Jewelers and advice
 

Just reporting the facts.... I went to Jewelry Design at Spanish Springs (near Belk's) - a trusted jeweler I had used over the past few years! I needed to get a diamond chip replaced in my wedding ring. I had a replacement diamond to use. They could do it of course but the jeweler warned me 12 more prongs were bad and lots of other diamonds were in danger of falling out. They advised me not to wear the ring - and all could be fixed to the tune of $550. I got a second opinion - after the jeweler at Southern Trace examined my ring closely he found only one other prong broken. Replacement and prongs fixed for a total cost of $50. My recommendation - always get a second opinion!

For your sake, I hope that the second opinion was the right one.

I am with you on this one. Yes, there may be only one other prong that was missing, but that does not mean that many of the other prongs were not worn down to be almost "paper thin". They may "LOOK" OK from looking straight down on the ring, but there is also the possibility that the prong has worn down from the top surface to be very, very thin and this is what the first jeweler saw and was informing you about.

My take, from over 40 years in the jewelry business.

So my question to you is,[not to be rude but] "How long have you done business with the 2nd jeweler over the 1st one that you said you have done business with for several years as a trusted jeweler?

What are they thinking?
 

A friend of mine went to a jeweler in Brownwood and they told her that her center prongs were worn and that some of her side diamond accents were missing. After we inspected it closely under magnification, everything looked to be in fine shape. No repairs needed. Either someone has no idea what they are doing or they think that us older folks are gullible and won't get a second opinion. Sounds fishy to me.

Sorry to hear that. I hope everything will be okay with your ring.
I love Jewelry Design. They are great people. Had a lot of things fixed and a few things made there without a problem.

In this situation, I would have looked for a third opinion.

We always go to Gold and Art on 441/27 by Longhorn Steak House, across from Home Depot. We've always been treated fairly.

Goldseekur hit the nail on the head. In Jewelry retail, a consumers best tool is to be comfortable with the person he is doing business with. When doing repair work for several jewelers, I have seen prongs that look fine to the naked eye, but are worn thin enough to be bent when catching on a loose piece of yarn on a sweater.

The second jeweler looked thoroughly at the ring under magnification and stated - all prongs but one are good and the stones are set in nicely. I will take others good advice and have a third jeweler look at the ring. I will post results next week!

I suggest Gause & Sons on the town square in Ocala. They have been in business for 65 years. A quality place.

Gause & Son Jewelers

And no, I don't work for the jeweler.:wave:

Second opinion from a jeweler - NOTHING is wrong with the prongs- Jewelry Design definitely told me of a $550 problem that did not exist!

Now I can confidently say that I have had two other separate jewelers examine this ring and after having the prongs fixed where the diamond fell out - each jeweler stated the ring is in good shape and there is NOTHING else wrong with the ring.