Damaged Engagement Ring - what are my rights?

Slimtons

Hello all,

We discovered on Saturday morning that a diamond in my fiancee's engagement ring is broken and I was wondering if anyone has advice for how to proceed?

To set the scene:

The ring was purchased in July 2010 but we did not get engaged until September 2010 and the ring has now had 6-7 months wear.

The ring is a solitaire with tapered baguettes inset in the shoulders and it is one of these baguettes which has chipped.

When we purchased the ring it was a half size too small. The jeweller advised us that they could file it down a half size but any further would potentially put the baguette stones under strain and therefore subsequently cause them to break.

Based on this advice we agreed to having the ring re-sized.

We have returned to the jeweller twice to have the ring cleaned because there were issues with flecks of dirt getting into the setting.

Actions so far:

The ring was fine on Friday night and it wasn't hit or knocked or bumped on Saturday morning. (Although I appreciate that this is a case of my fiancee's word against the jewellers.)

We returned to the jeweller on Saturday afternoon and were told that we were culpable for the cost of any repairs.

The ring has now been sent off to the manufacturer for an assessment and a quote has been requested for the cost of repairs.

Questions:

Can I claim the ring was not "fit for purpose" considering it has broken so soon after purchase?

What can I reasonably expect the jeweller to do to rectify this situation?

Where do I stand if the re-sizing of the ring has made it "structurally unsound"?

Is there any advice on how I should proceed from now?

Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.

MisterBrico

It's a funny one with jewelery , as it is more than 6 months old the onus is on yourself to prove it is inherently faulty this would be something along the lines of an independent report , I'm sure some one with more specialised knowledge if jewelry will be along soon to help.

But unfortunately I think you have an uphill struggle on your hands

geordieracer

Id make sure whatever you do is to find out if the baguette diamond that was chipped is weak because it could happen again and then you actually would be able to prove that it was sold inherently faulty..

Hintza

The shop could argue that the diamond has suffered impact damage.

angelil

You were warned at the time and you accepted it then so tbh I think you will struggle. Hard luck

marmitepotato

Diamonds are one of the hardest substances known to man, I wouldnt have thought it would have broken under any circumstances.

withabix

marmitepotato wrote: »

Diamonds are one of the hardest substances known to man, I wouldnt have thought it would have broken under any circumstances.

You need to read up a bit on the properties of diamonds.

Just because something is hard doesn't mean it can't be broken. Hardness is a measure of something completely different.

How do you think they make small diamonds from big diamonds? Magic?

Steel is a lot less hard than a diamond, but see what happens when you hit a diamond with a hammer....

withabix

My comments in red:

Slimtons wrote: »

Questions:

Can I claim the ring was not "fit for purpose" considering it has broken so soon after purchase? It is more than 6 months since you bought it, so the onus is on you to prove it. Diamonds are a natural product and contain faults and imperfections.

What can I reasonably expect the jeweller to do to rectify this situation? Repair it and charge you the cost plus his markup?

Where do I stand if the re-sizing of the ring has made it "structurally unsound"? You had it customised - you should have ordered one the right size. Anyway, what has that got to do with a chipped diamond??

Is there any advice on how I should proceed from now?
Get your home contents insurance policy out and see if you can claim on that

Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered.

shaun_from_Africa

Diamonds are one of the hardest substances known to man

On a scale of hardness, ceramic tiles are getting towards the top end, and I think we all know easy it is to chip the edge of one of them.

Hardness is basically a measure of how resistant something is to being scratched, dented or deformed, and it's quite possible for materials to be extremely hard and brittle at the same time. (materials such as ceramics, glass and diamonds fall into this category).

Slimtons

withabix,

The jeweller clearly advised that the work we required was safe to carry out and they were happy to do it.

They stated that if they had to re-size any further than what was required for our purposes they wouldn't advise carrying the work out as it may put the stones under strain and cause them to break. So that's what it has to do with a chipped diamond.

If you were given that advice, by a professional, why would you hesitate to believe them?

Slimtons

Just to let you know this situation has now been resolved......

The jeweller has offered to replace the broken stone free of charge.

The ring has been given the all clear but they have admitted the stone was not in an acceptable condition when sold to us.

So thanks for all the doom and gloom - fortunately things turned out better than expected.