Chipped diamond engagement ring

TazFrank1

Hi Everyone,

In April 2012, my fianc! bought my engagement ring from Beaverbrooks for a cost of £1950.00. This was at a reduced price from £2995.00. He proposed in May 2012

Fifteen months later, on Monday 19th August 2013, the week of our wedding, I noticed that the stone in the engagement ring was chipped. I had not hit, banged or knocked the ring in any way.

It was returned to Beaverbrooks the following Monday. Staff stated they had never seen a chipped diamond before and could not have been caused by accidental damage, and that it needed to be sent off for independent review.

8 weeks later, on the 26th October, we were informed by Beaverbrooks by e mail that the report had come back that there was no fault in the stone, and that it had been caused by accidental damage

To add insult to injury, the exeter store have offered to repair the ring at a cost of £2890.00, £1000.00 more than the original ring cost.

Can anyone help about where we go from here? Does anyone know where we can get a second opinion? We are totally gutted :-(

Thanks xx

InsideInsurance

Diamonds are hard but brittle and so it is certainly possible to chip them and some cuts are more prone to it than others.

First of all, take to an actual jewellers and not just a shop that sells overpriced jewellery. They'll be able to give you their view as well as your options for repair - namely to recut the stone or replace the stone, both of which will be much less than the price from Beaverbrooks.

To be honest, I think you're unlikely to be able to argue that a diamond is "faulty" and so its really about getting a resolution you're happy with at the best price possible.

Was the stone certified or not? If it was, then you can check how much a replacement stone would be on somewhere like https://www.bluenile.co.uk.

Looking at Beaverbrooks at the moment they have a £3,000 solitaire engagement ring with a single brilliant cut diamond. To buy the same quality of diamond from Blue Nile is £550, a similar 18c yellow gold ring is £251 giving the total price £980 inc vat and delivery.

If you have AD cover on your home insurance you may be able to claim on that but if a recut is around £200 then its probably not economical to do it

Hintza

The ring must have been knocked. If I popped it on an anvil and hit it with a hammer it would shatter like glass.

Your best bet might be to get it re-cut but I'm not sure that will be cost effective though. You have had it too long now and it will be up to you to prove it was faulty which I think would be nigh on impossible.

You have bought from a retail outlet that will have a huge mark-up. (To get value for money rings should be bought second-hand and re-made if desired or stones bought and a ring made)