[Jewelry making - Article 00530] - Re: [Orchid] Who pays for the broken opals?

[Neilthejeweler]

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    I'm unclear about the chain of handling involved but... 

    if you value your client you should consider making things right,
    that is, in the absence of a prior agreement about liability.
    Whenever I'm presented with fragile stones supplied by the customer I
    make it known beforehand that any work is done at the owner's risk.
    When I quote a job where I'm selling fragile stones, a safety(or
    disaster) factor is built in. It only took a few of my own calamities
    to beat that into my head. 

    In your particular case it could have broken during setting. It
    happens once in a while that one does not see damage til the job is
    complete. Or it could have broken when dropped. This is why my work
    area is carpeted, despite the huge pain of searching for little stuff
    on the floor. If your jeweler is your employee I don't believe you
    can saddle him with the financial responsibility, but I'm not a labor
    lawyer so take that with a grain of salt. Or the stone may have had
    inherent stress before you ever touched it. Who knows? But your
    client knows he gave you an intact stone, and it broke while in your
    care, custody and control. He's probably going to think since you are
    the professional you should have taken any and all precautions. 

    You need to think strategically here. Is the short term benefit of
    not paying for it worth the possible end of your business
    relationship with your client and the longer range damage to you
    reputation? But I guess it depends on how costly the stone was. You
    might luck out and your client already assumes the liability. Talk to
    him, see how he feels. 

    It hurts but we all have to eat it sometimes. My advice is to lick
    your wounds and move on. Settle in whatever way works, then get it
    out of your head so you can concentrate on what you need to do next.
    Christmas is coming, put your energy to that. 

I feel your pain,
Neil

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