This is a sticky wicket no doubt. Getting put into these situations
can be very trying. I think that you handled it pretty well, but I
have to agree somewhat with Craig on this as well.
I once worked in a store in a tourist town and a very welled dressed
woman came in with a great big emerald. She proceeded to tell us
that it was a Muso and that she had paid about $250,000 for the ring.
My employer at the time jumped right into the fire and told her that
it was glass that it was too perfect to be real.
She was of course livid! He had no real way of knowing at a glance
what this stone was. If it was Emerald it was the cleanest, clearest,
rarest of emeralds one could imagine. She was from Palm Beach and
could afford the real deal. So, he lost any chance of doing business
with this woman, she thought him insane and left the store in a huff.
He tried to smooth things out but it is impossible to back peddle.
So my 2 cents are, tell the customer that yes it is beautiful BUT
have you had it appraised recently by a licensed jewelry appraiser?
She really ought to have this done, rare stones increase in value so
quickly she needs to get this Alexandrite verified and reappraised by
an independent party for insurance purposes.
By doing this you will have offered good advice to the client and
set the stage for further possible business dealings. Then when and
if they come back and tell you it is fake. you can at least tell them
you had feared this. You hadn’t wanted to alarm them as you had no
real time to inspect the stone with appropriate equipment at the
time. That is why you had suggested a licensed pro to inspect the
stone more thoroughly. Now don’t you sound clever?
If they biring the ring in for work then be direct and tell them
your thoughts and have them get it authenticated before you do any
thing to the ring again.
However before I proceed I would like to apologize to Hans Meevis
here on the forum as I have in my rather abrupt delivery on his
initial e-mail obviously insulted him on the forum.
So Hans I apologize. I for sure did not want to question your
integrity I should have replied with my dissenting opinion not using
words like “honesty” and expressed my thoughts in greater depth. So
again I’m sorry. Sooooooooo here it go’s
In my opinion when confronted with what is clearly an uncomfortable
situation with a customer not aware of the “non value” of an item or
just misled about what they have we are faced with a dilemma.
I think a good salesman when asked “is it not beautiful?” can
respond however he or she wants but my problem lay’s with the
question “it’s very valuable isn’t it?” I think a good salesperson
can when faced with this question can explain to a customer in many
way’s that it is beautiful but not what they understand it to be.
I could go on and on about this but the foremost reason for this
last post on the subject was for the purpose of my apology to Mr.
Meevis.
I was just there in January when my mechanics girlfriend came in with
a pair of 2 carat size Moisanite earrings. I told her that I couldn’t
positively identify them as diamonds. (They were set in filigree 14kt
baskets and were in one of those nice wooden boxes) She kept pushing
the issue. So after a while I told her that I thought they were
Moisanite but wasn’t sure. (Tap dance…I really knew) Then I told her
that he should have come to me. Since I take my car to him and pay
well, I figured it was only right for me to expect reciprocity. In
any event, I’m now looking for a mechanic… lol
This reminds me of a Judge Joe Brown episode my wife told me about
last week. A jeweler was sued for scratching the back of a Movado
watch. After putting in a fresh battery the watch still wouldn’t
run. I don’t know all of the details, other than the Plaintiff won
$300 for a $295 (when new) Movado. Obviously the jeweler broke the
watch when he scratched the back. Right? I wonder if this case could
be used as a precedent for when an auto mechanic puts a scuff on your
fender when changing the car battery. You get a new Corvette. Not a
bad deal.
When I originally read this thread, my first though was the couple
sounded like an con-artist team and you very innocently did not fall
into the loop of their scam. Part of the scam was to get you to keep
the ring, thus giving them the opportunity accuse you of switching
stones. Your kindness of straightening the band in their presence
for free made the Judge Joe Brown type of trial unfeasible. Even
though the gentleman was buying something else, had you told the
owner of the ring the truth, she may have insisted you send the ring
for another opinion, thus giving her the opportunity to falsely
accuse you of switching the stone.
Often in life we are faced with decisions of telling someone the
truth that may hurt them very much or just letting some things go
unsaid. When in business, the less said the better about someone
else’s quality of workmanship when it is negative. Often people don’t
want to know the truth or actually know the truth but deny it’s
existence, which may have been the story here although I doubt it.
But in this case, the woman was giving you two different
opportunities to keep the ring and besides, what woman, when
accompanied by the current boyfriend brings a ring given to her from
another boyfriend, bragging about the rings supposed great
wealth/value? None that I know of.
Yeah a ticklish situation to be sure. Just be glad you didn't have
to take it in for repair and give a receipt, because then you would
have to be explicit about it.
Au contraire! I’m not sure what you mean by ‘explicit’. Say you think
it’s a diamond, you would write on the ticket that you’re taking in a
‘white stone’. And you have the person whose property it is sign the
ticket after they have read it. If the question is asked you tell
that person that until an ID is made the only thing you’re certain of
is that it’s a ‘white stone’. If you ID a stone as a diamond you’re
in dangerous waters. Do you know it’s a diamond because the customer
has told you so. You could be sued and accused of who knows what.
It’s only a ‘white stone’ until you have an ID.
Au contraire! I'm not sure what you mean by 'explicit'. Say you
think it's a diamond, you would write on the ticket that you're
taking in a 'white stone'.
Back when I worked at a retail store we were told not to even use
the word “stone” because it still connoted something of value, i.e.
“gemstone”. We were instructed to describe a stone to be taken in as
a “6.4 mm white round” or “7.3 x 5.1 white oval”.
Au contraire! I'm not sure what you mean by 'explicit'.
I mean just that, state unambiguously that he doesn’t believe the
stone is genuine.
Say you think it’s a diamond, you would write on the ticket that
you’re taking in a ‘white stone’. And you have the person whose
property it is sign the ticket after they have read it. If the
question is asked you tell that person that until an ID is made the
only thing you’re certain of is that it’s a ‘white stone’. If you ID
a stone as a diamond you’re in dangerous waters. Do you know it’s a
diamond because the customer has told you so. You could be sued and
accused of who knows what. It’s only a ‘white stone’ until you have
an ID.
I’ve been pondering this for a few days now. If it came to a court
battle, if the plaintiff could substantiate that the ‘white stone’ in
question is indeed a diamond, a receipt from the jeweler calling it
just an unidentified white stone may not be enough to protect him.
Now consider the original post… the “Alexandrite”. If the jeweler
had to give a receipt, and labeled the stone ‘One Violet Stone’, to
me, that neither supports nor denies the customer’s belief that the
stone is genuine alexandrite, it just gives a visual description. The
question could be asked in court (and this is not MY harshness here,
just hypothetical) “you, jeweler are an expert. Why did you not
correct the plaintiff’s misunderstanding?” Well he may have,
verbally. But verbal is certainly not written. In such a sticky case
a wiser way to handle a receipt might be state on the receipt the
disagreement regarding the ID of the stone. That would establish
that the customer indeed knew the jeweler disputed her statement that
the stone is genuine.
But the safest route would be not to accept possession of it at all.
When the alarm bell rings in your head, pay attention to it.
I believe there is at least one attorney who frequents this board,
perhaps he would give us his opinion on the whole matter of liability
in these circumstances.
If it came to a court battle, if the plaintiff could substantiate
that the 'white stone' in question is indeed a diamond, a receipt
from the jeweler calling it just an unidentified white stone may
not be enough to protect him.
Fortunately, we’re not going to court here. Hans Meevis did the
sensible thing, I believe. The customer’s companion (she was not the
customer: HE was)…requested an adjustment on a ring which she
identified as an alexandrite and Hans’ experience led him to believe
otherwise. He was not obliged to render an opinion as to its
authenticity, only to admire and adjust it. That he adjusted it free
as a favor to his old customer did not oblige him to authenticate it,
and as far as I’m concerned, absolved him of any ethical
responsibility.
HOWEVER----On the ‘white stone’ controversy—If, as a customer, I
submitted a diamond for repair, I damn well would want it listed as
a diamond, not a ‘white stone’, especially since I live in an area
where a supposedly reputable jeweler was convicted of substituting
CZ’s for customers’ diamonds. I might add that if the diamond was not
being reset before my eyes I would bring any relevant documentation
as to its authenticity so it could be listed on the bill and receipt
as to what it was. Should the ‘jeweler’ turn out to be a scam artist,
‘white stone’ would not protect me from being done out of the
three-carat emerald-cut job that I left with him.
One final thought: It could also be possible that the lady in
question was not quite on the up-and-up; knew that her ex had given
her a low-value stone, and was determined to get her due, even at
someone else’s expense. In today’s world, alas, anything is possible.
If, as a customer, I submitted a diamond for repair, I damn well
would want it listed as a diamond, not a 'white stone',
If the business taking in your “diamond” had a gemologist available
to confirm that in fact it is a diamond, then yes it could be written
up as a diamond on the repair slip. Unfortunately, most jewelry sales
people are not gemologists and can be fooled just as easily by
simulants as the layperson. Accordingly it is proper for them to
identify the stone as a white stone until such time as someone with
the proper credentials can look at it. I would suggest if you have a
personal fear that your stone might be switched you could do the
following:
Find a jeweler you actually trust.
Only take it to a jeweler with a gemologist on staff who will come
out and properly identify the stone, and if necessary do a quick plot
of the inclusions for you
Do the work yourself.
Incidentally, I’m sure the jeweler in question wrote up “diamond” on
all of his take in slips. How the stone is identified won’t change
whether you get back the original or not.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
On the 'white stone' controversy---If, as a customer, I submitted
a diamond for repair, I damn well would want it listed as a
diamond, not a 'white stone', especially since....
In my 30 some years operating commercially, I know that there are
some instances where absolute positive ID cannot be made during the
‘take-in’, and I tell the c/s that because I cannot make absolute ID
while it is dirty,etc… that I will write them a claim ticket,
describing color, dimensions, any obvious or definable inclusions
marks,etc… which they can use to positively identify later. If that
isn’t satisfactory to them, then I refuse to take the job in. It
simply isnt a good idea to take responsibility for the stone/ item,
unless its on your own terms. And if the c/s doesn’t afford me total
trust then its not good for either of us.