Twin City Jewelers Reviews
Reviews
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B1F58988578159261Bb995E04C49475F7Eecd947 Sent on 09/13/2024
Engagement Ring - Setting Issue
I would like to state at the outset that I see the owner of this shop tends to respond to negative reviews rather harshly. I was not inclined to actually write this review until I called the shop owner to try to address the issues I describe below. My goal with this review is not to personally lambast the shop, its owner, or any of its employees. And it is not to be “vindictive” because the shop owner refused my request to fund a new setting that needs to be made for my fiancée’s engagement ring. I simply believe that consumers should be aware of the facts regarding my experience with a ring I purchased from this shop—a shop, I will note, that both my fiancée’s family and my own family had provided thousands of dollars worth of business to before I went to purchase my engagement ring from them. I purchased an engagement ring from the store in October 2022. I had originally ordered a size 6, but the ring came in at a size 7. We went back to the shop to have it resized for my fiancée, whose ring size is a 5 1/2. Unfortunately, it was sized slightly too small, down to a 5. We had to go back to the shop a second time and ask to have it resized to a 5 1/2. This time, it was properly sized. I would not have written this review because of sizing issues alone. I understand that most people estimate the initial ring size of their fiancée incorrectly, and rings have to get resized. It’s a part of the business. Further issues that I had with the ring, and a further interaction I had with the shop, made me feel it was appropriate and necessary to write this review.
About two years after I had purchased the ring, in August 2024, my fiancée and I had a horrible morning when we discovered the main diamond fell out of her engagement ring. We searched for 2 anxiety inducing hours. Fortunately, we decided to check our sink pipes for peace of mind, and we found the diamond in the pipe. That was a relief. I wanted to understand what had happened, as I thought (and most non-jewelers like myself would probably agree), that a diamond should not fall out of its cradle. I’m sure there are instances where this does occur, or where a diamond gets loose over time. If that was what it was determined to be, I would have understood, had the ring fixed, and moved on. A family friend of mine has a close relationship with a jewelry manufacturer (i.e., an individual who actually crafts settings and cradles from scratch), so I asked him to look at the setting. His conclusion was that the setting was designed for a circle diamond, and I had purchased an oval diamond. As the old adage goes, you don’t try to force a square peg into a round hole. The same is true with an oval. He explained that issues likely further developed because the setting was not originally designed for the diamond cut I had ordered, and although the prongs had been cut to try and make the setting work for my diamond, they likely were stretched (and over time, loosened), because the ring had to be resized multiple times. I called the shop to voice my disappointment with what had occurred, and explained that I was having a custom setting made that would be designed to hold the diamond cut that I had ordered. I asked if the shop would cover the cost of developing this custom setting, specifically because it felt odd to me that they had originally used a circle setting for an oval diamond. The shop informed me that they stood behind their work, and that they ordered an oval setting, not a circle setting. The shop owner also stated that he would look at the ring and attempt to address any issues. I explained that I wasn’t inclined to take him up on his offer, because it appeared he had ordered a setting that wasn’t made for the diamond cut I had ordered. The owner stated that he had purchased a setting with the mounting number 82941, which I could research and see was an oval setting. Therefore, he believed I was being “swindled” and would not cover any expenses I chose to incur to have a new setting made. I then proceeded to research the mounting number the shop owner provided. He was correct that this setting was made for an oval cut diamond. But it very clearly was not the same setting that I had been given for my fiancée’s original engagement ring. According to three different supply websites, Photo 1 below shows what the setting for mounting number 82941 looks like. Photo 2 shows what the original settling of my fiancée’s ring looks like. And Photo 3 is a side by side of the two. Clearly, these are two different settings. Specifically, mounting number 82941 (on the left) has five small diamonds on each side, whereas my fiancée’s setting (on the right) has seven small diamonds. Moreover, the cradle itself is clearly different. I note that I do not know whether the setting the shop actually ordered for my fiancée was indeed meant for an oval or a circle diamond. But the shop claimed to have a bought a setting that it clearly did not for my fiancée’s ring. Therefore, I’m less inclined to believe that the shop did in fact purchase an oval cut setting in the first place. I reviewed the appraisal paperwork that I received, and it doesn’t indicate a mounting number for the setting anywhere, so I have no way to investigate this. Based on my eye test, the setting itself appears to be far more circular than ovular (see Photo 4 below). As I said at the outset, my objective with this review is not motivated by vindictiveness. I wish to move on from this incident, just like I’m sure the shop does. But, based on the facts of my entire experience, it does not appear to me that I am now being “swindled” by some competitor and instead appears that the shop did not order the appropriate setting for the diamond I ordered. I believe consumers have a right to be aware that this occurred before choosing whether to buy an engagement ring from this shop. -
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