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Original poster

To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?

29 replies

Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 17:32

Can anyone help me ? I had my grandmothers engagement ring taken into a shop and I asked for the diamonds to be reset into my engagement ring shank . I’ve got it back and can’t tell if the stones look different but the gold they gave me back stating was her original shank is so much thinner and snapped and doesn’t even feel like gold. I’m now wondering if the diamonds are switched too.

does anyone work in the trade - is it normal for original shank to come back like this? I may be just paranoid?

To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
MintChocCornetto · 23/12/2022 17:39

I don't know OP but I'm bumping for you.

boboshmobo · 23/12/2022 17:41

Which jeweller was it ? Surely you went to one you know and trust ?

FlamingJingleBells · 23/12/2022 17:41

Post this on style and beauty as there'll be some knowledgeable posters on that board.

boboshmobo · 23/12/2022 17:42

Looks the same to me tbh

Anonmousse · 23/12/2022 17:49

I'm a jeweller and work at a bench (making /repairing) rather than retail. If you look at your first/original picture I can see the side of the ring is very flat like its been worn against another ring (quite usual) which can make it weak. It is also not unusual for bands to snap like that when you take a ring apart especially if it's old.

Sonyrecording · 23/12/2022 18:28

boboshmobo · 23/12/2022 17:41

Which jeweller was it ? Surely you went to one you know and trust ?

FFS how is that helpful? Of course... we all have jewellers we know and trust on call. 🙄

Sagethyme · 23/12/2022 19:59

Few things you can try

  1. check the hall mark on the band, if it's her original band the hall mark should still be visible. If no hall mark try
  2. get a magnet on the band...gold isn't magnetic, so if you can a magnetic pull it isn't gold. (Plated gold on silver also isn't magnetic so it's not a definitive test, but if there is a magnetic pull then it's a base metal and def. Not gold or silver). Re the diamonds, many diamonds contain impurities including phosphorus. Get a if you have a UV light put the diamonds under it, the diamonds 'glow' greenish/ bluish they are the originals (not all diamonds contain phosphorus, so if they don't 'glow' it's not definitive,)
  3. get a diamond tester normally around £15.00.
  4. take to another jeweller and ask. It's difficult to tell from the photos you've uploaded. I'm not a jeweller, but have done silversmithing and know a bit about precious and semi-precious stones (studied them as part of my silversmithing course) but I'm no expert.
TSJ19 · 23/12/2022 20:06

Hi does the new Shank have a hallmark?

Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 20:43

New shank is hallmarked yes I’ll upload pic now - meant to be platinum

OP posts:
Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 20:51

Anonmousse · 23/12/2022 17:49

I'm a jeweller and work at a bench (making /repairing) rather than retail. If you look at your first/original picture I can see the side of the ring is very flat like its been worn against another ring (quite usual) which can make it weak. It is also not unusual for bands to snap like that when you take a ring apart especially if it's old.

Hi does it get burnt then and differ once it’s been used to take stones from? It feels thinner looks thinner and doesn’t feel like it’s the original shank they’ve given me back at all. Do the shanks get badly damaged?

OP posts:
Anonmousse · 23/12/2022 21:09

I wouldn't expect it to get burnt or feel thinner, but they do sometimes break. Did the jewellers weigh it when they accepted it from you?
The hallmark in it will have a letter, which changes each year so you can work out how old something is.

Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 21:19

No they didn’t weigh it

what about the diamonds
one is before one after

To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
OP posts:
user1473878824 · 23/12/2022 21:24

Not a jeweller, sorry! But try and take a photo of the new stones in the same sort of light. My engagement ring stones look different and the cut not as clear in (sorry!) worse lighing. Apologies, I’m two Baileys in, were the stones removed from your grandmother’s gold band and then reset into a new platinum band for you? And you’re worried you didn’t get the same gold band back and the diamonds have been replaced?

MilkyYay · 23/12/2022 21:43

Was it a well known local jewellers, member of national association of jewellers etc?

Dedontdodatderdode · 23/12/2022 21:50

They look the same to me but I’m not a jeweller.

maybe take new photos in the same daylight and at the same distance from the lens tomorrow to compare?
the cut of the diamonds looks like the same to me. the shank, where they have cut it where the platinum setting was, looks the same shape to me but is a little too out of focus to see the actual detail.

Isabelle70 · 23/12/2022 22:03

There looks to be an inclusion on the centre stone, the dark looking patch on your photos. On the old photo it's on the right and if you flipped the ring round in the new ring the dark patch would also be on the right but it's on the left in your photos.
You have a side profile of the old ring, can you compare the side profile in the new ring and how the diamonds sit in it.
Also the old ring and diamonds may have needed a good clear so when back for the jeweller the new ring would be clean and sparkly?

To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
Thingsthatgo · 23/12/2022 22:03

I know that it is feasible that a jeweller would swap diamonds or try to cheat a customer out of a gram of gold, but is my experience (I've been in the trade for 20 years) it's very very unlikely that a jeweller would risk their reputation over something with such low value.
Those diamonds mean a lot to you, but they are not worth very much money. Jewellers can buy 'breakout' diamonds (diamonds from old rings) for about £150/£200 per carat if they are smallish stones.

Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 23:43

Isabelle70 · 23/12/2022 22:03

There looks to be an inclusion on the centre stone, the dark looking patch on your photos. On the old photo it's on the right and if you flipped the ring round in the new ring the dark patch would also be on the right but it's on the left in your photos.
You have a side profile of the old ring, can you compare the side profile in the new ring and how the diamonds sit in it.
Also the old ring and diamonds may have needed a good clear so when back for the jeweller the new ring would be clean and sparkly?

Thank you this is so reassuring - I can’t tell you how grateful I am!! I adored my grandmother and her husband died suddenly when my mother was a little girl - she’d look at these diamonds daily and I always knew they meant so much to her.

To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
To wonder if any jewellers here can reassure me?
OP posts:
Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 23:44

Thingsthatgo · 23/12/2022 22:03

I know that it is feasible that a jeweller would swap diamonds or try to cheat a customer out of a gram of gold, but is my experience (I've been in the trade for 20 years) it's very very unlikely that a jeweller would risk their reputation over something with such low value.
Those diamonds mean a lot to you, but they are not worth very much money. Jewellers can buy 'breakout' diamonds (diamonds from old rings) for about £150/£200 per carat if they are smallish stones.

is that true of naturally mined stones ? Vs lab created?

thankyou it’s really helpful to read this - I appreciate you taking the time to respond x

OP posts:
Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 23:48

user1473878824 · 23/12/2022 21:24

Not a jeweller, sorry! But try and take a photo of the new stones in the same sort of light. My engagement ring stones look different and the cut not as clear in (sorry!) worse lighing. Apologies, I’m two Baileys in, were the stones removed from your grandmother’s gold band and then reset into a new platinum band for you? And you’re worried you didn’t get the same gold band back and the diamonds have been replaced?

Yes the diamond issue wouldn’t have occurred to me really only that the band they returned to me seemed like a different metal and was much slimmer - that’s when I got a bit paranoid.

OP posts:
theblackradiator · 23/12/2022 23:55

I have a princess cut diamond solitaire ring not a huge diamond but it is a very good quality diamond with no inclusions. the ring has a broken claw but I am so reluctant to take it to be repaired incase the diamond is switched for a lower quality one as I've heard of things like this happened. the ring is now just stuck in a jewellery box.

Original poster
Lennon80 · 23/12/2022 23:58

theblackradiator · 23/12/2022 23:55

I have a princess cut diamond solitaire ring not a huge diamond but it is a very good quality diamond with no inclusions. the ring has a broken claw but I am so reluctant to take it to be repaired incase the diamond is switched for a lower quality one as I've heard of things like this happened. the ring is now just stuck in a jewellery box.

That’s the problem isn’t it - I thought I’d bite the bullet and do it as I really wanted to wear it as it has huge sentimental value. But you do take a chance!

OP posts:
Marmitepot · 23/12/2022 23:58

When I sold my engagement ring the jeweller said the diamonds were practically worthless but heave me quite a bit for the gold.

They were real diamonds.

user1473878824 · 24/12/2022 00:04

Thingsthatgo · 23/12/2022 22:03

I know that it is feasible that a jeweller would swap diamonds or try to cheat a customer out of a gram of gold, but is my experience (I've been in the trade for 20 years) it's very very unlikely that a jeweller would risk their reputation over something with such low value.
Those diamonds mean a lot to you, but they are not worth very much money. Jewellers can buy 'breakout' diamonds (diamonds from old rings) for about £150/£200 per carat if they are smallish stones.

This in spades. I used a naice jeweller to have my band resized and the setting on the stones tightened when one was loose and I panicked too tbh OP! But unless you’re marrying a footballer and have taken it to a market it’s not really a thing.

theblackradiator · 24/12/2022 00:09

take the new ring and the old band to a different jewelers for valuation but from your photo the diamonds do look the same to me but photo is taken in a different light. I'd love to have mine repaired but I'd be so stressed wondering if I'd got my original diamond back. stupid I know because at the moment it's just stuck in the box I've had it for 20 years this Christmas.