[Jewelry making - Article 00941] - Re: [Orchid] How do you deal with high value stones?

[John Sholl]

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    T Lee I recently put a small chip on the girdle of a 1.234ct vvs1 e
    color princess cut diamond that was also perfectly square. The
    customer had bought it online and I was commissioned to make a
    custom platinum engagement ring. I had not warned him about the
    dangers of setting a diamond after all it is diamond and I do have a
    good track record. Damn, that was a hard phone call to make. 

    The approach I took was to explain that I would be more than willing
    to do whatever it took to correct the problem. The first step was to
    have the stone recut. The second was to send it back to GIA to have
    a new cert worked up. 

    Now the negotiations started. Would this customer demand a new
    stone, or, would they accept a discount on the project equal to the
    change in the value of the stone? In this case the decision was that
    the discount would be accepted unless the stone was no longer
    square. This worked out great for me. It was a very pretty stone and
    it would have been easy to sell but still I would rather not fork
    out the cash. 

    As it turned out the recut only lost .003ct bringing the stone to a
    1.231ct. Technically it didn't loose a point. David Wright a local
    diamond cutter did a fabulous job and complimented me on my ability
    to chip a diamond. I wasn't flattered. If this had happened to a
    larger stone or if the chip had been severe I would have been in
    trouble. Lesson learned, always tell the customer of the risks
    involved when setting expensive stones. 

    In fact I have seen one situation where an informed customer who's
    pricy stone was damaged during a repair was willing to wear the
    stone home and make a claim with their insurance company. This
    solution probably involves legal or ethical questions that I have no
    idea how to answer but it may be worth a try if the customer is
    generous. 

    Finally, Working on jewelry involves risks. Life involves risks.
    Very often the greater the risk the greater the return. Make it
    worth the risk and by all means if you are not comfortable with a
    project, don't turn it away, farm it out to someone more experienced
    in that particular aspect of the trade. 

John Sholl
Littleton, CO

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