[Jewelry making - Article 00544] - Re: [Orchid] Who pays for the broken opals?

[Phil Walker]

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Hello Gerry.

    There may be a few more lessons to learn here than you realize. I
    discuss terms of possible accidental damage of stones with my
    customers before I do any work for them as I would expect you have
    too. Most of my customers understand the deal anyway but it still
    pays to discuss it prior. One unfortunate thing here though is that
    the stone didn't break while being worked on so its more complicated
    than when a stone breaks because of unseen internal weaknesses. It
    could be debated the stone broke as the result of negligence and was
    not unpreventable. I still would be reluctant to offer any
    compensation at the risk of setting a precedent. A client can not
    expect us to share the risk if their not willing to share the profit.
    If a retailer is putting the appropriate amount of margin on a piece
    they should not lose too much if anything at all if they have to
    replace a stone. I'll leave that part for you to work out but the
    lessons I am more keen to offer everyone who cares to read are as
    follows. When working on any jobs but especially expensive or brittle
    ones I never leave tools in my leather skin as accidentally dropping
    a piece of jewellery or a stone can cause damage if it falls on hard
    metal tools such as mandrels. I have seen a jeweller drop an opal
    onto just such a tool chipping the opal badly. Also If you have a
    hard floor in your workshop it can be a good idea to put a small
    square of carpet under where you stand to do polishing or other
    tasks where it may be possible to drop a fragile piece reducing the
    risk of damage. When receiving goods from clients always insist
    stones are bagged separately to rings etc. I still have supposedly
    experienced retailers putting expensive emeralds, diamonds and ring
    all in the same plastic bag to rattle around together while in
    transit to me. plastic bags often with holes in too. Stones of
    different hardness must be bagged or boxed separately. Finished
    pieces must always be bagged or wrapped carefully and if expensive or
    fragile must be wrapped in tissue and placed in a protective box
    before being sent to or from a client. Stones of any quantity must be
    double bagged in case plastic bag splits while in transit as this
    does happen occasionally. More than a few times I've opened a courier
    envelope or job packet and found diamonds rolling around all over the
    place because the bag has split or has had holes in. its surprising
    how many penny pinching retailers will try to reuse plastic bags over
    and over till they are falling apart. Lately if I'm picking up work
    I've been insisting that job envelopes are also placed in larger
    plastic bags and sealed properly or else I refuse to take them away.
    If I pick up work and a ring or stone falls out because the client
    has not packed it securely they would probably be unlikely to accept
    the blame. Anyway I could go on and on. I hope the situation is
    resolved without ill feeling between you and your client. 

Good Luck
Phil W
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