Engagement Ring Repair

[Neilsfavouritechilli]

Hi, I have a beautiful engagement ring which is three diamonds on a white gold band. A few weeks ago a diamond fell out but I managed to find it. The chain jeweller we bought it from has today quoted £230 for repair as 8 claws need adjusting. The ring only cost £500 ten years ago. Does that sound a reasonable price, should we try some independent local jewellers first? I'm gutted as I didn't think it would cost so much.

I would try elsewhere. The claw of my diamond solitaire ring got bashed (a door flew open and squashed my whole hand, ouch) and the place my ring came from charged about £60 to repair the claw. It wasn’t massive damage - just bent out of place but they included a clean as well for that price.

Oh and that was only a couple of years ago and in London. It came from a London diamond specialist.

Thanks swifter, I wasn't sure today (I'm just desperate for it to be fixed) but tomorrow I'm going to ask the jewellers to send back the ring so I can have it looked at elsewhere.

Sorry @swiftier

Where are you? There a good goldsmith just off Hatton garden who isn’t expensive. I’ll need to dig out his name.

Try an independent jeweller.
When my ring broke the chain tried to charge me half the asking price to fix, saying platinum solder could 'scorch' the diamond etc.

Jeweller round the corner laughed, fixed it for £60 in three days.

Don't go to a jeweller, they just send it on to a goldsmith and add 40% for the pleasure. Just go to an independant goldsmith.

I think platinum has a lower temperature - I’ll need to check as I’ve not worked with that metal. I assume they quoted a silly price because they didn’t want the job.

My engagement ring needed a resize and the shoulders(?) needed repairing as each side had a small tear.

Several jewellers said it couldn't be done, one quoted £120. We took it to a goldsmiths who did the repair in 2 days and gave it a clean for £60.

Thanks everyone. It was Ernest Jones who we actually bought the ring from that have quoted £230. I'm in the Midlands but am heading to London in a couple of months so would be happy to pop to a jeweller there. The chap on the desk actually asked how much did we want to pay which I felt was a bad sign. My answer of £20 did not go down well. I'm not expecting a bargain, I just feel that £230 is a lot given the value of the ring and the fact I still have the diamond.

That seems a crazy amount. I’m paying £300 to have a stone completely reset in a different style in 18k white gold and I thought that was expensive but it has included the goldsmith making a wax model of the setting that I could discuss with him, making some refinements to the design and then the setting itself.

You won't need to go to London. Just look for an independent jewellers, maybe through local recommendations. My local jewellers would do that for around £60.

You actually want a jeweller with a repair shop. For example, somewhere like The Jewellery Workshop in Old Amersham in Bucks is the sort of place you need. They actually have expertise and are not retail. Some rings are poorly made so don’t expect it to be cheap if the claws won’t hold the stones. Repairing one might be ok, but you need to know if the others are ok. Insure it, just in case.

I had a full eternity ring made and it was way more than £300! Over £1000. Lots of stones though!

GHMoore and Victoria James in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham do repairs. You can google jewellery repairs and several come up.

I recently had both my wedding and engagement rings resized and replated at a wonderful place in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Only charged me £50 for both and did an amazing job. Would you like me to dig out the name of the shop?

I'd like to know the goldsmith near Hatton Garden please?

I’m racking my brain for his name - I’m up there next week so can check.

@normalouisebates thank you, I'd be really grateful.

Thanks everyone, you've given me hope. I'd had the ring over ten years before I caught it and accidentally pulled the stone out. I'm gutted.

The claw settings should not move though so get it all checked or the other diamonds could fall out too. This is why I had my eternity ring remade. It wasn’t secure for several diamonds.

Check your house insurance, repair may well be covered.

It's called Stanley's on Vyse Street 😊

Thank you x

Thanks all again for taking the time to help. I'm pleased to confirm I now have my lovely ring back, all fixed for the grand sum of £45. Independent jewellers are definitely the way forward. It looks so beautiful.