Spinel Cracked!!!

[SparklePolo]

Ladies (and gents), I really need some guidance here...! So I brought my red spinel from this thread to a local jeweler. I just went to pick it up, and the spinel is now CRACKED.

The jeweler said he's not responsible for the stone, since the internal inclusions were pointed out to me using a microscope when I dropped it off. BUT he also said he was "confident about setting the spinel." Well, that statement doesn't mean anything now because he says he will not stand behind the stone since I didn't buy it from him. He waived the $180 setting and resizing fee. He is saying the spinel seller should've disclosed all of the internal inclusions before I purchased it. He told me to call him or go back to the store once I calm down.

What should I do about this situation? I'm so, so angry. It was an expensive red spinel. I asked him why he didn't tell me to insure it if the inclusions were so concerning. He just said "sorry, I thought it'd be fine." Are you serious?

Below are the before and after pics, also the jeweler's note from the initial dropoff. Please tell me what to do!!!!

 

[voce]

These things can happen, and there is no standard procedure because jewelers can only get insurance on stones they themselves sell, not stones they set.

Have you seen the cracked stone yourself and are you convinced that it's the same stone and not a replacement?

I've had one incident with Daniel M when a chip happened across the top of the gem, but upon receiving it I can see that it's the exact same stone that I originally sent. The two vendor pictures you've posted here look very different and make it difficult for me to ascertain whether it's the same stone. I'm very sorry that this happened to you. It had looked like a beautiful spinel.

 

[kimberlyqkim]

I had a somewhat similar situation in that my jeweler warned me (and handled it how yours should have handled it). I bought and brought in a copper bearing tourmaline for my jeweler to set. When he saw it he called me and said "this is included. there is a chance that it will crack under the heat and pressure when I set it and I need you to consent to that risk before i do it" Im so sorry about your stone and sorry your jeweler is not being very professional

 

[Polyhex]

I'm so sorry, it's such a beautiful stone. Maybe work with a cutter to recut it into one or more smaller stones? I am using Jerry Newman right now for a few recut or repolish projects.

 

[dk168]

Perhaps try re-cutting the stone if at all possible as suggested?

I had an inexpensive Tahitian pearl set in a pendant, and the setting was rather crude and clunky. On close inspection, I noticed a hairline crack on the pearl.

I was very upset, and blamed myself for choosing a bench that I did not know well enough about their ability to work with pearls (they were fine with resizing rings).

I had to write off the cost of making the pendant and the pearl, an expensive lesson learnt the hard way.

DK

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

It's not uncommon. I have had PS recommended jewelers damage stones that did not have visible inclusions. I am lucky in that they offered to repolish or replace the stones. I would have accepted if they refused to do and not held it against them. I have custom spinel ring that arrived with a tiny facet abrasion/chip that I chose to leave as is.


In my experience gemstone setting damage is so common that the last time I had a ring made by a reputable Etsy gemstone seller, I was very specific that I would not accept the ring if the gemstone was damaged. And.......the seller contacted me after the ring was made to tell me the gemstone had a crack after it was set. Very grateful for her honesty but I did not accept the ring.

I reached the point where I am not setting my remaining spinels even though they are not included. I would say about 30% of my set gemstones (even custom pieces) resulted in some damage to the gemstone.

 

[LD]

Oh no I'm so sorry this has happened to you. I'm afraid there is no easy solution to this because jewellers very rarely are insured on a client's stone. I had a diamond chipped once by a jeweller and it's beyond upsetting isn't it? You know, even without the inclusions this can still happen and the problem is you can't predict how a stone will react to heat and pressure. Do you have any personal type of insurance that may cover this? I suspect you have to have specific jewellery insurance but you never know, there may be a policy that you have that will cover you.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Im so sad for you @SparklePolo
I hope something is salvageable of your beautiful stone - i know that is little consultation

Im afraid your experience is a lesson and a reminder to us all

as much as i hate these kind of thing happening by shearing your experience you are helping me on my gemstone journey

 

[qubitasaurus]

I'm really sorry to hear that, it was a very pretty stone. Unfortunately appaarently a lot of the red burmese spinels are pretty included, and the instagram sellers dont really show pictures which make this easy to detect. I am afraid a jeweler rarely ever has insurance for outside stones, amd it is usual therefore the client who takes responsibility for the risk durring the setting process. I am sorry they did not tell you this ahead of time.

Since coloured stones are a lot softer than daimonds, and some will be highly included it may work out better to shop arround for a bench that typically sets soft stones before your next project. Having said that, the problem above could have happened with anyone. It is just surprising your jeweler did not warn you.

 

[marymm]

I am so sad your stone cracked upon setting - sadly it is always a risk.

Question: when you made the original purchase from the stone vendor, did you happen to inquire what he meant by "clarity is relatively very good for its kind" as noted in the video link you posted in your other thread? "Relatively very good" would seem rather a red flag descriptor to me ....

 

[LD]

I've just read your older thread and you've mentioned "According to HiGems, the spinel has "some fissures and inclusions, but nothing serious." " TL suggested sending it to AGL - did you do that? I'm just wondering if you did how they reported on it?

Also just noticed the last line that your jeweller wrote "stone has internal on inside corner". Is that where it's cracked?

 

[Polyhex]

I am not sure if the inclusions are really to blame for the stone cracking, stones have already gone through tremendous stresses in the cutting process. Bench jewelers can make mistakes, and sometimes its just random terrible luck.

 

[seaurchin]

Well that just sucks. So sorry to hear it.

I have learned from this thread. I didn't realize this was common at all.

As has been mentioned, unfortunately, I don't think you will get your money back (and even if you did, that particular stone can't be replaced).

Just my opinion, but at this point, I would get another stone and try again. I'm thinking of a lab ruby- a lovely red stone, made of the same material as mined ruby, probably under $150 or $200 - and hard (9 on the mohs scale). Even though it isn't your first choice, it would still be very nice.

Some recommended vendors who might cut you one: Finewater Gems, JL White Fine Gemstones (Jeff White) or Stag and Finch. Good luck with it.

 

[icy_jade]

It hasn’t happened to me but I’ve heard it happened to a personal item belonging to a jeweller (also spinel) and she was quite upset when she was talking about it. Seems to be quite a common occurrence unfortunately.

Really sorry that it happened to you. Hopefully that stone can be recut and partly salvaged.

 

[Rare gem lover]

Ladies (and gents), I really need some guidance here...! So I brought my red spinel from this thread to a local jeweler. I just went to pick it up, and the spinel is now CRACKED.

The jeweler said he's not responsible for the stone, since the internal inclusions were pointed out to me using a microscope when I dropped it off. BUT he also said he was "confident about setting the spinel." Well, that statement doesn't mean anything now because he says he will not stand behind the stone since I didn't buy it from him. He waived the $180 setting and resizing fee. He is saying the spinel seller should've disclosed all of the internal inclusions before I purchased it. He told me to call him or go back to the store once I calm down.

What should I do about this situation? I'm so, so angry. It was an expensive red spinel. I asked him why he didn't tell me to insure it if the inclusions were so concerning. He just said "sorry, I thought it'd be fine." Are you serious?

Below are the before and after pics, also the jeweler's note from the initial dropoff. Please tell me what to do!!!!

I’m so sorry this happened to you. Internal inclusions like fissures and feathers can expand into cracks.
Sometimes they can be needle like and can expand with heat/cold temperature shift. It’s possible the jeweller used a hot ultra sonic cleaner ? Hot ultrasonic and then rinsing with room temperature water can make an inclusion expand.

Really truly awful it happened to you. Happened to me once before I entered the trade. That spinel barely even had an inclusion, just one internal invisible fissure . Neon spinels are the trickiest.

 

[Rare gem lover]

It's also possible it cracked during setting, applying a little pressure in the wrong direction.
When giving any neon spinel included or not, the jeweller should be warned to be very careful and treat it like a cracked emerald. Sometimes sales persons at the jeweller take jobs and they really don’t know about it. Of course if it was the owner and jeweller themselves with experience in spinels they also should have warned you about it.

 

[chrono]

I've had two experience with spinels getting damaged during the setting process. Both were extremely clean.

Spinel 1: Vendor became very defensive and claimed it was already damaged when I dropped it off. I considered a lost cause and sent the stone back to the lapidary to fix. He was able to salvage most of it and was super kind enough to do it for free after hearing my story. I never went back to that bench.

Spinel 2: Vendor contacted me about the "oops" and owned up. He offered to repolish which I accepted. He also ate the cost of the repolish, which is generally not too expensive. Stone looks great and I barely noticed any difference.

TLDR: Things happen and selecting the right bench makes the biggest difference in their skill with coloured stones and how they deal with unexpected mistakes. None of them covered damages to my stones since this is common practice, unless I purchased the stone from them. Some will offer "setting insurance" or you can get that through your own insurance.

 

[Polyhex]

I would ask the bench jeweler who cracked the stone to unset the spinel, as it will need to be unset in order to try to salvage it with a cutter. That will also allow you to examine the stone yourself and see how bad it is. In all likelihood you will have a beautiful red spinel when all is said and done but it will be smaller. How much smaller is hard to say until you get it into the hands or a cutter.

 

[2Neesers]

This is terrible. I’m so sorry this happened to your spinel. I don’t have any advice to offer you on how to handle the situation. I have had a few similar experiences in my colored stone journey and they take a while to get over. The loss of money and loss of the stone feel devastating at the time. Sorry you are going through this.

 

[Cockatiel]

So sorry you are going through this. It's terrible. What is it with spinels by the way! Personally all but one of traumatic chipping incidents I have had involved spinels. The other one being a grossular garnet that was apparently nicked but I never got to see that because it's covered up by the metal. I wonder whether spinels are not as hardy as commonly assumed. Granted I have more spinels than any other types of stones so that could be why I have had the most problems with them but I am scared to set any more of my spinels. I feel like they are rather chippy...

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

I am devastated for you and am so sorry this happened.

Although this doesn't help your situation, I have a question for all the PSers that know more about the treatments for red spinel than I. Could it be that the stone was oiled when sold to hide the inclusions and the jeweler ultrasonic or steamed the oil away? I have been reading and learning of all the treatments being done and am blown away with how many red spinels out there are now clarity enhanced. I guess the price per carat is too intoxicating to some sellers.

 

[LD]

The seller did say that there were "some fissures and inclusions" and the OP's setter noticed something to one corner. So I don't think the inclusions were hidden. However, the act of setting a stone which typically uses heat and pressure does mean that any weakness in the gemstone can be made worse and cause cracking or chipping.

 

[voce]

I think it's really common to find clarity enhancement in red spinels. They're in such high demand that Instagram sellers in particular do their utmost to make them look good in pictures.

I bought one off Etsy that had a surface reaching inclusion (I didn't notice it at the time I purchased). I decided to keep it, and later had the spinel set by Enhoerning. Inken cleaned it, and the surface reaching inclusion actually turned out to be wax or something that came out with acetone that was used to clean the spinel before setting. I was fully prepared to have Inken source me a new Jedi spinel of a similar size if it cracked during setting, so I guess I was lucky that the inclusion turned out to not be a crack but just a "natural".

 

[SparklePolo]

Hi everyone, thank you all for sharing your experiences and all of your advice/ suggestions are so appreciated. I had to take a two-day mental break and it’s time to deal with the situation.

To answer some of your questions, the Instagram seller Higems was not exactly transparent with the condition of the spinel. It was difficult to see the inclusions in his videos so I took him for his words that the inclusions and fissures in the red spinel were not of concern (bad idea, I know now). When I received the stone, I found more inclusions than expected, in addition to naturals along the girdle and an asymmetric pavilion that caused a tilt window. Surely Higems never showed the tilt window or mentioned the naturals throughout our correspondence, and refused to resolve the situation other than sending it to him to set. By this time I didn’t want to ship the spinel all the way back to Shanghai (not to mention I no longer had confidence in the seller). It still was a gorgeous red, so I decided to have a reputable local jeweler set it instead.

I did ask him about whether the integrity of the stone should be a concern for setting, but the jeweler told me that he has set many spinels and he was confident with this one despite the inclusions he saw. I think he should’ve told me that it was risky and he wasn’t comfortable setting this stone. Like one of you said, this spinel should’ve been treated like an emerald. At some point he said he didn’t realize the prongs needed to be remade, so I suspect it added to the chance of the stone cracking. This is a lesson for him as it is for me.

I think both of us need to take responsibilities for the situation, so I plan on asking him to cover the costs of unsetting the spinel, and depending on the condition of the stone, to pay for having it recut at a lapidary. We’ll see what he says.

This was an expensive lesson. I will definitely be extra cautious when dealing with sellers and finding benches in the future. Like many of you colored stone lovers, spinels have a special place in my heart, but I wonder if they are not as sturdy as many of us think they are (hardness of 7.5). I certainly will put them in protective settings in the future.

Thanks again everyone. I’ll keep you posted on the jeweler’s response and the condition of the spinel. I really do hope it’s somewhat salvageable.

 

[JackTrick]

Quick note. Spinel is actually an 8, not a 7.5

Regardless, I am sorry that you had to go through this experience. I feel like all jewelers should be upfront that there is always a risk (even slight) when setting a stone. With spinels being not as widespread as sapphires, I wonder if some jewelers just treat them like the hardest of stones.

I've got a spinel that I need to have set...and this thread is making me want to beg the jeweler to treat it as thought it was the child of an apatite and an opal.

 

[marymm]

OP, didn't the jeweler already state he would waive the $180 setting and resizing fee? Perhaps I missed this info, but are you returning or keeping the setting? I don't see why the jeweler should bear the brunt of expense of this transaction by also bearing the cost of unsetting the stone and having it recut.

Based on what you posted here, it sounds like the jeweler gave you his opinion that the stone could be safely set, but it was an opinion and not a guarantee.

The fact is, you examined the Spinel and saw it was even more included than disclosed by the stone vendor. You chose to keep it rather than return it.

You chose to have a third party set it, rather than send it back to the stone vendor who would have borne the risk of damage to the stone since he had sold it to you.

Just my opinion.

 

[LD]

I honestly think asking the setter to do anything more than he already has done is a little unfair. Accidents happen. This is nothing to do with the claws and remaking them because that would be done without the stone in the setting.

The issue here is the stone had weak spots. Any gemstone can have them and they may not be apparent to the eye. Some inclusions may pose a risk but it’s not always possible to know how they will react. A knock or pressure on a certain point can cause damage. Treating the stone like an Emerald? Why? A stone is a stone and a setter has to use pressure and heat. It takes some force to bend metal and make sure it grips the stone itself. I know because I’ve made jewellery and it can be tough and I can’t see how you can treat an Emerald differently to a Spinel.

Honestly it sounds like the stone itself was significantly different than the seller told you ie off centre culet, downplaying the inclusions although he did say a few things when you asked, the colour that looks very different in your photo to his etc. I know this seller isn’t cheap and I’ve never trusted his videos (on gut instinct) as everything looks incredibly vivid. So I think my issue would be with him but as the stone has broken now I don’t think you can do anything UNLESS you paid by PayPal because the stone is not as described. You MIGHT be able to claim back but it’s a bit of a different situation.

I’m sure your setter is gutted by this. I had a setter who set 50+ stones for me - of all different hardness but he managed to break a diamond of mine!

I’m really sorry this has happened to you. If you can’t use PayPal can you recoup any money under a home insurance or other insurance policy maybe?

 

[JewelledEscalators]

Just out of interest, can this happen with stones already set when you take them out and reset it due to structural issues?

 

[LD]

Just out of interest, can this happen with stones already set when you take them out and reset it due to structural issues?

Yes

 

[Polyhex]

I'm so sorry you've gone through this. It's likely something can be salvaged by a cutter.

It's really hard to know whether it's the setters fault, the seller's fault, or no one's fault just terrible luck. Some setters are bad at colored stones, I have worked with a super honest vendor who specializes in diamonds and he was open with me that his regular setter cracks colored stones over and over again and so he prefers not to work with them.