[Jewelry making - Article 00108] - Re: [Orchid] Could you write a check for $100,000?

[Lumenea]

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    David Geller's recent post reinforces the importance of careful
    description and documentation of customers' jewelry received for
    repairs and cleaning an reminded me of one of the most powerful
    learning experiences of my 30-year career.  Perhaps the story of my
    disaster will help someone to avoid a similar painful experience. 

    I work out of a studio behind my home and while I primarily create
    one-of-a-kind work, I occasionally do repairs as a convenience for
    my customers. As it happened, a woman contacted me some years ago
    about doing several small repairs for her and had her niece deliver
    the items: a light weight gold charm bracelet with a half-dozen
    charms, a simple white gold cocktail ring set with a pair of 6 mm
    pearls, and an old-fashioned 10 karat man's signet-style ring which
    included a flush set round white stone about 3.5 mm in diameter.
    Both rings were to be sized up and two charms soldered to the
    bracelet. 

    As I customarily did, I wrote out a receipt for the items being left
    with me, describing them as accurately as I could. Having no way to
    test the "round, white stone" in the gents ring, I described it as
    such rather than record it as a diamond. Here I made the first of
    several major mistakes. I failed to ask the customer to establish a
    value. I also failed to photograph the items. 

    Several days later, I completed the work required and brought the
    envelope containing the work in from the shop, setting it temporarily
    on the end of the bar which separates my kitchen and dining room.
    This was where I typically left tools, notes and work prior to
    delivery or to remind me to carry them out to my studio.  Unbeknownst
    to me, later that day one of my cats decided to treat the bag of
    jewelry as "prey" and knocked it from the bar, where it fell into a
    trash can which my son later emptied. By the time I had realized
    that the jewelry was missing, had searched the house from stem to
    stern and finally pieced together what had happened, my customer's
    work was in the city landfill. Regretfully, I contacted the woman and
    explained what had happened, offering to either replace her jewelry
    with comparable items or compensate her for the value of the lost
    jewelry, anticipating that my homeowner's insurance would cover the
    loss. 

    Of course, my customer was upset (understandably so!) and decided
    that she wished me to find replacements for the lost items.  After
    much searching, I was able to purchase good matches for the cocktail
    ring, charm bracelet and charms and delivered them to her.  It was at
    about this point that my customer declared that she had decided she
    was not interested in replacements after all and wanted the full cash
    value of her lost jewelry. She also produced an appraisal which she
    claimed was for the gent's ring. Many details about the "appraisal"
    left me suspicious, but the kicker was the description of the small
    stone, listed there as being a ".75 carat brilliant cut diamond, v v
    1 clarity, of excellent color." NO WAY! 

    Ultimately, when I contested the fishy "appraisal" and my customer's
    exaggerated value for her work, she sued me. The judge found in her
    favor, and required me to pay her $5000 for jewelry worth about $1500
    on a good day.  On top of that, I was stuck with the replacement
    jewelry I'd purchased at her initial request, a substantial
    attorney's bill and a claim against my homeowner's insurance that
    resulted in cancellation of my coverage by that company.  Inthe end,
    a cat, a crooked customer, and my naivete cost me close to $8000. 

    My point to all is to carefully document what you receive, backing
    your verbal description up with a Polaroid or digital image, ask the
    customer to assign a value, and be sure your insurance covers what
    you think it does. (Oh yes, and don't put valuable things where
    klepto cats can disappear them!) 

Walk in Beauty,
Susannah Ravenswing - who learned from her mistakes
Jewels of the Spirit
Winston-Salem NC

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