lovely fat Emerald Ring !

Fat emerald has arrived back with me in Aberdeen, where the sun has even come out to welcome it home!

It's an improvement on the previous attempts but not as good as I would have hoped. One of the claws is still very "catchy" and that means it will be a nuisance and likely to loosen. There is more gold in the shank so the ring feels better on but the work has not been done to a particularly high standard. It is obvious to the naked eye ( well, actually, no, I DO wear spectacles!!!) that there is a "join" and, under magnification, this shows also as a pitted area in the gold.
I was told that Regency would be putting their "best" person on the job..... hmmm, I am underwhelmed if that's the case.
I have plenty experience of extensive work done on items and I know exactly how GOOD work can and should look.... this job has been done... reasonably well, but nowhere near top notch standard. However, the ring is much better than it was and the stone is okay, which I was really worried about damage to, given the mess they had made before.

Steve and Tony are very good at apologising ....I am only sorry they have so many reasons to !:33:

If I had originally received the ring as it is now, I would have thought that was so-so but to have it reach this stage, which I believe is still not perfect, after two repair attempts with promises of making everything right etc etc......I'm just feeling , well.... so-so!! I AM pleased to have the fat emerald safe back, that is a huge relief......but then again, if I hadn't had the ghastly experience of things being wrong in the first place and then made WORSE, I wouldn't have HAD to be worried, would I? :12:

Sorry to mump so much here, but your support has been cheering..... I know you'll understand it's a big deal for me.... been going on for several months now and what I bought as a treat for myself with an inheritance has become a pain. I expect, as Basket Case said, a little while down the line, I'll be able just to enjoy the stone and forget all this hassle .... can't come soon enough!
For now though, I will be getting a local jeweller to do some more work on these claws holding "fat emerald"..... :21:

Hi Maggi,

Sorry to post on here but I am abroad and don't have your email to hand at the minute.

Sorry to hear that you still aren't happy with the Emerald ring,I have to say that myself, Tony and Sarah all thought the new shank was great and the claws very secure.

Please send it back and I will happily offer you a full refund. I only want customers to be delighted with their pieces from me, especially such an incredible Emerald as this one.

With my very best Regards

Steve

Of course it's a big deal Mathilde! It's a lot of money and anyone would feel as you do! I hope it all gets properly sorted one way or another.

Steve, the issue is not the incredible emerald, it's the setting.
I speak as I find. The ring has been returned twice to be improved. My honest opinion now is that I am not as impressed with the latest work as I had hoped to be.... what should I say ? .... it is surely valid to voice concerns which have impacted my experience and may be of relevance to others.
My experience has been that the "walk" is not the "talk" .

Perhaps it is the case that my standards are very high .... that is not something I feel the need to change.

You are obviously aware that Rocks' quality control standards are in need of help -- that is what Tony's new position is to address, is it not?

I would hope that the experience we have had with this ring would show you how attention to detail is so vital .....particularly in a luxury market.... after all, even though the jewellery boxes of most of us here would contradict the fact.... no-one really NEEDS jewellery, so it is very much a feel-good, luxury, treat purchase.
It is not enough to have a great team of CS Staff who work hard to correct problems.... the real key to success is to minimise those problems from the get-go. In spite of Tony's protestations that returns of faulty goods make only a small percentage of the business you are doing, I know from my own experience that the amount has been rather higher for me and reading these pages I see that many others are having problems, too.... major problems.

If we do not air our difficulties here, how can we be aware of possible pitfalls and so on? There is also much praise, is there not?

Really sorry the ring is still not how you expected!! It is a huge investment. Would you consider Steve's offer of a full refund? I think I personally would.

Hope you get it sorted out xx

No, Bargain Hunter, I don't want a refund... because I fell in love with the emerald! It is smashing.... just a magical bright green, I love it!
My niggle was with the quality of the setting, and the fact that Regency could get a "fix" so spectacularly wrong ...... I really hoped for a "cure" this time..... it has not come up to my expectations and I am disappointed and feel justified in saying so.... but love is love.... and I love this emerald!

bargainhunter said:

Really sorry the ring is still not how you expected!! It is a huge investment. Would you consider Steve's offer of a full refund? I think I personally would.

Hope you get it sorted out xx

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i think i would too....because you may be reminded of your disappointment every time you wear it. And you wanted something to treasure.

oops posted at the same time

Mathilda said:

No, Bargain Hunter, I don't want a refund... because I fell in love with the emerald! It is smashing.... just a magical bright green, I love it!
My niggle was with the quality of the setting, and the fact that Regency could get a "fix" so spectacularly wrong ...... I really hoped for a "cure" this time..... it has not come up to my expectations and I am disappointed and feel justified in saying so.... but love is love.... and I love this emerald!

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Why don't you post a picture of the ring again. Maybe you can point out the areas you are not happy with! My worry would be jewellers damaging the emerald. Any chance of you speaking to the Regency yourself and letting them know why you are disappointed with the setting?

Worth a try. I really hope you get the setting you want and treasure this beauty for life xx

Mrs James, I know what you mean, and if the stone weren't so fab, then that would be the case, I think. It is only because I so love the emerald that I persevered with the ring in the first place, even though I had reservations about the mounting as soon as I stopped drooling at the emerald and studied the ring properly!! When further problems arose, I thought it only fair to give Steve the chance to put things right .... and I've done that a second time. Steve says that he, Sarah and Tony all thought the refurbished ring was lovely... and so, in many ways, it is .... but to be fair, they also said that about the ring in the first place, though conceded I had a point when they saw the photos I provided...and I still think it is not done to the standard I would expect.
That's why I'm telling you all about it, because I want folks to realise that even though one pays quite large amounts for an item, there is no guarantee that all will be hunky-dory. Fact is I love the emerald..... I'll get a little more work done on it and see how I feel.... if it does make me feel odd about it, then I'll have it re-set ...... this emerald and I are not going to be parted....!!

BH, I will try for new pix tomorrow .... not sure how the camera will pick them up?
If Steve and Tony asking Regency personally, as I am assured was the case, to do the work on this ring was not enough to get the work done to a higher quality of finish, why would I have any expectation of getting a beeter result from them?
Think of the amount of work that Rocks, and Steve previously with Gems, has put in Regency/Stanley's books...... would you not then think, as I did, that when someone like Steve said, my customer has a problem with this ring, I'd like you to do this and this.... that the response would be to do exactly as had been asked and to the very highest calibre? My feeling is that if they can't do a decent job for Steve, then I would not ask Regency to do anything, ever!!

You have a very valid point there. Hope you manage to sort this out sooner rather than later!

Mathilda said:

Fact is I love the emerald..... if it does make me feel odd about it, then I'll have it re-set ...... this emerald and I are not going to be parted....!!

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Mathilda I think you are very lucky to have found your perfect emerald, it is so hard to find 'The Right One', I have waited ages for one that takes my fancy so I think you are right to keep it. I also think you are in a quite enviable position in that you can design and have made your own perfect setting. A piece of special jewellery like this (both in monetary and sentimental terms) is a very personal thing and deserves to be just right.

Have you thought about possibly buying it as a loose stone from Steve and being refunded the value of the setting? You could have the emerald taken out by your own jeweller and return the setting to Steve. Just a thought. :spider:

Not a thought that had occurred to me Basket Case.
It wouldn't be terribly fair to Steve after his attempts to put things right though, would it?

Mathilda - for £1800 you should have received a ring of superb quality. There's no way you should be able to see a join in the shank as you say. The pitting is indicative of resizing and often happens but "the best man for the job" should never have let it come back to you like that.

Catching claws can be a way of life and I have a ring that drives me crazy - no matter how many times I've had it sorted! However, with an Emerald, repeatedly working on the claws holds some dangers as I'm sure you know so please please please make sure whomever does the work (if you decide to keep it) undertakes any repairs under THEIR insurance and not yours. It's amazing how many won't.

I can only speak for myself when I say that I have in the past kept a ring that I've had "issues" with and have never really learned to love it. I hope you manage to get past your two disappointments. If you're in any doubt however, take up Steve's offer for a full refund. I'm confident you could get a very very good Emerald (slightly smaller in size but better quality) in a decent setting for the same price.

I hope you get a resolution you're happy with.

Edited to add: Just seen BC's suggestion which is a great one. However, the setting would only amount to about £200ish (perhaps a little more) and a custom made setting, unless you are very friendly with a jeweller, is likely to be quite a bit more because I think the stone's dimensions preclude a semi-mount for a standard calibrated mm size.

I think Basket Case's suggestion is worth investigating. If it's the emerald you love and the setting you have issues with, why not see just how much it would cost to have the emerald reset?

I can tell you are loath to return it for a full refund but, having paid such a lot for this ring, you want your heart to sing when you put it on...not to look at it and have annoyances and niggles at the back of your mind.

I think you said you treated yourself to it with money you inherited? If this is the case, surely you want the ring to be perfect to reflect the affection you felt for the person who you will think of whenever you wear this ring?

Sensible comments, as ever, Meeshoo.
I would be taking very good advice from a jeweller before I had any work done, that's for sure. It may be that, as you say, the catchy claw is something to be lived with.... I do have a couple like that ..... just have to choose the outfit carefully to minimise irritation!

Certainly, a reset would cost a fair amount.... a quality 18 K refit/shank can easily be over £300 here......at "retail" charges.... and if I go for a remount then I would be looking for a heavier gold weight which hikes the cost again!

Everything comes back to the fact that I love the emerald..... I have others which are arguably "better" stones, but the colour of this one so pretty ... it has such vibrancy. No chance of capturing that on camera, I'm afraid, we tried that before.... it doesn't do it justice!

Oh Mathilda, how disappointing to hear that the ring is still not living up to your expectation. I hope you can resolve the problem to your satisfaction, because it certainly looked like a beautiful stone, and I can well understand why you wouldn't want to part with it.

:doggie:

Sorry, Perdita, I had not noticed your post, I did not mean to ignore you.

What a grand bunch you are to give kind words and good advice.....much appreciated !

Hoping everything seems better in the cold ( probably perishing!!) light of day tomorrow.... we'll see !