I have had my engagement ring for about 18 months, we get married this year.
It is a platinum round cut solitare. It is a tension setting and only held by 2 claws at either side, it is quite delicate looking but gorgeous.

Ever since I have had it, the diamond will start moving in the setting every couple of months, probably due to me catching it on something. It has been back to the jewellers about 8 times to be tightened.
Well it is in again just now and they have called to say the claws are cracking and they will need to replace them with stronger/bigger ones.

I went in to the jeweller today to see what they are saying and they basically said they couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again and next time i might have to pay to get it repaired. ( this could be a couple of hundred ponds!!)

I have not been wearing my ring to work or in the house, only really on nights out in case anything happens to loosen the diamond.
i am so upset and the man in the jeweller was an arse! I asked what would happen if I didn't like the new setting and he just shrugged his shoulders. He eventually said he could maybe speak to the owner and i could get a new ring at the same price.

i don't know what to do, platinum prices have gone up and i might not get something as nice. I love my ring but don't want to be scared to wear it.

Sorry for the rant just wanted to get it all off my chest!!

[Modified by: miami08 on 09 May 2008 21:10:43 ]

It sounds as though the ring wasn't very well made in the first place. You shouldn't have to keep having the diamond set! I would contact whoever you got it from and ask for a replacement, or at least something doing with the ring you have for no charge.

I agree with Ruth, sounds like shoddy workmanship to me. You should be able to wear your engagement ring 24/7 for life, that is what it's designed for!

If he is a good jeweler he should be making rings that will last for life (ok maybe not life, but 20 years at least). If you are unsure about him, I would be tempted to demand the cash back (google "sale of goods act") and get another ring elsewhere.

b x

thanks for replying. The jeweller is a very good family jeweller where I live, that is why we went there. It is very popular here. I am very disappointed in them now though. They just keep saying it's the way the ring is set (like it's my fault for choosing this type of ring) but surely it shouldn't be doing this all the time.
I think I will look at the sale of goods act. Thanks.

Hi

Have you got a guarantee with the ring, if so they should replace it for you at no cost to yourself.

Have you got insurance on it, you could claim on that and get it done that way.

Otherwise my advice would be contact trading standards and see what they have to say.

I bought a ring from a jeweller years ago and a stone fell out. They replaced it free of charge and said if I had further problems to go back.

Best of luck.

Fee

I know you picked your ring, cos you loved it, and I'm sure for sentimentality you would love to hold onto the same one but I really think you should pick a different ring and cut your losses with this one. Wouldn't you rather feel confident that you can wear your ring 24/7 without fear of it getting damaged??
I would however make it clear to him that you are really disappointed with their customer service. And that you shouldnt have been made to feel it is your fault. If they think the setting is so poor why on earth do they sell it??

I know, i said that to my boyfriend, why are they selling this type of ring if they are going to have problems with them.

When they ring me to tell me it's ready i am going to ask to deal with the owner because this guy was not sympathetic at all. I was nearly crying when i told him that I hardly ever wear it. My boyfriend din't buy me the ring to have it sit in a box!!
I don't have it insured, i just thought it would be covered on my M&S home insurance.
I do have a certificate from them for it though.
They said because it was over 1 year old the warranty has run out and they acted like they were doing me a favour fixing it!! I explained that every time I have taken it in to be tightened I have asked if there is anything they can do to stop it happening again and they just always tell me it's the setting and I will have to get it tightened every 3-4 months. They say the cracking of the platinum isn't from the tightening but from me knocking it. i could have throttled him i was so angry!!

Thats absolute rubbish! I have a platinum ring and let me tell you, it gets some knocks and its fine. Scratched all over but fine!! :)
I think this ring has been defective from the start. They have a cheek saying you are out of the one year warranty. Don't you worry about that, by fixing it 8 odd times that clearly says it has been faulty.
Your local citizens advice bureau would tell you the same.
Stand strong and get your htb to back you up when you ask for a replacement ring to the same spec.

Thanks so much you have helped a lot. I was worried because they said I could maybe get a ring for the same price as this one was but as platinum is so expensive now I was worried I wouldn't get something the same. But I will just stick to my guns and ask for something the same spec (0.40 carat platinum solitare) Surely, with the reputation they have they will give me this much. I will let you know what they say when they call me to tell me it's ready

Good, I understand when you live in a town and everyone uses the same jeweller. It can be hard to stand up and say that you have had a bad experience, but you're doing the right thing.
Look forward to hearing how you get on xo

can I just ask what a tension setting is?

Hi there

A tension setting is where the stone in the ring is held in place by the shank of the ring. The metal has to be tight enough to hold the stone in place...it looks like it's floating in the space between the shank:
http://www.diamondinfo.org/content/tension-set-rings.php
and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_ring

There's some interesting info here about tension settings and the problems associated with them:
http://artwork-inform.com/tension7.htm
and: http://www.diamondvues.com/2005/03/whats_the_deal.html

Hope that helps.

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[Modified by: ally2009 on May 09, 2008 09:33 PM]

http://artwork-inform.com/jlngpt68.htm

This is a real tension setting where the diamond sits up on it's own. Mine is slightly different where it sits in a circle of platinum, but when you look at the ring side on you can see the diamond. Mine is also held at the sides by 2 small claws so the diamond is seen more.

http://uk.tiffany.com/Engagement/Item.aspx?sku=19861015

Kind of like this, but the band under the diamond is much thinner so you can see more of the point of the diamond and it is just held by the 2 side claws

Not sure if that makes sense!!

Oh, and some info here: http://www.metalsmiths.com/ten2.html

mmm, even though mine is not a proper tension seting, it will be interesting to see if the jeweller still makes this kind of ring!

Hi,

Definitely look up your consumer rights. From memory goods have to be fit for purpose and if you ring can't be worn as it's too fragile then clearly it isn't and they should replace it. It's irrelevant to whether it's a problem inherant in the design - it still has to be fit for purpose so don't let them fob you off. And as a pp said, that fact that they've already mended it 8 times is clear evidence that it's faulty.

Good luck.

Fiona x

I know you love it but as you say it wasn't bought to sit in a box. Definitely talk to the owner and see what he suggests but can they not take your ring, melt it down and then use the same metal and diamond to make a 'better' more durable ring?

Also not sure what the position is once you 'accept' a repair but it clearly is 'not fit for purpose' - I mean an engagement ring is to be worn every day for years, by definition.

To be totally honest, I'm not sure how far the 'not fit for purpose' argument will get you as practically any piece of jewellery can be damaged through wear and tear (claws on rings get damaged or worn away, stones can get chipped and fractured). Take a pearl ring (as an example): if you just happen to knock your hand off something while you're wearing that kind of ring, you'll almost certainly have damaged it - they're extremely fragile. But if you buy one, you're accepting that it's a very fragile ring.

I'd ask to speak to the owner, but I think that if you go in there guns blazing, you'll only get on the wrong side of him. I don't think they're trying to rip you off, or fob you off - tension set rings do seem to have a lot of issues inherent in their design. It might be far more constructive to put the cost of your ring towards another one, and maybe ask for a discount on it as well.

Hope that helps.

thanks ally,

I have been calm when speaking to them all along. I realise that jewellery can be damaged through wear and tear, but after 6months!! which is when it first started. I would have been ok about it if it had been 5 or 10 years down the line.
It isn't a total tension setting and we asked when looking at rings if this design would have any problems and they said no, they didn't say to be careful or that I would have to get it re-tightened all the time.
To be honest, i am just fed up with it. I am going to see what the new bigger claws look like and then decide what to do

Hi,

I wanted a tension set ring but was advised by a jeweller that if I did it was highly likely I would loose the diamond, because the metal contracts and retracts depending on your body temperature and the air temperature around it causes the metal to then loose the 'tension' needed for this setting. He advised that if I did have this type of ring I should have a piece of metal under the diamond - which would have been part and parcel of the band of the ring - to try and avoid this problem. Although he did say there was still no quarantee that the ring would last forever!

In the end I went for something completely different, even though I loved the tension set look I just didn't like the sound of the risk.

I think you probably need to consider your options as it sounds like this is going to keep happening due to the setting.

If you want a ring you can wear without worrying about it every 5 minutes, then it might be worthwhile asking the manager about the replacement ring and maybe asking if they would let you choose a ring equivalent to the price you paid for yours (ie taking into account the price rises - they should be able to tell you the percentage increase and they could add that onto the original price of your ring, so that you could look at rings in that price bracket). They may be sympathetic to your problem and if they're a small family business I would expect them to do everything to help you as they will want to keep their good company name.

Hope this helps and makes sense.

...and it also gives them a chance to turn things round for you - really impress you with their service, and maybe turn you into a lifelong customer ;)

Keep us posted :)