More on liability dilemma

Jewelry Discussion
1

Happy holidays everybody!

Thanks to all who answered my post about setting the I-3 2ct
diamond with the nasty looking feather. The job went flawlessly,
I set the stone in a 6 prong platinum head in my custom mounting
and the customer was thrilled. I had her come by the shop, I
showed her the stone under magnification, explained to her the
risks, and had her sign a waiver. I really got the feeling that
made her trust me even more.

Anyway, yesterday a woman came into the shop who claims to be
"in the business" and I think knows just enough to get herself in
trouble. She brought in a mounting that contained a big
(probably 15 X 10mm or so genuine emerald and a loose better
looking emerald approx. the same size. The stone was apparently
set by a butcher, not a goldsmith. Uneven prongs, metal not
hitting the stone like it should, ect… Well, she wanted me
to “pop the stone out and put the new one in”. I refused to do
the job. Period. She came unglued and contacted the manager and
the owner of the store I subcontract for and they both stood
behind me. I’m sorry for loosing a customer, but she was one I
didn’t want anyways. Any comments?

Wendy Newman

2

Sometimes if you smell trouble, you are best off to turn it
away. Given the state of the mounting, I might have shown her
the problems and suggested she get a new head for her better
stone, or a whole new mounting…

FWIW

Dave

3

Bravo Wendy!

Unless they were junk, either of those emeralds is worth many
times whatever setting they are in. A rational customer might
ask you to cut the one emerald out of its ruined setting and
then set them both anew. But there’s just no reason to risk
damaging two very valuable stones, (the one being “popped out”
and the one being put in), just to be able to reuse the setting.

Sounds like the woman has a few screws loose, at best.
Definately not someone you want as a repeat customer – God only
knows what she’d want done next!

And think of the worst case scenerio: You do the work, and two
months later, (after cracking the stone while playing tennis),
she comes back claiming that YOU cracked it while resetting it,
and then filled the crack to hide your mistake. Shades of Fred
Ward all over again.

I applaud you.

Tom

4

Not all sales are worth your time… Great decision Windy. Vernon