[Jewelry making - Article 00553] - Re: [Orchid] Who pays for the broken opals?

[Wayne Emery]

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Gerry,

    An act of carelessness has resulted in damage to your customer's
    property. Unless, and ONLY unless, you had your customer sign and
    understand a waiver at the time you took possession of his property,
    you get to pay to replace the opal. There should be no question
    about this, I'm surprised you ask. 

    This is a common question from those who are just entering the
    jewelry trade, but, really, simple ethics (and the law) dictate that
    you are responsible for the safekeeping of your customer's
    materials. 

    As you know, I am a cutter, entrusted to repair very valuable
    gemstones on a daily basis. The cost of the repair is usually very
    low relative to the value of the stone, so I ask that my customers
    sign a disclaimer that states that I simply will not be responsible
    for damage occurring to their stone as a result of working with it.
    However, it is not possible for me to evade legal and ethical
    responsibility in the case of negligence, and a stone broken from
    being dropped is negligence, at least in my shop. 

    After three decades at this, I have accumulated a pretty good
    defense system against my own "inadequacies". Such defense includes
    things like strict procedures when unpacking goods or packing goods,
    including packaging that would withstand a train wreck. NONE of my
    work surfaces are metal, they are all vinyl, just to avoid what
    happened to you. Likewise, my shop floor is carpeted with a
    tight-weave commercial carpet. Tiny stones or fragile jewelry will
    not be lost or damaged when (not if) it occasionally slips from my
    grasp. 

    Any and all wastebaskets are NEVER placed under or near the edge of
    horizontal surfaces like desks or benches, because it is too easy to
    slide or knock something valuable off the surface and into the waste
    basket. Nearly losing a 2 carat diamond that way (retrieved from the
    dumpster!) taught me that lesson. 

    I use a Leveridge gauge or a Mitutoyo Digimatic to measure stone
    dimensions when cutting, but their surfaces have been modified so
    that they will not chip a sharp girdle edge (ever again). Like wise,
    my polishing lathe enclosure is completely padded with carpeting,
    including the arbor shafts, so that when a piece of jewelry is
    ripped from my grasp because I violated the rules of good polishing
    procedure, it is not damaged by clanging into metal. 

    The list goes on, and all these "defenses" against my own
    carelessness were arrived at not because I am clever, but because I
    do not wish to be poor (er). 

    You've broken an opal needlessly, and you may lose a customer,
    regardless of your actions from this point. But there is only one
    "right" thing to do, especially for one who has been associated with
    the trade for so long. Anyone who handles jewelry or stones long
    enough will damage or destroy something despite ret efforts not to
    do so. It doesn't make us poor craftsmen, it makes us human. The
    measuring of the event should not be judged on the basis that it
    happened, but on the basis of what we do next. 

    If you would like a copy of the disclaimer that I ask my customers
    to agree to, I'll send you a copy. If there is interest from others
    here, I'd be glad to post it, with the understanding that it will
    not save you if some clever attorney can show that you have acted
    with negligence. 

Best regards,
Wayne Emery
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