Weddingbee boards

I'm pretty irritated with Zales right now. Well, I guess I'm the most irritated with their jeweler who does repairs. Here's the story:

FI proposed to me this past October with his grandmother's diamond set in a 4-prong 14k white gold solitaire setting that he bought from Zales. I was over the moon with happiness... until a couple days later, I noticed that the diamond was spinning in the setting. Not just wiggling, but literally SPINNING around and around and around! Since it's an heirloom diamond (I would be crushed if something happened to it) and was also not insured at the time, FI and I immediately took it back to Zales and asked to have the prongs on the setting tightened. I waited a week to get to get it back, and when I did I was so happy to have it back that I didn't even inspect it, I just assumed it was fixed and it went right back on my finger. I do remember feeling a bit irritated that the jeweler obviously did not do his job right the first time, but I quickly forgot about it.

Not too long after I got my ring back, I noticed that something looked strange about it but it took me a while to realize that all the prongs had been tightened but one. Upon closer inspection I realized that the one prong was not sitting flush with the diamond. I was irritated but I forgot about it, assuming my diamond was safe. Once again, a few weeks later, curiosity led me to try spinning the diamond around again, and to my horror it wiggled! Not nearly as much as the first time, but still!

I was furious. I called FI and was just going OFF. We went back to Zales AGAIN and showed the sales guy the loose prong. He said it very likely could have been normal wear and tear and oh man, was I mad when he said it would be $35 to fix it. I am VERY careful with my ring. I don't wear it to bed, in the shower, if I am doing any cleaning or work with my hands so I knew it was no fault of mine. I guess the only fault of mine was not inspecting it closer when I got it back the first time.

So once again, my poor ring is with the SAME jeweler who apparently doesn't know how to set a diamond correctly. I am supposed to pick it up on Tuesday or Wednesday, and you better believe I am going to ask for a magnifying glass and inspect the crap out of it right there in the store! Keep your fingers crossed that the jeweler does the job right this time, and thanks for letting me vent :)

@futuremrskgt:  Ugh!  How frustrating!  I admire the patience you've had with the whole situation...I think I would have hunted down the jeweler doing the work and let him have a piece of my mind!!  Here's to hoping you have a perfect, flawless ring with a beautiful diamond that will STAY PUT!  :-)

UPDATE!!!!!

So I went to pick my ring up today, AND IT STILL WASN'T FIXED! It continued to wiggle in the setting. I refused to pay for the repair since my ring WAS NOT repaired, and walked out. Taking it to a neighborhood jeweler tomorrow who has very good credability. I just want my ring back! :(

 I am glad you are going to a neighborhood jeweler. I'm one - and not only do I tighten prongs while the customer waits (as long as no significant repairs are necessary), I certainly never charge for tightening. It is a two second job. 

I strongly, strongly recommend having the white gold head cut out of your setting and replaced with a platinum head. Two reasons: platinum holds stones much more securely, so I always recommend it for heirloom stones that cannot be replaced. And two, white gold is very brittle and now that the prongs have been messed with by an incompetent diamond setter, they will never have their original strength again and may break. 

I am so sorry this is happening to you- I'm only glad nothing happened to the stone!

I just went through a similar thing with Jareds! If it doesn't work this time take it somewhere else! Good luck and I hope it doesn't happen again!