Please help - Jewelers ruined my ring :(

Shellsworth88

Hi

So forgive me if I've posted this in the wrong section but I wasn't quite sure where this would fit in.

This may get quite confusing and lengthy but let me try and explain the back story is important.

Rewind approximately 4 years ago me and my then boyfriend went shopping and bought an engagement ring from High street chain Beaverbrooks. The ring is a platinum 3 stone ring something like this:
[I cant upload links ]

Whilst I loved the ring, when we started looking at wedding rings we ran into a problem. Because of the style of the mount I was unable to fit a wedding band ring flush next to my engagement ring, it would look similar to this:
[I cant upload links ]

So I took to Google and Facebook to look for a working jewellers to higher the mount that the diamonds sit on so that I would then be able to have a wedding band flush to the engagement ring. We found a relatively local working Jewellers (Demilles) who came recommended and had done many rings for local celebs etcc so we were confident that they could do the work.

From memory we paid about £600 for Demilles to change the mount and complete the changes. We picked up the ring, and our wedding bands from the shop and were happy.

So fast forward a couple of years to about 9 months ago, I had started to noticed that my wedding finger was becoming red, inflamed, itchy and sore. I put this down to the change in the weather and that I was now a public transport user but it started to get worse and more painful. I booked an appointment at the doctors and she advised that I must be allergic to the metal compounds that make up my rings and that I should stop wearing them. All the ladies should side with me that this was the last thing I wanted to do! I began wearing my rings less and less but felt like I was cheating on my husband!

If I didn’t wear the rings during the week my finger would start getting better and within minutes of wearing my rings it would start itching etcc..

About 2 months ago, I wore my wedding ring one day and noticed that this didn’t cause me any pain or suffering so I continued to wear it without any problems. At the weekend I put on my engagement ring and within minutes my finger started to itch and it dawned on me about the works that were made to my ring.

I took it off and looked at it under a microscope and I found my answer – the joins where the Jewellers had “chopped” out the old mount and inserted the new were rough, and it looked like there was some damaged and when you felt around the inside it was rough – which would have been enough to agitate and break the skin.

I tried to contact Demilles but the number didn’t work, their Facebook page hadn’t been updated since 2013 and after some searches on the internet the company was no longer trading – I was devastated.

We found another local working jewellers close to our new home (Cranes), they looked at the ring and in their words “It was a sham job”, they agreed platinum is a hard metal to work with but that they wouldn’t be happy with the job. They kept the ring to measure up and quote us for a new one – giving a rough price of about £1000.

Whilst Cranes had the ring I have randomly bumped into a jewellers on Facebook which is actually the original jewellers trading under a different name so I gave them a call and it pretty much went like this
“Hello, is this Demillies”
“No”
“did you used to be called Demilles”
“we did but we aren’t anymore why”
“I had some work done by you on my engagement ring and it has developed a fault and is causing me some issues”
“well if it was done under Demilles we can’t help you”
“The changes were made by Paul, the jeweller who the store is named after I presume he still works there”
“well yes he does”
“So as it was Paul who made the changes I would have thought you would be able to help. I’ve been told by an independent jeweller that the work is shambolic and I’m looking at £1000 to get this repaired”
“Well I can’t comment on that”
“so can you help me”
“bring it in the store and we will have a look”
“Are you still based in the same store”
“We are in Bramhall”
“Are you in the same store as when you traded as Demilles”
“Yes” and then she hung up.

I haven’t taken the ring to Demilles because I don’t believe they will refund the work they did, nor do I trust them to do more work. They don’t sound apologetic and I’d question the care they would put into it. I have had a call from the new Jewellers Cranes they have advised that the ring is un-useable and that I should get a new ring and mount specifically made which has come in at £935.

What rights do I have with Demilles? £935 is a lot of money to fix a problem with they have caused

Please help!

soolin

All the ladies should side with me that this was the last thing I wanted to do! I began wearing my rings less and less but felt like I was cheating on my husband!

Sorry but I started to feel a bit aggrieved at this point as I do not wear either an engagement or a wedding ring despite being happily married for 30+ years. Strangely enough I don't equate not wearing a ring with being unfaithful.

Nodding_Donkey

Was the original company a ltd company, sole trader, partnership etc?

carly

soolin wrote: »

Sorry but I started to feel a bit aggrieved at this point as I do not wear either an engagement or a wedding ring despite being happily married for 30+ years. Strangely enough I don't equate not wearing a ring with being unfaithful.

Same here.....

meer53

But the ring didn't affect you for two years ?

The ring can still be worn as a ring, it's not faulty, you have obviously developed an allergy, hardly the jewellers fault !

unholyangel

The first thing you need to do is find out if the company you bought from is still trading. Unfortunately it doesn't matter that theres still a jewellers at that address and that they happen to have the same jeweller.

There appears to be 2 companies beloning to paul. One was demilles watches - dissolved in 2013. The other of de mills llp is technically still active however they don't appear to have filed anything since 2013.

Check your receipt/payment and see whether it gives any indication as to whether it was demilles watches or de mills. If it was watches then you're likely out of luck.

Of course if you paid any of the amount by credit card, then you would still have rights against the credit card company. Did you pay by credit card at all?

shegirl

But you didn't have any problems for 2 years? Have your fingers got much fatter and therefore the ring is tight and rubbing?


Otherwise, I fail to see how the work on the ring suddenly started causing problems 2 years later and it would be more likely due to developing an allergy. All metal can be made smooth too, it's done every day with every piece of jewellery made.


If you had to look under a microscope to find it, how 'bad' is it really?

shegirl

Where is it rubbing,where is it rough and what kind of setting do you have? Is it on the joins where it would've be soldered or the underneath of the setting?

Shellsworth88

If I had an allergy surely i would have an issue with my wedding ring which I don't therefore this rules out it being an allergy.

It is rubbing underneath where the joins are - if you feel it underneath it is rough. The new jewelers have guessed this issue has been gradual over the years as dirt, moisture etcc have worked the way in the gaps. Before the ring was altered underneath the ring was smooth all the way around, but as I've I've had explained to me the shoddy cut and shut job from the Demilles Jewelers hasn't been finished well.


Also I think my comment about not wearing the ring have been taken too literal by some people. As a fairly newly married person the last thing I want to do is stop wearing my engagement ring. The last month I've worn my wedding ring without any issues.

shegirl

Shellsworth88 wrote: »

If I had an allergy surely i would have an issue with my wedding ring which I don't therefore this rules out it being an allergy.

It is rubbing underneath where the joins are - if you feel it underneath it is rough. The new jewelers have guessed this issue has been gradual over the years as dirt, moisture etcc have worked the way in the gaps. Before the ring was altered underneath the ring was smooth all the way around, but as I've I've had explained to me the shoddy cut and shut job from the Demilles Jewelers hasn't been finished well.


Also I think my comment about not wearing the ring have been taken too literal by some people. As a fairly newly married person the last thing I want to do is stop wearing my engagement ring. The last month I've worn my wedding ring without any issues.

The engagement ring could be a different alloy to the wedding ring.


If there was a problem on the solder joins where it was not joined and finished correctly then yes that can worsen over time and create problems. Have the jewellers said anything about whether they can just replace the setting?

bod1467

Am I the only one with a warped sense of humour, to have tittered at the thread title?


Yes?



Oh well ...................