like I said, I have loved working with this vendor. What do you suggest?

 

[lavatea]

Here''s my post with the vendor pic. I''m sure you guys can make out what I''m talking about just from that.

 

[AprilBaby]

I can''t see what you are talking about but I am sure the vendor wants you %100 happy so I would contact them with my concern. It looks to be a beautiful ring. What is the special occasion?

 

[Cind11]

I don''t notice anything from the picture but you obviously do and so you will probably never be happy. I think the vendor would want you to be completely satisfied. As far as it being remade and being worried that you will not be satisfied, I still think you owe it to yourself to try.

 

[chrono]

I am afraid I do not see any issues from the picture you posted. Still, if you are unhappy, you have every right to contact the vendor and let them know your concerns.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 4/1/2010 4:41:51 PM
Author: Chrono
I am afraid I do not see any issues from the picture you posted. Still, if you are unhappy, you have every right to contact the vendor and let them know your concerns.

says it for me, too.

mz

 

[karpouzi]

Is it the sentimentality of the ring that''s causing you to notice things that seem off, or is the workmanship not up to the usual standards of this vendor?

I would expect a certain quality of work, and if it''s not up to the vendor''s usual standards I''d say something, but I don''t think any custom piece can be absolutely flawlessly perfect. There are flaws and then there are flaws. Minute differences in the height of the stone or the shape of the prongs are signs of a custom/handmade work and can be seen as assets--in my opinion only, of course.

It might also be that the vendor had to make adjustments because of the way the stones were cut. I''m thinking of TravelingGal''s thread about her Leon pad ring where, when she first inspected it, she thought Leon had made a mistake, but then she realized that the shape/cut of her stone was irregular and the setting had to be a little irregular in order to correct for it.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-ps-gift-finally-my-amelia-ring-pad-by-richard-wise-setting-by-leon-mege.127094/page-3

 

[Lady_Disdain]

If I was to be very picky, I might be bothered by a difference in colour between some of the stones. This may be a trick of light or just the difficulty in matching yellow diamonds. If this is the case, I don''t think it would be possible to fix unless you are willing to spend money and a lot of time to find perfectly matching yellows.

Other than this, I see nothing wrong at all with the ring. It is lovely and dainty.

 

[lavatea]

I''m going to try to put some more pics into this thread that will hopefully help. I have trouble getting really close with my camera, though, so they may not be helpful.

As for the workmanship being up to the vendor''s standards, I honestly can''t say, because the other rings I bought were bands only. They do sell bands with stones, but I''ve never seen one in person.

 

[lavatea]

Can you tell anything from this? To me one row of prongs almost looks to be going one direction while the other row is going in the opposite direction. At first I thought it was meant to be that way, but some of the prongs don''t follow that trend. There is at least one diamond that only has 3 prongs touching it due to this.

 

[lavatea]

Sorry about the quality here. I made this too small for the other thread to see the detail that I wanted to show in this thread. So I''ve blown it up a bit, but that''s making it a little blurry.

See how some diamonds seem to be set lower than others? There are a few that also seem to be at different angles.

 

[LD]

Lavatea - can you post an image so that we''re seeing the ring straight on instead of at an angle? I agree that the prongs are lacking in symmetry (in your photo) but would love to see a face on picture. I''ve already replied in your other thread and the one thing that struck me was the diamonds don''t appear to be well colour matched. This may be the photo but I''m seeing it in your photos too. How noticeable is it?

You''ve said this is an extremely sentimental ring for you? Then you mustn''t accept 2nd best. You really must speak with the vendor and explain how you feel. I''m sure he/she will fix it for you.

 

[lavatea]

Date: 4/1/2010 4:58:37 PM
Author: karpouzi
Is it the sentimentality of the ring that''s causing you to notice things that seem off, or is the workmanship not up to the usual standards of this vendor?

Sorry, I meant to answer this question already. Part of it may be the sentimentality of the ring. But I also am just pretty picky, especially when it''s a large purchase.

I think my concern is two-fold. First, I''m having a hard time explaining my issues to you guys - how am I going to get the vendor to understand? And second, I may have a bit of a people-pleasing complex. Especially since I like the vendor so much, I don''t want to be bothersome or "hurt their feelings".

 

[LD]

I''ve just looked at the Vendor''s photo again. You can clearly see one of the prongs doesn''t touch one of the diamonds and there is a lack of symmetry.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Wow!
In that picture I can see the problem. Setting stones in common prong settings can be very challenging, it separates the setters from the masters. I would recommend asking them to have it reset properly as this would bother me also (as a consumer). From the side, since not all melee stones are exactly the same size you may see some differences, but they should all be at the same height.


--Joshua

 

[lavatea]

Ok, last question and then I''m going to be off for a few hours. I think it''s obvious that I need to let the vendor try to fix this. But I need help articulating what exactly needs to be fixed. What wording do I need to use to convey my points well?

 

[packrat]

Not much help here, but I know where you''re coming from being a people pleaser and not wanting to be bothersome or hurt feelings etc, so I just wanted to send along a little encouragement! I hope it gets taken care of for you.

PS-looove the yellow!!

 

[LD]

I don''t know if this helps but mix and match from the following:

1. The prongs lack symmetry - so with some they show a prong above and below each other and on others the prong is much further to the left or right.
2. Some of the shared prongs are only touching one diamond and have a space on the other side
3. I''m not sure whether the diamonds are set lower/higher or whether some of the prongs are thicker than others - it''s not clear from the photos but when you get up close to the profile what do you see?
4. Some of the diamonds are stronger in colour than others - is it possible to swap some out to colour match

Hope that helps

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 4/1/2010 5:22:00 PM
Author: lavatea


See how some diamonds seem to be set lower than others? There are a few that also seem to be at different angles.

or are some of the prongs higher than the others? either way, yes, it would bother me.....

mz

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 4/1/2010 5:18:33 PM
Author: lavatea
Can you tell anything from this? To me one row of prongs almost looks to be going one direction while the other row is going in the opposite direction. At first I thought it was meant to be that way, but some of the prongs don''t follow that trend. There is at least one diamond that only has 3 prongs touching it due to this.

I can see the problem in this picture. The prings are not good at all. You really should talk to the vendor.

 

[RockHugger]

pretty diamonds, very poor setting. Call the vendor and have him put quality into that ring.

 

[ma re]

I was surprised to see that many of our regulares didn''t notice what was wrong with these prongs - it hit me in the face at first glance. Now first you have to admit a thing or two - what''ve you been browsing lately, Cartier, VCA, Boucheron...?

Seriously, this level of "pickiness" usually comes up after sustained browsing of pages made by high end jewellers, with impeccable standards of workmanship - I know it because I caught the same virus...and because of that I still haven''t bought my first gemstone piece, cause jewellers around me aren''t famous for great workmanship.

About explaining your jeweller what needs to be done, it''s best to show him/her photos. For instance, print out side by side, this:
http://www.ross-simons.com/products/484314.html (quite a good work)
and this:
http://www.jewelryboom.com/products/14k-yellow-gold-yellow-sapphire-eternity-guard-ring-p25292.html (not so good).

And a piece of advice for the future - stick to bezels or channels, you''ll save yourself a lot of nerves, prongs are not for people like us

 

[virgoruby]

I hope you are able to pluck up the courage to contact the vendor & get the ring fixed to your satisfaction.
Good luck!

 

[lavatea]

I just wanted to give a quick update on this ring. The vendor completely remade the ring, and I received it yesterday when I got back in town. It looks much, much better now. I will probably post new pics once PS 2.0 is up and running.

Thank you guys once again for your help.