I know that I had that fear for awhile until I became a jeweler.
If a jeweler doesn't have a real reason for the patron to watch
there shouldn't be a problem.
There is a very good reason I won’t work under the glaring spotlight.
Jewelry repair is not a performing art. It makes me nervous when
someone is looking over my shoulder, especially someone who already
distrusts me. Do you really want to break my concentration at a
critical point?
And sometimes things just go wrong thru no fault of the technician.
When you’re working on something of someone else’s manufacture, you
don’t absolutely know how it was constructed (experience with ‘name’
designers tells me that ‘name’ alone is no guarantee of good make,
sorry to those offended) Yet if there’s a problem and the client is
looking over your shoulder they will think the problem is you.
Because of course no one ever buys a piece of crap.(Not insinuating
anything about the ring in question, just speaking generally).
So what do I do when things do go wrong anyway? I fix it, at least
as good as when I received it, better if conditions allow. I don’t
charge for unforeseen events unless I discuss the risk ahead of time.
Sometimes deficiencies of make are not apparent until you perform
some task or other. I don’t need the 50 bucks so bad that I’ll risk
my reputation on someone else’s product who may or may not have had
the highest standards.
And frankly, hope no one takes offense at this, I don’t need the 50
bucks so bad that I’ll be insulted. Yes, I know that’s an emotional
response but I’ve earned the privilege. Its also not solely
emotional. Its just matter of fact, I won’t do it. I’m calm about
though.
She thought the jeweler had split her stone and gave her the same
stones back... I think this is another reason for laser marking a
serial number on the girdle of the stones.
Inscription would be of no benefit here as repolishing would remove
it. I once had an ugly heart shape recut to a nicely matched pair of
pears. New stones, new outlines… girdle gets recut too.
47 street so I can recommend my friend to come over
Pragnesh, I know you are just trying to help out a friend and your
intentions are good. But maybe you don’t realize that your
recommendation would be totally blind? This may be Orchid but its
still the internet. I toyed with the idea of offering my assistance,
I’m just a train ride away, out of the same feeling of comradery that
perhaps you felt, being on Orchid. But I don’t know your friend in
the same way she doesn’t know me, see Daniel’s remarks. So we’re all
back to square one.
What I can suggest though, is that your friend take the time to
examine her diamond under a loupe and really get to know HER stone.
Memorize the identifying characteristics, look at a lot of other
stones for comparison. When dropping it off somewhere, discreetly let
the shop know that she is intimately familiar with the stone. A
prestigious cert would be a great help. Might go something like
this…“Do you think this stone is the one described on this AGS
cert?”… “Yes”… “Can you size it for me”… No hurt feelings but
the message gets across.
Good luck with it.