Hi
With horror I realised that my diamond was missing off my engagement ring and one claw had snapped off and another one damaged. The jeweler said he wasn't responsible and I should have been more careful. Do I have a case to take this further?

I think you mean prongs not claws. I assume you mean that you were wearing the ring and you noticed that the diamond was gone. What was the guarantee when you purchased it? Many jewelers offer an inspection plan where you take the ring in every 6 months to have it cleaned and inspected. If you loose a diamond after the jeweler inspects it and gives the ring a clean bill of health (all the prongs look good) then under this plan the jeweler will replace your diamond. At the jeweler I work for it's called a "diamond bond".

When one purchase a diamond jewelry from any jewelers, the customer is entitled with warranty from the jeweler. The warranty varies from Jeweler to Jeweler. If the warranty covers diamond replacement within 3 months or 6months and the diamond falls due to flaws in the prongs( what you call claw) or any manufacturing defects, the diamond should be replaced by jeweler. But in case the prong is accidentally damaged or damage after the warranty period is over and the diamond falls for which jeweler would not be responsible.

In order to take this matter further you would first need to check what kind of warranty you have on this piece of jewelry from your jeweler.( Most likely you will find it printed on your receipt).

Did you have a homeowner's policy in force at the time the diamond was lost? That would be covered under that policy. Same thing with renter's insurance. This though is provided if you had listed the ring on the policy and had a rider.

Diamonds do fall out of their settings rather easily. Diamonds themselves CAN be broken or chipped if hit just so.

It depends on what percentage of metal your prongs were and the type of setting but this IS possible to happen if hit or snagged just so.

I don't think you have a case to take this further, not until you tell in what kind of circumstances you wore your ring. It happened to my sister but she always wore it, even when she cleaned the house so when she lost the diamond she wasn't surprised. <a href="http://www.goldenet.com.au/diamonds/diamonds.aspx">Diamonds</a> are precious, they need to be taken care of. If you can prove you was careful with it then you have a case.

I don't think you have a case to take this further, not until you tell in what kind of circumstances you wore your ring. It happened to my sister but she always wore it, even when she cleaned the house so when she lost the diamond she wasn't surprised. <a href="http://www.goldenet.com.au/diamonds/diamonds.aspx">Diamonds</a> are precious, they need to be taken care of. If you can prove you was careful with it then you have a case.


This is incorrect legal advice. In order to win a case you don't prove you were careful; you prove the jeweler was somehow negligent. I don't see that happening.

My jeweler suggests/requires that ALL diamond jewelry be inspected by him twice a year. In exchange he guarantees I will not lose a stone.