My first reaction to you story was that maybe the original diamond
had been removed and another stone set in it’s place. Might be wise
to verify the quality of the stone before working on the ring.
Lois
www.loismartens.com
You know, there’s one other thing at play here and that goes along
with something Leonid said in another thread about deciding for the
customer.
sent it to him in a smaller size then he requested
Imho, by not sending the size requested you basically invited
someone else to work on it. If you, as the designer, know full well
that the particular finish or construction is problematic isn’t it up
to you to do everything reasonable to ensure success?
And somewhere there was a pretty good miscommunication going on…
We sized it down here in Vancouver so now it fits snugly
You sent it smaller and they still needed to size it down more. To
some degree you may have yourself to blame, sorry to be so blunt.
hoping it would fit, and/or it would need to be size up....I've never had a ring damaged like this, because some ham-handed jewelry store didn't know what they were doing.
You gave up control, willingly it appears, to the great unknown.
For about a dollar and a half plus postage you could send your
distant clients a finger gauge. Cheap insurance.
I just reread this for the edit and I’m sorry if it sounds, well,
harsh, not meant to be. Just playing the Dutch Uncle again.
I have had my work ruined by other jewelers who simply misunderstood what I had done or, as Peter said, stepped beyond their comfort and experience level.
Andy takes the question to the next level… On the one hand, I just
heard of a pretty well known jeweler who completely ruined a vintage
piece because he brought it up to new condition. He has no sense of
restoration, it seems. On the other hand, we get a steady stream of
work from our local, you-all-know-the-name art jewelry store because
the makers are incapable of servicing their own work. (“The ring is
unsizeable”). And I know plenty about texture, but I’m frequently
confronted with an arty texture that I have no clue how to duplicate
- it was done in some certain way by some certain hand with some
certain tools that is indecipherable. Thus arises the importance of
knowing what you are doing, taking care of your customers, and not
getting all bent when somebody in another country works differently
than you do…If you want the job done right, etc.
My first reaction to you story was that maybe the original diamond had been removed and another stone set in it's place. Might be wise to verify the quality of the stone before working on the ring.
Let’s all perpetuate the myth that every time someone takes a piece
into a jeweler he switches the stone. My goodness. The stone looked
like it was smaller than .10ct. Who in their right mind would bother
switching stones for something that small?
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
Lee: Good eye. That is a 4 pt diamond and while great quality, is
certainly not worth stealing.
Your advice is helpful in me getting a full picture of what might
(or might not) have happened and how to deal with. I do understand
how cleaning can throw a ring (done that) but this ring was patinaed
so a good buff would have cleaned that all out, and probably should
not have been done.
I am a bit puzzled by those of you who think sizing this ring design
down (smaller) is not a problem. I’m the designer/maker & I don’t
size this design down, as there is no way to make the circle smaller.
So why do you think (or any jeweler) that it is an easy fix? I don’t
get it?
Oops. Time out. Peter Rowe explained it pretty well, why some of you
think it was an easy job. I still don’t really “buy it” but I will
wait until I get the ring back, photograph it, post the photo and we
can see what we think.
Neilthejeweler:
I sent it smaller because I know this shank style fits smaller. I
was being a professional to follow my knowledge of this ring style.
And usually I am spot on, with the sizing. This t’ain’t my first walk
in the park with this shank design. Re: the original sizing: We did
do quite a bit of back and forth talking about her finger
size…normally I send a shank for fitting before I ever add the
top, to insure this won’t happen…but this ring was to be a
surprise. A gift to be given in Paris. Lesson learned, by me. I told
him what he needed to do to size her correctly, the width of the
shank etc. I told him to let me know how it fit. I was prepared to
send him a drum sander bit to have him or a jeweler up-size the
ring. That is easy to do. Or better get the ring back and resize it
myself. The client was quite sure that he had the size correct…
You do sound harsh, and like you’re not giving me credit for being
professional and on top of things from the start.
To all:
This is as good as any art critique, to have you all weigh in.
Orchid is the best. It gives me such a wealth of knowledge &
perspective that I wouldn’t have, just sitting in my own studio,
muttering over the messed-up ring.
Bottom line: I want him and his honey happy. This is an unusual
design and the fact that they love it, trusted me over the internet,
is wonderful stuff. But I also can’t afford to give myself and time
away. So I will do my utmost to make both of us happy. I know
accidents happen. And with all your insights I can sorta understand
how a jewelry repair place could have buggered this up. I wish
they’d have looked at it and sent it back to me, instead of trying it
themselves. There are still a couple of things that don’t make
sense, the scuffed up gold & pushed in diamond. But looking at it in
real life may answer this question.
THANK YOU!
Carla
The ring is back in my studio. It appears exactly as the customer
said.
Peter & others you were right, it is possible to size it down. They
did a nice job of that.
Then it was polished within an inch of its little life. I never high
polish my work, as I want the matt finish and the patina to stay. My
poor ring is now VERY shiny.
The diamond is sunk in, it looks like someone “reset” or tightened
the setting with a very heavy hand. Or…the polishing was done so
strenuously that it pushed (mashed) the stone down into the silver
tubing behind.
The bi-metal scuffs are almost impossible to see. I have cleaned
most of them off with a q-tip & alcohol. They appear to be leftover
polishing compound.
Here is the image of the original ring (on the left) as it looked
before this sizing, and 2 views on the right are of the ring as it
looks today. Sorry I don’t have the quality of camera my
photographer has.
I have no idea out to remove this diamond and reset it back in its
original level. I have toyed with the idea of resetting a larger
(5pt) diamond. That would sit back up in the larger hole. But if
this diamond is jammed in the sterling tube behind it, getting it out
will be tough.
Ideas, gratefully accepted.
Carla
Let’s all perpetuate the myth that every time someone takes a piece
into a jeweler he switches the stone. My goodness. The stone looked
like it was smaller than.10ct. Who in their right mind would bother
switching stones for something that small?
I think most reputable jewelers wouldn’t even have the slightest
thought towards that. There have been a couple of cases around here,
though, where a “jeweler” tried to pull that. It wasn’t too long
before his business and reputation took a quick downward plunge.
Scum bags in every corner, but I think for every slimy jeweler (and
people in general), there are at least 100 that are completely
trustworthy.
Hi Carla,
just a theory, is it possible that when they bent the ring to make it
smaller that they popped the pod out from the setting by flexing the
pod, so the setting has not moved in rather the pod has moved out? It
is not clear to me if the setting is soldered to the gold from what
you have said, but opening it out to its original size might move the
setting back to the right place. ( or I may have not understood at
all!) Probably no help to you at all.
regards Tim Blades.
You do sound harsh, and like you're not giving me credit for being professional and on top of things from the start.
I’m professional too but you should hear how I talk to myself when I
screw up (well, maybe you shouldn’t, after all), and yes I DO screw
up.
Every one of us biz owners is captain of our ship, we’re responsible
for just about everything, like it or not. Sometimes I really do not
like it but that’s the reality of business. We get the reward when it
works and the blame when it doesn’t. Which is good inspiration to
tune things up real tight. To anticipate and remedy a problem before
it occurs.
I thought straight shooting more useful than hand holding. Did I
misjudge that?
Carla, It looks as if the depth of the stone is the same but somehow
the burnished rim has oxidized. Perhaps the jeweler was trying to
get back the" relief" of the original (non polished) etched area by
oxidizing. The rim around the stone may have been abraded during
burnishing, reveali ng the sterling beneath which took the patina.
Also, is there a hold b ehind the diamond- at the end of the tube?
The after image is what I expected to see-- a well performed job
with a d efault-- high polish-- finish.
Andy