Damaged Engagement Ring

yakimov85

Hello,

Situation:

Whilst travelling around the world with my fiance in Apr 2013, I bought an engagement ring whilst in Hong Kong where I proposed to her (and she said yes). The ring itself was Colour I, Clarity Si, good cut and 1.12 carat on a similar setting to a tiffany ring I found online. I bought it from a wholesaler and have a receipt. Upon coming back to UK I had the ring valued at a local jeweller in London and insured it under my contents insurance.

My fiance's been wearing it since and notice that in the last few months it's significantly lost it's shine and appeared much more dull whilst the white gold has started to rub off. Just this weekend we went to see a few jewellers to buy a wedding ring but found that the design of the engagement ring does not allow the weeding ring to sit close together. So we started looking for a jeweller who could reset the diamond onto a new engagement ring and also give us a deal on the wedding ring.

Problem:
After our chosen jeweller had a look at the engagement ring (after cleaning it a couple of times in the sonic bath), they've told us that they can't reset the diamond because it's been damaged and could be damaged further if tampered with.

Solution?
Obviously we're both absolutely devastated, but with the wedding approaching in Jul, we need to do something about this. It seems that the ring's been damaged at some point and perhaps even at point of resizing (in HK) without us noticing straight away. Is it possible to claim this on the insurance? and what would we have to do to claim this?

What are our other options?

Please help!

Thanks Alex

mgdavid

yakimov85 wrote: »

....... they've told us that they can't reset the diamond because it's been damaged and could be damaged further if tampered with.
.......

Did they show you the damage?
And did they give any hint as to how the hardest gemstone on the planet could have been 'damaged' or indeed how it could be further damaged just by resetting it?
Doesn't ring true to me (pun intended) and I'd say they didn't want to take the job on. Suggest you try a couple more jewellers and see what response you get.

shaun_from_Africa

mgdavid wrote: »

Did they show you the damage?
And did they give any hint as to how the hardest gemstone on the planet could have been 'damaged' or indeed how it could be further damaged just by resetting it?

Even though diamond is extremely hard, it is also very brittle and a sharp knock from something can easily cause a crack.
If the diamond has any internal flaws, the likelihood of it getting damaged from a knock increases .

yakimov85

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

If the diamond has any internal flaws, the likelihood of it getting damaged from a knock increases .

This is it exactly Shaun. So if I do find a jeweller that does it, it'll always be a risk of further damage. Now, is it worth going ahead anyway and hoping that nothing happens to the diamond? Or do I file a claim of the ring not being fit for purpose? What is the legality around this when it come to the insurance and would I need a letter or from the jeweller explaining the damage?

Thanks!

Alex

tykesi

Your contents insurance won't provide any cover for it being 'not fit for purpose'. The best you could expect from the contents is a claim for accidental damage but if they won't entertain this I doubt there's much you can do. Any recourse would be from the seller but going by where they are I'd imagine that'll be easier said than done.

InsideInsurance

The issue is not knowing how/ when it happened which could very easily result in any claim being declined. Is there any damage to the ring itself? How many claws does it have?

Presumably this "damage" isnt visible to the naked eye and as such could well have existed even before you bought it and they just sold you a lemon?

You mention its certfication details but all of them really are only just scraping into the grades where certification is considered worth while. Which company was the assessors of the diamond? Some are stricter than others.

Buying in Hong Kong would mean your consumer rights are as per their law, whilst I dont know their law there are few places in the world which are close to how much consumer protection our laws give and so I'd guess its much more caveat emptor

Did the jeweler talk about your options? A minor bang really is only going to cause surface cracking/ chipping which can be polished/ cut out, it does reduce the stone size but restores its appearance etc. If the stone is cracked all the way through then either its been hit hard and you've been unlucky or it continues to point at it being a lemon.

mgdavid

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Even though diamond is extremely hard, it is also very brittle and a sharp knock from something can easily cause a crack.
If the diamond has any internal flaws, the likelihood of it getting damaged from a knock increases .

Yes I know that; however so far all we and the OP appear to have is hearsay, that's why I asked the question (which remains unanswered). It's all far too vague at the moment to give any accurate / sensible reply.
Is it possible the sonic bath caused the damage?

InsideInsurance

mgdavid wrote: »

Is it possible the sonic bath caused the damage?

In theory its possible for it to spontaneously crack without any external influence but the probability is exceptionally small. A glass internal wall to a meeting room shattered a little while ago when the nearest person was 5 meters away and it'd been up there for about 2 years.

The probability of a professional sonic bath actually causing the thing to break is very low but not impossible.

unholyangel

InsideInsurance wrote: »

In theory its possible for it to spontaneously crack without any external influence but the probability is exceptionally small. A glass internal wall to a meeting room shattered a little while ago when the nearest person was 5 meters away and it'd been up there for about 2 years.

The probability of a professional sonic bath actually causing the thing to break is very low but not impossible.

Apparently its more likely the lower the clarity grade and the more brittle the stone (which diamonds certainly are brittle!).

http://www.jewelrynotes.com/what-jewelry-you-should-not-put-in-an-ultrasonic-cleaner/

Theres quite a few pages that all say the same thing - that a sonic bath when there are inclusions/flaws will likely cause it to crack/fracture.

Bear in mind that glass and diamond are not the same.

InsideInsurance

unholyangel wrote: »

Apparently its more likely the lower the clarity grade and the more brittle the stone (which diamonds certainly are brittle!).

http://www.jewelrynotes.com/what-jewelry-you-should-not-put-in-an-ultrasonic-cleaner/

Theres quite a few pages that all say the same thing - that a sonic bath when there are inclusions/flaws will likely cause it to crack/fracture.

Bear in mind that glass and diamond are not the same.

:rotfl:
Aware of the difference between glass and diamond, unfortunately. It was just a general point that things can seemingly spontaneously break at random without direct interaction

The OP states it was a SI grade (slight inclusions) which means there are inclusions but relatively minor and not necessarily visible to the naked eye. Whilst these can create weaknesses and increase the chance of issues like a major crack coming from them is still relatively low. Looking at a clarity scale online its I3 clarity where it states the inclusions may impact the durability of the stone.

One issue is that not all gradings are the same and whilst OP says its "SI" if its one of the more generous scorers then it may really be an I1 or I2 which increases the risk of issues and also devalues the stone.