Saturday, February 21, 2009

Wedding Ring delimma



I'm having a little bit of a dilemma about my wedding ring. I'll need to give you a little background so that you can fully understand.

My engagement ring initially was set crooked. The stone was tilted and there were a number of delays resulting in Chris being unable to present the ring on my birthday, on this amazing hike we did (where he had the proposal all planned for), and a weekend where we planned to go out of town. We wrote a letter expressing our dissatisfaction, and our jeweler fixed the ring, gave us a coupon, our setting for 1/2 off, and generally worked really hard to make us happy. We felt happy to be working with them despite the glitch.

So, when we went back to get my wedding ring, we didn't hesitate to work with them. They offered to do a custom wedding band to match complete with matching pave diamonds. They took a mold of the engagement ring, and sent if off to be made.

We received the ring last week and it was... well, less than perfect. The milgrain was crooked and sharp in areas. It caught on my skin, cloth, and pretty much everything else near it. Some of the diamonds were set too deep and not symmetrically. It didn't sit flush to the engagement ring because it wasn't straight.

Now to be perfectly honest, it's a small 2 mm band... No one would even notice the multitude of imperfections. But I look at it and I'm just kind of "Grrr..."

I'm not mad at the jeweler, and we only paid $300 for a heavy platinum/diamond ring. But I'm having a hard time deciding whether to bring it up with the jeweler or let it go. What would you do?

The pictures I'm including aren't meant to be artistic, just to kind of show you the defects (as much as we could without a good macro lens). You have to click on the enlarged version to see any of the defects!

10 comments:

dadrown said...

I am not a jewelry person so I don't know, but it looks like it is really pretty. maybe there is a way to make it smoother so that it doesn't catch on things. I love the way it matches the engagement ring though.

Sandie

Sara E. Cotner said...

I can't see the defects, but I still say you should advocate for your consumer rights. I don't mean to sound melodramatic, but you're going to wear the thing for a very, very long time. If there's something they didn't get quite right, you should ask them to fix it. On the other hand, if it's something you'll forget about in a month, it might not be worth the stress. For example, I probably could've gotten another couple hundred dollars off my new car purchase, but the thought of haggling with multiple dealers made me queasy (I did it a little bit and got a significant chunk off the MSRP, but in the end, I decided my sanity was worth the couple hundred more I could have pushed it).

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I would at least bring up the fact that it catches on everything. You can't live with that for a very long time - either you or the ring will be somewhat destroyed in the end.
Good luck!

zoliepup said...

Thanks everyone! I think Chris is going to try and take it back tomorrow. I don't know why I feel so bad... I think it's because of the whole issue with the engagement ring. It's not usually like me to settle, but I just am having a hard time mustering the energy to be polite, firm and assertive in this case!

I'll let Chris give it a go tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Hey V it's me J, Bellenga! I just wanted to say your e ring is so gorgeous! And you knitted that? So great.

I love your blog! Mosey on over to mine soon too!(atlgabelle@xanga)

I mag'd the pics of your wedding band and couldn't visibly see the imperfections but it looked like on one shot the band milgrain was as you said a bit "off".

Lemme know how it goes.
Love,
~J.

zoliepup said...

@Sara- You should see me haggle for a car! It brings out this weird competitive side in me. I've helped lots of people do the same, mostly by doing a ton of research before going into the dealership. I'm the car salesperson's worst nightmare!

@Joey- Just added you to my blogroll... and yes, that uneven milgrain that you could see was just a small manifestation of the badness.

We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Hannah said...

If it's catching on things, I would definitely get it fixed! And honey, if it's not what you want then have it changed! I mean, you paid for it, after all!! Just because you paid $300 (which is a lot to me!) doesn't mean you shouldn't get best quality.

Also-- I was DEFINITELY kidding about starving myself. I'm shoving down some frosted mini-wheats as we speak :D. I love food haha

zoliepup said...

Oh good! I was like HN is already so skinny! You're gonna look fabulous darling...

*Michelle said...

Even though it was a good deal, its your ring, you are going to be looking at it (and snagging it on things) hopefully for a life time. I think its worth at least getting it smoothed out, and anything that is REALLY going to bug you. Some small quirks can be ok, its a unique ring. But you dont want to resent your ring either.

AmyJean {Relentless Bride®} said...

I'd be the same way. you are paying for it, so it needs to be to your satisfaction!
RelentlessBride