When a stone comes out...

[KarolinaMoon]

Hello!

So this has only happened on a couple of occasions over the past 5 years...but......how do you deal with it when a customer comes back telling you the stone has fallen out? I have reset free of charge...but it's something I really dread happening now as it can be such a pain to fix depending on the design. Thankfully it's a rare occurrence but I'm just curious as to how anyone else deals with it.

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[Dennis]

Unfortunately Karolina, lost stones happen.
Which is why I dread hanging around a certain showroom in Hatton Garden, while someone in front of me spends upto an hour trying in replacement stones for a collection of assorted jewellery. Dennis.

[josef1]

I think you need to establish if it down to customer abuse or its a design/setting problem. If you feel its down to you then yes I think its you to replace/reset it but people do put rings through things they shouldnt and if is the case I think they should be educated and maybe pay a contribution to the repair

[Aurarius]

I see things the same way as josef. It should be fairly clear (it won't always be, I know) whether a stone has fallen out through inadequate setting, an accumulation of wear and tear, or accidental damage.

I'd have a close look at the item and take things from there. If there is clear evidence of a healthy prong having received a knock, or metal having worn very thin, I'd take a close up photo, send it to the customer and explain why you cannot be held to blame for the stone falling out. At the same time I'd offer preferential rates for resetting.

If, on the other hand, you can see that the stone probably fell out because your setting wasn't the best ever in the first place, then you should do the decent thing.

I think all sellers should stipulate a time frame within which they will reset stones free of charge if they are found to have fallen out through defective workmanship, and equally all sellers should stipulate that they won't reset free of charge if owners have clearly subjected an item of jewellery to excessive wear and tear or just plain damaged it.

[pearlescence]

Not quite the same issue, but we guarantee all our made jewellery for a year, unless it has been mistreated. That includes broken silk thread. And after that customers get good rates for re-stringing pearls they have bought from us.
We take the view that if you can't stand by your work, you should sit down.