Do you ever make careless mistakes? On Tuesday of this week my wife
noticed one of our tanzanite rings on the sales floor of our store.
This was during regular business hours. Fortunately, she found it
before a customer did. One of our sales people (who was wearing a
loose fitting baggy long sleeve sweater) was showing rings in that
showcase. This particular ring was not being shown, but, apparently,
in the process of her removing her arm from the showcase, she swept
the ring out of the ring-ramp and onto the floor. The ring was found
about twelve feet from the showcase.
UHHH funny you should mention it… I just dropped a VVS2 G .55 dia
in my shop and haven’t found it after 4 days. I have ended up having
to buy another to replace the customer’s. Not very happy!! $1,300.00
mistake! OUCH!!! Merry Christmas to me! Looks like my wife gets a
Diamond…when it turns up!
OOoooh Steve… Check the filter of your washing machine at home -
the last stone that “disappeared” landed up in the turnup of my
jeans. A stone like that could have ended up in your clothing
somewhere. hope your wife has a good Christmas…
UHHH funny you should mention it... I just dropped a VVS2 G.55 dia
in my shop and haven't found it after 4 days. I have ended up
having to buy another to replace the customer's.
My dentist put a new crown on my tooth last year, but not before he
dropped and lost the crown. Turns out that it bounced on the floor,
then hopped up and over the toe-kick of the cabinet into an
unreachable hollow area of the cabinet. He had to hire a carpenter
to take the cabinet apart, but there it was.
I just dropped a VVS2 G.55 dia in my shop and haven't found it
after 4 days.
Just in case it helps…
A few years ago I dropped a small diamond into the, rather full,
lemel-catcher under my bench. Despite searching very carefully I was
unable to find it.
I then tipped the entire contents of the catcher onto a sheet of
paper and my wife and I searched for an hour or so; also without
success. I was about to give up and thought “What I need is a
diamond-magnet”. I then got to thinking about what is special about a
diamond, and then it hit me: diamonds sparkle in the light.
I got a torch, turned the studio lights off, and directed the torch
to the lemel-catcher. After sifting around a bit I saw a little
sparkle of light. It was the diamond! It took only a few minutes.
Maybe it will work for you too.
Sorry to hear about the dropped stone. Try looking at night with the
lights off and use a very strong flashlight. Sometimes they come out
of hiding to play with the lights. They also tend to travel…So look
everywhere.
In our early years, when we did a lot of roadside and craft shows,
hubby took a cheque for a ring, he remembers just tucking it in his
jean pocket, we had customers stacked as it was the day before
Christmas and he did not write up a sales ticket because the guy was
in a hurry and said he didn’t need one.
Some how that cheque never did get found to this day (10 yrs later)
and no clue who he was, customer got a great deal for Christmas and
I learned no matter how busy you are, always put the money away
first and write everything in the log book !
UHHH funny you should mention it... I just dropped a VVS2 G.55 dia
in my shop and haven't found it after 4 days.
Don’t give up. I know a diamond wholesaler who’s father lost a nice
1ct+ diamond in the early 1970’s. His son, who is the one I know,
took over the business after his father’s death. The son was moving
the business to a new location in the late 1980’s. While taking his
fathers old desk apart to move it they inadvertently dropped the desk
top back onto the desk with a slam! Out dropped the missing diamond
some 20 years later!
One thing that’s good about losing something in a shop is that it’s
usually a closed system, nothing gets out unchecked except for
garbage. So if you lost it in the shop at least you know it’s
probably still in the shop…somewhere.
These things are contagious. Yesterday I dropped a sapphire, heard
it hit the pan (good reason for a steel pan) and poof it was gone
despite an hour of looking and vacuuming.
So I did what I always do in these situations. I walked away and did
something else for awhile.
Later just as I was telling someone on the phone of my accident, I
turned around and POOF! there it was. Plain as day in the middle of
the floor.
Sometimes when you look too closely you can’t see a darned thing.
LOL! Not a bad idea. I love how things fall of the bench, take one
bounce, and enter Hyperspace, ending up on the other side of the
room. I think they use wormholes. I’ve learned when I drop
something, to freeze and watch it. It’s against your instinct, you
want to try to grab it, but it works well many times.
turn off all lights at night,get very bright flashlight, move light
it in “grids” along floor.
no stone? lift all movable objects to clear area. repeat search. keep
expanding search,a gem can bounce far distances and even up a half a
foot or so, check areas up that height "no gem? when you sell house
tell of "the lost diamond legend "
When you say “torch” in your post about looking for the diamond, is
that a battery powered torch that we in the US call a flashlight, or
the torch with flame?
I live with a brit. Torch does indeed mean flashlight.
I learned a good tip from someone about lost small items - a nylon
over the end of a vacuum cleaner wand - will grab stuff but not suck
it in the canister
That's when we crawl around on our hand and knees saying, "Please
dear God,
LOL, Yes I did all my prayer session too, now it’s, “Dear Lord,
please let me make enough this season to make eating the cost of this
diamond, go down a bit easier! And Thank you for the lesson in
humility!”
Sometimes careless mistakes work out for the best (excluding of
course losing precious stones.) One mistake I made which had a happy
ending occurred when I was teaching a class in enameling at our
local art center. The class, following mine was waiting in the hall
for me to vacate the room so they could enter. I shut down the kiln,
and hurriedly left, but inadvertently forgot to remove an enameled
piece still in it. I realized this when I was half-way home. I turned
around and headed back to the studio. Assuming all the dignity I
could under the circumstances, I entered, announcing, “I just want to
check to see if the piece I left in the kiln is ready.” I withdrew
the piece, expecting it to be a mess. Instead, the prolonged
over-firing produced marvelous iridescent effects. I smiled, and
said, “Great. Just what I planned.” Since then prolonged over-firing
has been included in my bag of techniques. Sometimes carelessness
has its rewards.
When you say "torch" in your post about looking for the diamond,
is that a battery powered torch that we in the US call a
flashlight, or the torch with flame?
Sorry for the confusion; yes, I meant a flashlight. I’m in UK.
I've learned when I drop something, to freeze and watch it. It's
against your instinct, you want to try to grab it, but it works
well many times.
In addition to freezing and watching I listen very carefully.
Usually works better when the little buggers bounce out of line of
sight.
Anything, especially nasty or hot stuff dropped, and I’ve learned to
NEVER try and catch, although it took a few years. Better to have the
post drop body match the pre drop one.
One thing that’s good about losing something in a shop is that it’s
usually a closed system, nothing gets out unchecked except for
garbage.
So true. Anne and I went to the USA in September so we took our
jewellery to the bank deposit box, and when we got back we took it
out again. We photographed the inside of the box before and after,
and they matched perfectly. Put it back in the windows. Yet there are
three pieces that are missing. Just under $10000. That is not funny
at all. For the life of me I cannot figure out what happened. I am
super careful with my jewellery. Yet they gone.
Garbage?
Sweet heaven, that is the only avenue that remains… There is no
other way these pieces could have gone missing.
