Independent Jeweler faulty repair of engagement ring

olivia2122

Hi all, 

I had my engagement ring resized at an independent jewelers and they have done a bad job. My engagement ring has a brand that was embedded into the inside of the ring along with a diamond and they have removed that when making the ring bigger (the diamond is still there but isnt in the centre of the band anymore). There are also other issues like there are scratches on the ring where i think it was held in the jig whilst it was made bigger, the ring isn't actually a neat circle among a few other things.

I took the ring back for these issues to be altered and they have etched in the brand again, however it is not the same as it previously was. I have spoken to the brand to see if they will fix it, however they have said they now wont touch the ring as the independent jeweler has basically ruined it. I am wanting a refund from the jeweler but they are not admitting anything is wrong with the ring or that they are at fault. This is now making me want to make a claim due to changing the branding of the ring and devaluing it. 

What are my rights, if any, in receiving the refund? Or can I make a claim as he has removed the branding from my ring without my knowledge and therefore changing the ring completely.

Thank you

Diamandis

Any engraving in metals can be effected by resizing. Have you got the opinion of another jeweller? If you're going to make a claim you're going to need to know if the work done is considered to have been done with "reasonable care and skill" how much it will cost to rectify if not.

olivia2122

@diamandis So the jeweler said that he hadn't seen the branding and diamond inside the ring before he started the resizing. After speaking to the brand, they have said that no jeweler should have attempted to resize the ring if they saw the branding. 

From speaking to the place that the ring was purchased, it cannot be rectified as the brand will no longer touch my ring as it has been altered so much in their opinion. 

JJ_Egan

What are you going to do ?

Claim via Small Claims Court  or other .

olivia2122

@JJ_Egan I am not sure what my best way to do it is? Or whether I even would get anywhere with it? I was just wondering if anyone had any advice before I do

TonyMMM

What do you want to happen ?

Resizing a ring is always going to involving stretching, or cutting, the existing metal... you know what "brand" it is, does it really matter whether it is printed inside ?

kayleighali

Was there a specific reason why you were unable to take it to the manufacturer to have it resized originally? 

olivia2122

@TonyMMM I want my ring to look as it looked when I took it in but a size bigger. I have had it resized at Ernest Jones and it came back looking exactly the same but just resized so I expected the same. Removing the brand has devalued the ring, whilst I am not bothered about the cost aspect of it as it will never be sold, it was the way it was handled with him removing the branding without and knowing he had without informing me. As well as the other issues that the ring is scratched, bent and not a neat circle that a ring should be, parts of the ring are thicker in places than in others where its not been shaped back correctly. It is just bad workmanship that I feel need to be corrected. I want the jeweler to pay for the errors he has made by outsourcing to a official jeweler who can fix the issues. 

Bradden

Could another jeweller actually fix this though?... from what you've ssaid it seems unlikely.

Sandtree

What brand was it?

Branding adds exceptionally little value to modern/contemporary jewellery unless we are talking a Cartier... even the likes of Tiffany only have a modest markup in comparison to an unbranded item of similar quality.

Enlarging a ring generally involves stretching it over a former unless its a large chance or its already been stretched in the past. The consequence, even if done well, is anything engraved on the inside will be distorted. You can try and limit this by targetting some areas but then inevitably you get uneven band and decorations etc may become unaligned.

Alderbank

This board is about consumer rights.

Olivia, your demands are completely unrealistic.

No court will force your jeweller to march round to a competitor and tell them to fix your ring. Not ever.

You say there is no branding left on your ring. No jeweller, not even an ‘official’ one, will forge a brand onto it. That’s plain illegal.

What does your invoice say? In an ideal world it would itemise all the steps and precautions you claim he discussed with you but he has not done. If it just says to enlarge the ring to size P or whatever – well, that’s what he’s done.

The ring is precious to you but courts don’t deal in value, only cost. Your next step would be to pay an independent jeweller to value your ring as it is today and what it might have been worth before you last had it enlarged. I think though that you will be saddened at how low and how similar they are.