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opal triplet ring resized
Hope you can advise me!
I took my opal triplet ring to a jeweler to have resized. When I got it back, there was a white mark across the stone; damage had been done during the process. The store owner looked at it and said he would either repair or replace it. I called them about a week after to ask what the status was and they said it needed to be replaced; the person who did the damage had ordered another one. I told them to give me back my original since it had sentimental value. I was assured that "all triplet opals have the same color" and that the new one would look like the old. More than a month later,I went to pick up the ring and the stone was a completely different color, and they didn't give me the original back. I handed it back immediately and the store said they would do their best to replace it with another one closer to the original color and that they would get the original stone back. I'm afraid they won't get a stone with the same color as my original. What is fair to ask them to do if they don't get it right next time? Thanks in advance for any advice! |
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Matching opals (solid, doublets and triplets) to an exact match is pretty close
to impossible. Due to the very nature of the stone each one will be different in one way or another. Getting stones that look similar is possible, but they will be simply similar, not exact. Sounds like they were trying to reassure you without having a clue how they were going to rectify their stuff-up. Dale Porter "digicath" wrote in message ... Hope you can advise me! I took my opal triplet ring to a jeweler to have resized. When I got it back, there was a white mark across the stone; damage had been done during the process. The store owner looked at it and said he would either repair or replace it. I called them about a week after to ask what the status was and they said it needed to be replaced; the person who did the damage had ordered another one. I told them to give me back my original since it had sentimental value. I was assured that "all triplet opals have the same color" and that the new one would look like the old. More than a month later,I went to pick up the ring and the stone was a completely different color, and they didn't give me the original back. I handed it back immediately and the store said they would do their best to replace it with another one closer to the original color and that they would get the original stone back. I'm afraid they won't get a stone with the same color as my original. What is fair to ask them to do if they don't get it right next time? Thanks in advance for any advice! |
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"digicath" wrote in message ... Hope you can advise me! I took my opal triplet ring to a jeweler to have resized. When I got it back, there was a white mark across the stone; damage had been done during the process. The store owner looked at it and said he would either repair or replace it. I called them about a week after to ask what the status was and they said it needed to be replaced; the person who did the damage had ordered another one. I told them to give me back my original since it had sentimental value. I was assured that "all triplet opals have the same color" and that the new one would look like the old. More than a month later,I went to pick up the ring and the stone was a completely different color, and they didn't give me the original back. I handed it back immediately and the store said they would do their best to replace it with another one closer to the original color and that they would get the original stone back. I'm afraid they won't get a stone with the same color as my original. What is fair to ask them to do if they don't get it right next time? Thanks in advance for any advice! Tell them to replace the triplet with a "your own choice" of solid opal(maybe a black opal) or triplet or you will complain to the relevent authoraties. As Dale mentioned its virtually impossible to find an "exact" match and quality is another issue. Some triplets cost $100s some cost a few pennies. Also, if you want your original stone you have a full right to have it back regardless. The white mark is almost certainly caused by abrasion. |
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On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 07:18:23 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Mousehunter ``'@o-
,,." wrote: Tell them to replace the triplet with a "your own choice" of solid opal(maybe a black opal) that's not reasonable. Triplets are generally worth FAR less than solid stones of comparable appearance. And Black opals that look like much? sheesh. You're possibly suggesting the store should spend perhaps thousands of dollars to replace a triplet probably worth under a hundred dollars, and possibly worth a good deal less than that. Unless quite large (and this IS a ring, remember, so how large is it?), most triplets have a wholesale cost of more like 20 bucks or less... The store, if they damaged the stone, is generally responsible to replace the stone with a similar value, not a lottery winning choice of whatever the customer likes best among all opals out there. or triplet or you will complain to the relevent authoraties. Which ones would that be? And you'd be complaining about what violation? If you look at most store repair envelopes and reciepts, there are usually at least some disclaimers of responsibility for certain losses. Opals are fragile. Triplets, though more durable against chipping and cracking, are fragile in other ways. It's doubtful that this loss is an intentional attempt at fraud, so it's also doubtful there's grounds for any legal complaint. One might complain to the better business bureau, but they're often at least a little conservative in just who's side they take. If the store is sincerely trying to make things right, they'll leave it alone. As Dale mentioned its virtually impossible to find an "exact" match and quality is another issue. Some triplets cost $100s some cost a few pennies. Also, if you want your original stone you have a full right to have it back regardless. The white mark is almost certainly caused by abrasion. If the stone can be returned, it's still the customer's property, and should be returned on request. The white mark is probably NOT abrasion. Triplets have a quartz cap on top, and are not that easy to abrade accidentally. Plus, this ring wasn't likely to have been subjected to operations that would abrade it. However, Triplets are sandwiches of a thin slice of opal between a black substrate and the quartz cap, cemented with epoxy, usually. And the kicker is that epoxies don't last forever. In particular, they can be sensative to water damage. I'd bet, having seen this a number of times, that the triplet was getting older, the epoxy was getting aged a bit, and someone not knowing better, forgot and left the ring in the ultrasonic cleaner too long. The cleaner caused the epoxy to start to delaminate, and that would be the white spot UNDER the quart cap, not on the surface. It happens now and then. In a few cases, if the epoxy is far enough gone, and the opal layer itself is not damaged, it's actually sometimes possible to soak the triplet in Attack solvent to remove the epoxy, seperating the triplet into it's three layers, and then regluing it all back together fresh. Doesn't always work, but sometimes it does. The main problem is that the opal layer is SO thin that expanding epoxy layers as they degrade sometimes will fracture the opal, or a clumsy human, trying to handle it along with fresh epoxy, might do so too. The store will just have to spend a little more time obtaining a better match for the triplet. Chances are, triplet opals are not a common item for them, and their regular gem sources may not have had them in stock. So they may have to do some looking to find a proper source for the things. But Triplets ARE available, and with a bit of work, a replacement can be had. It's just an unfortunate fuss and bother to have to go through, and pretty much everyone looses. The customer ends up with a new good looking stone, but not the sentimental value in it that the original one had, and the store spends a lot more on the ring than they get for the sizing, all for an unfortunate accident. But asking the store to jump through costly unreasonable hoops over this is overlooking the fact that probably what happened is due to inherent risks and faults in the original ring (the age and nature of the triplet), rather than gross neglegence on the store's part. It would have been a lot better if the take in staff had accepted the ring for repair only with a clear understanding of the limits of liability. Peter |
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"Peter W. Rowe" wrote in message ... On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 07:18:23 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Mousehunter ``'@o- ,,." wrote: Tell them to replace the triplet with a "your own choice" of solid opal(maybe a black opal) that's not reasonable. Triplets are generally worth FAR less than solid stones of comparable appearance. And Black opals that look like much? sheesh. You're possibly suggesting the store should spend perhaps thousands of dollars to replace a triplet probably worth under a hundred dollars, and possibly worth a good deal less than that. Unless quite large (and this IS a ring, remember, so how large is it?), most triplets have a wholesale cost of more like 20 bucks or less... The store, if they damaged the stone, is generally responsible to replace the stone with a similar value, not a lottery winning choice of whatever the customer likes best among all opals out there. This was a semi-sarcastic remark, sorry Peter. Although I do believe the customer deserves considerable compensation as Opals are unique and therefore are impossible to replace exactly. An Opal to one person may be worth a few dollars but to someone else maybe worth $1000s, this is the nature of the Opal market and therefore valuation is near impossible whether solid, doublet or triplet. This is why the customer should have a choice at least of triplets. If the ring is custom-made it may be set with a "prize" triplet that would cost $100s. or triplet or you will complain to the relevent authoraties. Which ones would that be? And you'd be complaining about what violation? If you look at most store repair envelopes and reciepts, there are usually at least some disclaimers of responsibility for certain losses. Opals are fragile. Triplets, though more durable against chipping and cracking, are fragile in other ways. It's doubtful that this loss is an intentional attempt at fraud, so it's also doubtful there's grounds for any legal complaint. One might complain to the better business bureau, but they're often at least a little conservative in just who's side they take. If the store is sincerely trying to make things right, they'll leave it alone. I don't live stateside so I don't know what authoraties you have over there concerning company ethics or how effective they are. I have to say the many highstreet jewellers aren't totally honest when valuing or repairing jewellery. Opals are unique and therefore requires special treatment and extra customer relations if a replacement is required, especially on sentimental grounds. As Dale mentioned its virtually impossible to find an "exact" match and quality is another issue. Some triplets cost $100s some cost a few pennies. Also, if you want your original stone you have a full right to have it back regardless. The white mark is almost certainly caused by abrasion. If the stone can be returned, it's still the customer's property, and should be returned on request. The white mark is probably NOT abrasion. Triplets have a quartz cap on top, and are not that easy to abrade accidentally. Plus, this ring wasn't likely to have been subjected to operations that would abrade it. Some triplets are made with glass caps and bases. The glass base often blackened using paint or a marker pen, generally these are poor quality examples. If the triplet is made of glass cap and base it is likely to abrade and leave a white mark. If this is the case, it would indicate that the OPs triplet is of low value and a replacement of low value is in order. Which may cause problems when looking for a "good" poor quality stone if that isn't a contradiction However, Triplets are sandwiches of a thin slice of opal between a black substrate and the quartz cap, cemented with epoxy, usually. And the kicker is that epoxies don't last forever. In particular, they can be sensative to water damage. I'd bet, having seen this a number of times, that the triplet was getting older, the epoxy was getting aged a bit, and someone not knowing better, forgot and left the ring in the ultrasonic cleaner too long. The cleaner caused the epoxy to start to delaminate, and that would be the white spot UNDER the quart cap, not on the surface. It happens now and then. In a few cases, if the epoxy is far enough gone, and the opal layer itself is not damaged, it's actually sometimes possible to soak the triplet in Attack solvent to remove the epoxy, seperating the triplet into it's three layers, and then regluing it all back together fresh. Doesn't always work, but sometimes it does. The main problem is that the opal layer is SO thin that expanding epoxy layers as they degrade sometimes will fracture the opal, or a clumsy human, trying to handle it along with fresh epoxy, might do so too. I agree, this is a problem with triplets also and a possability if the jeweller is a complete incompetent as to put a triplet in an ultrasonic bath. Triplets will show obvious age to the owner, in which case they have them replaced, but the OP seems have been quite happy with the original and doesn't mention anything wrong with it. The store will just have to spend a little more time obtaining a better match for the triplet. Chances are, triplet opals are not a common item for them, and their regular gem sources may not have had them in stock. So they may have to do some looking to find a proper source for the things. But Triplets ARE available, and with a bit of work, a replacement can be had. It's just an unfortunate fuss and bother to have to go through, and pretty much everyone looses. The customer ends up with a new good looking stone, but not the sentimental value in it that the original one had, and the store spends a lot more on the ring than they get for the sizing, all for an unfortunate accident. But asking the store to jump through costly unreasonable hoops over this is overlooking the fact that probably what happened is due to inherent risks and faults in the original ring (the age and nature of the triplet), rather than gross neglegence on the store's part. It would have been a lot better if the take in staff had accepted the ring for repair only with a clear understanding of the limits of liability. Triplets are easy to get hold of yes, but if it was a fine example, although unlikely from the evidence, it maybe more difficult to obtain and a triplet may have to be made-to-order. Peter |
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On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 18:54:28 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Mousehunter ``'@o-
,,." wrote: This was a semi-sarcastic remark, sorry Peter. Although I do believe the customer deserves considerable compensation as Opals are unique and therefore are impossible to replace exactly. An Opal to one person may be worth a few dollars but to someone else maybe worth $1000s, this is the nature of the Opal market and therefore valuation is near impossible whether solid, doublet or triplet. This is why the customer should have a choice at least of triplets. If the ring is custom-made it may be set with a "prize" triplet that would cost $100s. I think we're in agreement here. The customer should be offered a stone worth at least as much as the one damaged, and should, if possible be allowed some opportunity to choose that replacement from several available options. The store should try hard to provide options that really do have the same degree of quality and beauty as the one damaged. Some triplets are made with glass caps and bases. The glass base often blackened using paint or a marker pen, generally these are poor quality examples. If the triplet is made of glass cap and base it is likely to abrade and leave a white mark. If this is the case, it would indicate that the OPs triplet is of low value and a replacement of low value is in order. Which may cause problems when looking for a "good" poor quality stone if that isn't a contradiction You're right on this point. I'd not been thinking of the glass capped cheaper ones, since I see so few of them, and don't use that quality. But you're right, they would be more prone to possible abrasion. And I might also mention that with water damage, it's commonly seen as a discoloration or whiteish zone around the periphery of the stone, from water seeping in from the edges and progressively damaging the epoxy as it moves in, rather than damage isoated to the middle of the stone. So you may be quite correct that the mark is abrasion or similar damage, especially if the cap is glass not quartz. However, if the damage is indeed just abrasion, then it would be quite feasable to simply have any decent lapidary (if the jeweler couldn't do it) repolish the top surface of the cap. That would acceptably fix the triplet in most cases. Triplets are easy to get hold of yes, but if it was a fine example, although unlikely from the evidence, it maybe more difficult to obtain and a triplet may have to be made-to-order. Well, few stores have contacts with anyone who can make one to order at a reasonable cost, at least not and also match an existing one. But measures short of that, i'd say might be reasonable. Still, I think it's also reasonable that the store should not have to expect to pay too many times the actual value of the damaged stone to make good on the situation. In any repair work, it's often the case that the charges for the repair (like sizing, etc) are a whole lot lower than would be needed if the jeweler fully expected to cover any and all costs and liabilities for unforseen accidents. Some shops do it anyway, but many smaller shops don't, and just hope they won't take too many losses. Those with more on the ball will not only be careful enough to examine work before accepting it for repair and fully explaining the potential risks to the customer, but also deciding before hand, and explaining it to the customer, what extent of liability they're accepting for potential damage. Any fragile stone accepted for repair work should be evaluated in tis manner before accepting the repair job, so that in the event of a problem, both the jeweler and the client fully understand what the limits of liability are. Peter Rowe moderator rec.crafts.jewelry |
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On Tue, 30 Sep 2003 18:54:24 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Jim Redden"
wrote: Damn I learn alot when this guy opens his mouth! pity he wasn't in rochester with the rochester lapidery society! Jim Redden You're welcome, Jim. I got my start in Lapidary work in Madison Wisconsin, before I got fully into metals, so my roots are there as much as in jewelry, though after all these years (that summer job at Burnies rock shop was in 1969), it all kinda blurrs together. Never been to Rochester, more's the pity. As to opening my big mouth, remember that sometimes what you learn is that you can't always believe everything you see in print in this group (grin) And the other side to that statement is that there are a lot of times (and perhaps should be even more) where I intentionally DON"T post replies to the group as a whole even when the post seems of interest to me, but rather I keep it only to email replies to the original poster. The reason is simply that as moderator, I see all the posts first. If I reply to all of them, then some percentage of other readers may not reply. Not sure why, but it seems to work that way. The group is more active if I'm less visible. It's fairer this way, with all readers having the opportunity to be first with a reply... But I'm always here, if you've got a question you particularly wish me to address, I'll be happy to take a stab at it. Sometimes, I manage to even know what I'm talking about. Or think I do, at any rate... :-) Peter Rowe moderator rec.crafts.jewelry |
#9
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The only way to truly "match" color and pattern in Opal is to use a full
color stone with the color band thick enough to saw into two pieces that will still be thick enough to "cut" and polish. Larger thin pieces can be reasonably cut so that doublets of approximate pattern and intensity can be made. Or to use succeeding thin sections of a full color stone that have been "factory" sawn especially for triplet manufacture. The amount of Opal in a triplet is actually quite tiny. It is manufactured from solid opal sliced with a saw that has 101 blades over a 2 inch span so that an inch of Opal produces 50 slices. Opal from either end of the stone will have a different pattern and intensity of fire that is quite noticeable. Even slices adjacent to each other will be slightly different. So no exact match is possible without the original stone. If the triplet your jeweler provided is even "close" in intensity, pattern, and color to the original accept it as the best possible. No two Opals are ever exactly alike. Hope this helps. -- Don Thompson Ex ROMAD "digicath" wrote in message ... Hope you can advise me! I took my opal triplet ring to a jeweler to have resized. When I got it back, there was a white mark across the stone; damage had been done during the process. The store owner looked at it and said he would either repair or replace it. I called them about a week after to ask what the status was and they said it needed to be replaced; the person who did the damage had ordered another one. I told them to give me back my original since it had sentimental value. I was assured that "all triplet opals have the same color" and that the new one would look like the old. More than a month later,I went to pick up the ring and the stone was a completely different color, and they didn't give me the original back. I handed it back immediately and the store said they would do their best to replace it with another one closer to the original color and that they would get the original stone back. I'm afraid they won't get a stone with the same color as my original. What is fair to ask them to do if they don't get it right next time? Thanks in advance for any advice! |
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