[Jewelry making - Article 00011] - Re: [Orchid] Setting customer stones

[David Keeling]

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>     Bruce sets out what is pretty much the essence of the thread.
>     Diamonds in particular don't chip, setters chip them, and with few
>     exceptions they do it because the aren't really qualified. 

    John, respectfully, I must disagree. Any highly-skilled stone setter
    will admit to breaking many stones including diamonds during their
    career, and not just during the learning years. Every stone presents
    a risk, even round diamonds with thick girdles. Customers can damage
    these unlikely-to-break stones simply by wearing them, without any
    sort of compression force, and we've all met victims of this
    phenomenon. One little strike, a drop on the kitchen tiles, and
    disappointment. 

    I have been setting diamonds for the trade, as well as for my own
    retail operation for more than 28 years, and I have been a factor in
    a few casualties during that period, but only because I was trapping
    vulnerable gem material in a metal enclosure permanently. The best
    setters I have known fully understand that there are undeniable
    risks, and the ones who have broken diamonds have also impressed me
    with the perfection of the vast amount of their successful work. A
    good way to gauge the merit of a diamond setter is to give them a
    few emeralds to set. Their accuracy of bearing-cutting will reveal
    itself during the process, and if they are mushing thin foil over
    the girdles, they aren't setters, they are imposters with epoxy
    back-up. 

    Getting back to the origin of this thread, it wasn't so much about
    the risk. The question was related to losing a sale to an online
    vendor, then having to be the bad guy and have the customer sign a
    release before setting the stone, which is the most responsible
    thing to do. This makes the customer sweat buckets, and introduces
    doubt into the equation. If you sell the diamond, you don't need to
    protect or bring doubt upon yourself, you have made enough of a
    profit to justify the risk of setting. It's even better to refuse
    the work on the above grounds. The customer denied you the profit.
    Let the dot com setter prove their worthiness. 

    You have to set a lot of stones in order to net the equivalent
    profit from one diamond sale. If you can't sell the diamond, why
    would you help your online competitor by setting it? If you do
    damage it (as unlikely as that is) everyone within 50 miles will
    hear about it and you may have ruined your reputation for a modest
    setting fee which would be ludicrous to charge following any
    unfortunate event. It's like not shoveling snow from your sidewalk.
    In the unlikely event that someone falls, you will be liable for
    their injuries. It's foolish to not make a simple effort to protect
    yourself from unlikely events. 

    If it's grandma's diamond, absolutely fine, I'll set it for grandma's
    sake because it didn't come from some drop-shipper who works in their
    pajamas. 

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