A Nightmare on my wedding day - the diamond ring

[lovetricia]

Hey gals,
my sister encountered similiar horrible service from Lee Hwa! She bought this ring, 2rows of small diamond and she being a very careful person, hardly wears the ring. One day, she realise that one of the dia has fallen off! I accompanied her to the suntec branch & told the staff what happened. So he explained to us that if we are at fault, we need to pay around 30 bucks to set another dia. If it's the manufacturer's fault, it will be free.
It seems fair so we agreed to it. He then went to talk to his mgr n he came to us n told us that majority of the time it's the consumers' fault n told us to just pay for it instead of sending it for investigation! I was angry with their words n I questioned them about the quality of their pdts! How can you just assume it's us who's rough n knocked our ring against something to cause the TINY diamond to drop? I told them straight in the face that 30bucks is a small amount but it is not evey fair for us to even pay a single dollar without even confirming it's our fault! I even showed him my own ring, and loudly announced that it's from GH n I wear it everyday but the dia dun just drop out! I even told them that my mum is a loyal fan of theirs n wanted to get the same ring for herself from LH. But after such incident, we are going to stop our mum from buying anymore jeweleries from LH!
So in the end, they unwilling took the ring back for investigation n a few days later, they called up, saying it's the manufacturer's fault n they will set it back for us! Can you imagine if we had stupidly believed the staff n just pay 30 bucks for nothing?
What horrible experience! I'm very disappointed with their service. I still stick to GH.Friendly staff n they know what they are selling.

 

[sonia]

Hi Gals:

I bought a bracelet from Goldheart just a few days ago... as a present for my cousin's wedding.. Guess what! She just called me yesterday to say that one diamond has dropped off and asked me how to go abt getting that fixed.... So embarrasing!! sigh...

 

[gracian]

dear all... i read all your accounts and would like to share mine.

i have 0.55ct dia ring and a dia ring(7 small dia) used to wear it daily to work. my work involves checking and removing stuff from a chest freezers, sometimes accidentally knocking against equipments etc. BUT i never have any of my dia dropping out. now i wear my eternity ring together with wedding band daily, also got no problem. i am quite a clumsy person.

i believed that workmanship can and is control by the shop, if workmanship lousy, then the shop should jolly well find another jewellery setting shop. plus LH and GH are very reputable shops, they should also have some QC.

personally i don't like LH, cos their price is super marked up, and one just end up paying for the dia item + their overhead (rent,salary) + advertisments! i rather shop at my trusted jewellery shop, at least i know that should anything happen the owner will be more than willing to help and not point fingers.

 

[andrei_n_averyl]

hi bynne,
are you serious? huh... i really don't wish to change another pair of wedding bands since already bought... dunno.. just feel uncomfortable... like signify bad things like that... as in 2nd pair of wedding rings..how ? should i go shop for another pair? but my PS taken with my current wedding rings..and money also... oh no...

and btw i'm Averyl,... Andrei is my fiance..keke

 

[dioscuri]

actually this is not the 1st time I've heard of diamonds falling out and the service staff pinning the blame on consumers.

like sowie, I'll recommend Larry as well... my mum has been supporting them for 20+ years and never did she have any problem with her diamonds. If not can also try canary diamonds at delphi... it's opened by the sister of the boss of Larry, so quality shld be the same. My engagement ring is from there and i've been wearing it everyday to do housework, gym, etc.

 

[dottyback]

geez..all tis sounds so scary

my wedding bands r from LH...tis particular range from Jorn Rainer..i tink they r imported so i guess not exactly by LH

hope all the small stones wun start 2 drop out coz i haf a couple of rows all ard the platinum band or i gonna haf a big headache

 

[sonia]

Cool down gals! Not all diamonds will drop off. Otherwise these shops will be out of business!!!

 

[c1980]

hi gals... sorry to read about the unfortunate incidents. but so far, i have not had any problems.

my E-ring is from Lee Hwa though not the destinee range and after wearing for 10 odd months daily, there is still no problem. maybe lucky...

Goldheart : i do not like their service. find them rather hardsell so i try and avoid unless i need cleaning on some stuff. but other than that, quality also not bad.

 

[faithe]

i had diamond earrings and braclet from GH and LH and i do not have such problems even though i wear it daily, it was almost 4 yrs...
so could it be mis-handling or really defects which their QC didnt detect?
Larry's definitely more lasting as their prices are so much diff from the rest...same like Tiffany...juzz my view

 

[dioscuri]

I was just told by my friend that the stone (not diamond) from her ring bought at LH fell off. She took the ring there for expansion as it did not fit (was a gift), after expansion, it dropped off after 3 days when she brushed it against her clothes.

What made her mad was the staff. She went to the shop and asked how much it cost for replacement (she had no intention of asking for free/ compensation) and the 1st thing the staff asked her was 'you must have been very rough'. When my friend said no, the staff said 'then you mush have hit/ brush against something'. Sounds so accusatory!

and the staff got poor product knowledge. Even questioned my friend if she was sure the ring is from LH. My friend told her to go check herself and she later admit that the ring is from them after checking with her colleagues.

 

[wasabi]

hi Bynee and all,

I had my diamond set in the destinee setting through an independent jeweller. It looked like an exact replica made in platinum and my friends and bosses were fooled thinking i was given a destinee ring.

However, having worn it for less than 2 months, I have decided to stop wearing it as the diamond is moving within the setting last 2 days. Therefore I suspect it might be the design of the 4 prong setting as mentioned by Katgrrrl. Of course I cannot deny the fact that the independent jeweller may not hv done a good job. In any case I am not taking any chance again to lose my solitaire.

To those of you with diamonds of at least 0.5C in size and are contemplating to use 4 prong ring or tension setting, pls think twice.

 

[touraco]

hi gals
i have experienced bad customer service at LH and will not stepped into one anymore. Wrote 2 complaint letters to their HQ but no use. Just write back a letter saying they will improve and thank me for my feedback.

I really wonder how they managed to get the best brand award year after year with such bad customer service.

I had a diamond dropped from my GH pendant before but i didn't even realise it. Asked my friend who is a jeweller to help me do something to it and it looks as good as new.

Wanted my solitaire to be in 4 prong initially but decided to use the 6 prong instead. phew...luckily i didn't set it as 4 prong.

 

[dabee]

hi gals:
my wedding ring is 0.5c from LH,Cosmopolitan range (4 claws. i hv been wearing it daily not when doing housework and exercise for 1.5yrs. still ok.

 

[dabee]

now seems that LH, GH has not very good reputation...
sowie: u mentioned that LH's prices similar to flower n larry? how u justify this? if this is the case, then my next dia would be from either larry or flower....

 

[butterkiss]

I got my wedding ring from LH. It has 5 diamonds on it. Wore it for 2 days and realised that the diamonds were loose! Sent it back for "servicing" on 9 Jan 2005. Till today, 2 weeks later, I still haven't gotten the ring back.
The ring had been travelling to and fro from the shop to the workshop and everytime when it comes back, something will be wrong.
If not for the good customer service I got from one of the manager (who can still remember us even when we bought my solitaire from him 1 yr back from another outlet), I would have kicked up a big fuss!

Conclusion... Maybe it's the workshop who is careless in their work. Coz when my ring was sent back to the shop, the staff will check through and when the standard was not up to their expectation, they will send it back to the workshop again.

 

[jimmygo]

hi dabee,

what sowie meant would be the types of grading and brand of diamonds tt are sold at flower and larry. based on the qualities chosen from each, the pricing may be comparable to LH. however, i can't comment on flower as i've not been their customer before.

for larry, the 1st decision is between lazare and non-lazare. afterwhich, u'll play along the gradings within each 4C to finalise your diamond px. the staff will then try to match a diamond close to your specs and budget. if you're happy with it, then voila! the pricing of the diamond u'll ultimately pay is similiar to what u'll do at Dell when configuring your PC.

hope that clears the doubt

 

[fates]

OMG my ILs just bought the 'si dian zhuan' for me, and it's from LH~!!!!!!

Are they really that bad?

 

[dabee]

sgwestie:
thanks for explaining...

fates, dun worry. just check n be more careful when u wear them. dun think u will be wearing those to play sports right?

 

[touraco]

i have experience very good customer service at Tianpo (Suntec) last year when i bought my wedding bands there and since then,i have been back there twice.

i got my engagement ring from an independent jeweller.

 

[vivileow]

i am wearing LH Destinee everyday,hope its ok, but a lot of my friends said it has lost its shine & look like fm T*KA jewelery.
My bad experiences from LH is my wedding band. So stupid to paid almost $2.3K for mine and my husband wedding bands from LH, morever its JR designer bands becos the little diamond dropped when i merely wear it for 3 days after ROM.

 

[reiner]

oops... bot our wedding bands fm LH but yet collect. coz FH one nd to make. mine oso fm tat JR series one, w small small diamond one. n bot the jia zhuang fm there too. die die lah... how to take "gd care" of them? best way - dun wear them, keep them, c c no touch, no put on them... ha!!! izit?

 

[sonia]

Vivi - you may want to send your diamond for cleaning. A diamond doesn't just lose its brilliance like that!! I suspect it's covered with dirt. Good to return to the store where you bot it and ask them to clean. Same time they will also check your ring. Nothing to lose!

Of all jewellery types, ring tends to give the most problems becoz when we wear it, we will unawarely knock them on tables/surfaces ... and over time the setting will give way hence diamond will lose its grip. I always send my rings for cleaning and ask the jeweller to check the setting. That's not difficult coz I am at the shopping malls during weekends and to hop in a jeweller doesn't take too much of an effort. Better be safe than sorry!

 

[dabee]

sonia:
i feel very pai seh to hop into the jeweller shop which my hubby bought my dia ring. how to open my mouth to ask them to clean? they will check the serial no on the ring before and after the cleaning? i very worried that they would swop my ring though is only 0.5c.
anyone sent their dia jewellery to clean at jewel shops??

just to share...
there is once i went into one of t*ka jewellery to see see look look at earrrings, the salesman vert scary very pushy as then later suan me. he insisted me to remove my dia ring to show him. when i remove and show him he said very dirty clean for me for free. i was so worried keep telling him to return my ring i dun need him to clean but he refuse and just took my ring inside. my heart almost stopped beating for that few mins which seems to be so long.......later he return with my ring looking shiny... but in my heart i was so worried that he might swopped my ring... without a scope, i cant see the serial no.... and i din memorise my no. the cert is at home. i really worried and do not know how to react... then he keep pestering me to buy something from him...when i say i will look ard first before i decide to buy anythings.... he changed his face and said only $100 plus after disc still must think so long!!! i was really scared. really feel that i am in a "black shop".
after that, when i met my hubby and told him about my encounter, he "scolded" me stupid to remove my ring to show him. i cant sleep.... then next day i went to LH with my ring n cert to ask them to view under scope, related to them my encounter. they are very helpful.

 

[sonia]

DaBee: Visit the more reputable ones like LH. They will never change your diamonds. I never trust people like Taka or SK... these shops sell very low quality diamonds which they claim to be of very good quality.... bunch of con people!!

 

[fates]

Oh ya where are their diamonds from ar? I passed by SK, looked at the diamonds and found some of them to be quite 'yellowish'.... maybe H colour or worst. Best part is when I asked the salesman what colour is THAT diamond (purposely point to one quite yellowish one), he told me colourless..near perfect...*roll eyes*

Maybe not all are low quality I reckon.....just need to choose one with good colour/cut. Since they're so cheap, can wear it everyday without worrying when they're dropping off.

 

[ingenue78]

hi gals,
guess our experiences with the various jewellery shops vary, depending on which salesperson serves us...there may be some black sheeps who destroy the image of the company. but that's the way it works lah...depends on our own luck...

As for SK jewellery, 1 of their salesman was very honest when i asked them about the colour and clarity. i was told that it's all of commercial grade (we can expect H and above lor. U just have to look carefully with your naked eye to see whether it's yellow. Ultimately , what u pay is what you get. My opinion is that for big diamonds, it's better to get certified diamonds from reputable gemology associations e.g. GIA or HRD. Safer that way...it doesn't matter which jeweller sells the dia as long as the diamonds are certified. at the very least, u know what u r getting. ;-)

 

[elinwokk]

yes the experiences do vary. to share my story my sister bought her diamond from SooK**. But happened was not what we;d expect. She went into the Suntec branch to look at diamonds with her fiance. She was looking for F, VVS1 grade diamonds but when the sale person say there was none and she started to walk out, one of the salesgirls suddenly said oh, there is one in the "safe". she showed it to my sister and my sister and fiance decided they were getting that diamond. The salesgirl took it back to clean and then gave the receipt and cert and diamond in the bag for my sister & fiance. The next week they took the diamond to be mounted and this is why the serial number of the diamond was NOT the one they bought!!!! Luckily when they brought it back Sook** acknowledged it was their mistake (BUT THE GIRL WHO DID THE SWOP WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND) and then gave her the right diamond!! so i guess when buying diamonds be careful, check and check and check again.

 

[dabee]

Elin:
aiyo... luckily that they acknowledged their mistake n willingly to change. i agree that must really use microscope to look at the serial no of ur diamond or diamond jewellery. those with GIA or HRD cert, the serial no on dia must match with the cert's!!!!!!

sonia, mine ring is from LH. okie next time i go n ask them to clean for me. thanks.

fates: i cant remember which shop, taka or meyson, with my colleagues, that time no SK yet. the saleman also tell us the same thing. that dia is COLORLESS... wah liew... feel like telling him off... glass also colorless. buay tan han.
so far, i been to soo k** they not bad. my SIL is a big fan of their brilliant rose. that time when my hubby bought me 0.5c from LH. then she keep saying why never buy brilliant rose... say my dia not as shiny as brilliant rose...blar blar blar... still within three days can refund or not, go n buy brilliant rose... in my heart, i was thinking.. "of cos i wan brilliant rose lar!! who ask my hubby your bro no $$$" for 0.5c i think will cost maybe double mine....

 

[sonia]

Ino: I think the term "commercial" is used too loosely by most jewellers. Once I had a ring I bot from SK graded by a friend whom is a certified gemologist. It was not an expensive pc. When I got the results I was shocked... they claim "commercial" but came out to be J colour, I clarity. So now I just stick to the more established jewellers. At the end of the day, we just need to accept that - what you pay is what you get. So becareful with what these people say... ask for specific grading!!!!

 

[sonia]

DaBee: Brilliant Rose appears more brilliant coz it has more facets... However, ideal cut diamonds like Hearts on Fire, Destinee and Lazare.... are definitely more sparkling... Don't know how to explain here but it really depends on your liking. Personally I prefer it to be more sparkling... meaning when you move your ring/diamond... it glitters.... whereas brilliance just make the diamond looks bright... not much sparkle!!

 

[wasabi]

hi all,

In fact, all should take good care of your rings. sometimes when threads on your clothing gets hooked by the claws of the ring, it could also upset the position of the diamond..... thus diamond became lose. You may also unconsciously upset the diamond position through other actions like open car doors etc.

If I do not recall wrongly, Destinee, lazare and hearts on fire should belong to the same catergory of diamonds - Hearts and Arrow or some call it Round Brilliance. Basically if you were to use the scope to look at the diamond, you should be able to see the heart and arrow shape on the diamond. THis is a result of the cutting of the diamond. Ideal Cut diamonds are based on several criteria. some people mixed it up with the triple 0 criteria for a round brilliance diamond.

 

[dabee]

hi sonia n wasabi...
hee hee of cos i love those range of dia.... i am sure no gals will reject them right?? hee hee hee must go n ask my hubby when i can upgrade my wedding ring liao.... 1st yr anni, 5th yr anni or 10 yrs anni.... hee hee i think he will grumble..

 

[pepperpower]

Hi all,

Cut's my favourite C cos it accounts for sparkle. That's what makes diamonds so mesmerizing...

Cut's more complicated tho' than the other 3 Cs which are kinda straightforward. There are currently several definitions for ideal cut, I believe. AGSO is one of them (Destinee), another being Tolkowsky's specific combination (Lazare), and there's also the American Ideal Cut. All involve certain combinations of crown&pavilion angles, table&depth percentages.

Sparkle's my favourite colour, not D-E-F..

 

[sonia]

hey all:

any of you been to citigems? i was there earlier. ended up buying myself a pair of earrings. pretty good price after discount. the diamonds are definitely better quality than what you find at taka/sk. check them out if you haven't...

 

[wasabi]

Hi Sonia,Citigems is the one that features Fiona Xie and Joanna Peh? looks quite like another SK jewellery... right?

 

[sonia]

Hi Wasabi: Initially I thot it's just another SK too but when I visited them, I find their diamonds to be of much better quality and the designs are also nicer compared to SK... and price wise... very reasonable!

 

[ingenue78]

hi sonia, yup..."h and above" meant h, i, j...i guess commercial grade dia are not really good..and some of them are quite yellowish as well. Citigems designs are not bad...but can't really comment on the quality tho coz the price is too cheap...so i dun really place high expectations on the quality of the diamonds there too. i went to Soo Kee and asked them the difference between the dia at SK and them. They claimed that their dias are of a better quality e.g. g and h. Dun noe whether how true...*sigh* these days, jewellers are getting consumers all confused.

all said, i think sk and citigems are much better than taka generally...

 

[sonia]

hi ino:

i think when they said h and above... they meant d to h.... in any case, trust yr eyes! if u can see shades of yellow... or even inclusions then leave these pcs alone...

i notice that at lee hwa, they now grade all their diamonds. at least that's what shown in their latest brochure. that should give some assurance.

 

[gomugomu]

hi all,
hapi new year. i understand that citigems is under aspial, aka L** H**. so is it realiable? i m thinkng of getting a diamond. at least 0.5 carat. save very long!

 

[tebearz]

Just wonder how much will it cost for a 0.50 "Destinee, lazare and hearts on fire diamond. If I anot not wrong, only Larry sell "lazare" diamond, right?

 

[tebearz]

Just wonder how much will it cost for a 0.50 "Destinee, lazare and hearts on fire diamond. If I anot not wrong, only Larry sell "lazare" diamond, right?

 

[stardus]

Hi tebearz,

a 0.7 destinee would cost abt 12k, if not wrong, 0.5 would cost around 7k depending ofn grade and clarity too!

 

[sonia]

hi tebearz:

there are differences between lazare and destinee. i made the comparison myself sometime ago. destinee is certified by the american gem society with triple zero ratings... however, lazare is certified in-house so.... between the two, i will go for destinee... anytime!

 

[pepperpower]

Hi!

Lazare diamonds are cut and authenticated by Lazare Kaplan International, not in-hse...

 

[sonia]

hi pepper:

when i said in-house i meant by lazare themselves. they cut and certify their own stones. no independent body is there to certify anything so we just got to accept whatever they say... that was my point!

 

[needle]

Hi all,

Finally found this thread...I want to pour out my unluckiness....FH and i bought a pair of rings which are meant to be our wedding bands from one of the retail shop. When we 1st went to them to purchase we asked for polishing and amendment of ring size. 3 weeks later, we went to collect the rings, there's scratches on FH's ring, mine ok. So send back for repolishing again and requested to collect after CNY. So on Valentine day, I called and the rings are ready for collection, so we went. When we were checking the rings, out of surprise, FH spotted that a small diamond was missing on my ring..we questioned the staff how come this can happened..their explantation is maybe the office remove the small diamond to do repolishing and forgot to put back..and I ask them the repolishing is on my FH's ring because of the scratches not mine..they said that have to repolish two together to get the same tone!! I ask them what if next time i wear and the diamond dropped, they told me "Oh there's no guarantee on this"..and give us lot of excuses..although they promised to replace me a new one but the disappointment is there!!

 

[sonia]

hey needle: sorry to hear about the unpleasant incident. Which jeweller is it?

 

[tissuebox]

i am so sad..i should hve read this thread earlier.
the dia on wedding band from lee hwa also drop out after 6 mths of wearing.
it's not an expensive ring but my 1st citeria of a wedding ring is,it must be durable and able to withstand my daily activity.

so when the dia drop out, i was so shocked.my hubby managed to find the dia and so we bring it back to the shop.
the 1st thing is, if they sent back to the workshop to fix, we have to pay $30.

i was like, what.its not my fault so why should i pay and it is only 6mths not 6yrs. i was really very angry and unhappy and insisted that i will not pay.
so she chnage her tone and say will send back to check and if really is their fault, they will do it for free.
my hubby not happy with their cust service wrote a letter to their head office.so the reply was its the usual practise to charge for any setting but as a goodwill they will do it for free this time.
well you guess it, when i go and collect it,the answer is it is my fault.their craftman say that i had knock against something which cause the dia to drop.
well, since they have fix it,i also dun wan to creat a scence but i sure will not go back there again.

 

[sonia]

hi tissuebox:

if your criteria is the ring must be able to withstand your daily activity then i would suggest a band which doesn't have diamond. no matter how good the diamond setting can be... it will eventually drop off if we wear the ring everyday. don't forget, it's on our finger... we knock and hit without us knowing. if you look at yr metal watch (if you are wearing one)... you will ask why are there so many scratches. the same explanation for your ring. you may not realise it but no matter how small the knock, it will contribute to the diamond drop off.

 

[bbmaru]

Hi all,
Wow, I have chanced upon this interesting thread... so sorry to hear about so many unhappy incidents about buying diamonds now.

Actually I have not been buying any jewelleries (diamonds) since my customary 3 yrs back, except a pair od small diamond earrings from SK. During that time, there weren't that many "brands" of jewellers. The better ones are Larry and Flower and the more crappy one which sells low grade diamonds is Meyson. Then more and more came into the picture..now Taka joins the ranks of Meyson. Well, I personally dun think SK, LH or even the latest Citigems diamonds are that bad. As long as you have a reasonable budget, you are able to select reasonably good diamonds there.

My "si dian zuan" was bought in LH back then. During that time, diamonds were still very ex. Where got hear discount discount like every now and then.. dun say 40% off (sometimes you see that in LH and SK), want to get 10% also not easy. So end up, my in-laws paid quite a lot for that. Think if I buy them now, maybe I can save a few K.

As for my precious wedding ring, my hubby bought that for me at Larry Paragon. We were fortunate to be served by this very patient and honest lady named Angela. And now whenever I need cleaning or tighening of the prongs, I will go back to her for service. One good thing about having serial number on your diamond is that the jeweller will let you check your diamond's serial number when you pick it up after service

After hearing good comments from Sonia about Destinee, maybe one of these days I will go and check it out, and compare it with the Lazare that I have

Btw, for those who have a tight budget but still yearn for a big diamond, maybe can check out Flower cos they are giving discount of up to 50% (but think it's subject to some terms and conditions). But then think again, on normal days, they are earning 50% more from our sale... good money. But just to share, I called them a few days again to enquire about the 50% discount, the lady who attended to me wasn't that professional...so can't really trust the quality of service there.