Hi. I am looking for any advice/opinions you lovely members can give me. My hubby gave me a promise ring years ago and it means the world to me. It means more to me than my actual engagement ring based on the sentiment and circumstances. I recently had it sized to wear on a different finger. I am 90%, maybe 95% positive the ring given back to me is not the ring i gave them to size. This jeweler is a mall jeweler that sends their rings to one workshop offsite and the ring is a cookie cutter ring. So it is their basic signature solitaire design. They sell it in mass quantities. I needed my ring sized up and i strongly feel that instead of doing that, they just grabbed another same carat weight, stock cookie cutter ring, sized it down, and gave me that one instead. I could have picked my ring out of twenty just like it, i knew it so well. And there are some pretty significant differences in the stone quality and metal which i don't want to get too deep into yet as i am hoping the jeweler will resolve this. I also have photos of the old ring with my wedding band and the newly sized ring doesn't seem to line up the same on my band. My band was custom made and has bars between the diamonds. The stone in the newly sized ring appears wider based on how it lines up with the bars. I have started the ball rolling and am working with the retailer but just don't know what resolution i'm looking for. Obviously if that is what they did, then my original ring is long gone. Do i try to swap it for another of the same price that is more the quality of the one i gave them? Do i try to get my money back since i don't even have the ring that was attached to all the sentiment? Do i just say oh well, and keep the one they gave me based on the 5-10% chance it might be the same one? What would you do? And thank you. I have been upset for days.
Probable jeweler ring swap. Looking for advice.
- Thread starter lilmountaingirl
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It may have been an honest mistake. I'd provide the jeweler with detailed pics showing which ring is yours, and perhaps they will be able to locate it. Sorry about your situation.
Thank you. The retailer has started investigating it and the workshop has told them it could not have been accidentally switched with another customer's ring based on the jobs they had at the time. The workshop services several retailers of the same company. That's why i feel they just sized a brand new one instead. I was hoping they'd just magically find mine...
oh my gosh this is awful! I would try to work with the store and assume it was an honest mix up. But as soon as it appears to be anything underhanded, I would tell them you are filing a police report for theft/fraud and see how they react. Best of luck to you! 
oh my gosh this is awful! I would try to work with the store and assume it was an honest mix up. But as soon as it appears to be anything underhanded, I would tell them you are filing a police report for theft/fraud and see how they react. Best of luck to you!
Thank you! I should also clarify that the retailer basically has a price they sell their cookie cutter rings for based on carat weight and they have small clarity and color differences. So it isn't a situation where i gave them a stone worth double and they swapped with a cheaper one. The new stone is still the same price point but the flaws are different. And these types of flaws are much more noticeable. So i think it was just pure laziness and trying to save a few dollars by taking gold from a stock ring that they can reuse instead of having to add two full sizes of gold to mine.
I really hope that it was just an honest mistake, and that you're able to get your original ring back! I cannot imagine how you're feeling right now. Crossing my fingers for you! 
I agree with acrowcounted... tell them you'll be in contact with the authorities if you sense something underhanded is going on.
In the future, try to stick with getting work done at a reputable jeweler who does all the work onsite rather than sending it off to some other location. Way less room for error that way.
I agree with acrowcounted... tell them you'll be in contact with the authorities if you sense something underhanded is going on.
In the future, try to stick with getting work done at a reputable jeweler who does all the work onsite rather than sending it off to some other location. Way less room for error that way.
I really hope that it was just an honest mistake, and that you're able to get your original ring back! I cannot imagine how you're feeling right now. Crossing my fingers for you!
I agree with acrowcounted... tell them you'll be in contact with the authorities if you sense something underhanded is going on.
In the future, try to stick with getting work done at a reputable jeweler who does all the work onsite rather than sending it off to some other location. Way less room for error that way.
Yeah now i wish i had used someone different but i took it to the retailer where he actually bought it from! It is a jewelry chain. And he had the extended warranty so they make you have all work done through them. So it was the store he bought it from, who is supposed to be reputable, but they don't have a workshop onsite.
I'd really like to think that it was an honest mistake. I don't see whats in it for them to have switched it out with a new stock ring. Either way, they are out the gold. Assuming they purposely swapped the rings, they would still have to add the gold back to yours to get it to the stock size if they wanted to resell it, right? I don't know, I'm trying to be optimistic and assume that your ring is still sitting around the workshop somewhere and will shortly be returned to you.
Thank you for the optimism! I wanna believe it was honest too. I've been searching for info on flaws thinking maybe something in the process cracked it or made a carbon larger, or maybe they chipped it and shaved the chip causing the flaw to be more noticeable, maybe heat...
This same exact thing happened to my grandmother's ring. The jeweler was even a "family friend." My grandma has a 5 stone ring (each diamond was clear, brilliant and full of fire) and one day, one of the diamonds fell out. The diamond was so big we ultimately found it again, took it to the jeweler to have it reset. Resetting a diamond should only take a few minutes, but they took DAYS. Almost a week to get the ring back to us. And what came back was not the original ring. They replaced the diamonds with smaller, cloudier, darker diamonds but we had no PROOF of this. We didn't take pictures of the ring before hand. . .there was no appraisal or anything of the original ring. This event makes me sad even to this day (and this happened a long time ago when I was elementary school) because this is one of the few things I have left from my grandmother and I feel like it's tainted.
I would definitely involve the authorities. There are shady jewelers out there and I wouldn't be surprised if they truly did swap out your ring. What happened with my grandmother's ring also keeps me from buying jewelry from even reputable jewelers, so that's one of the reasons why I stick with brand names. I pay more but I get peace of mind.
Good luck, I hope you get this straightened out!!!
I would definitely involve the authorities. There are shady jewelers out there and I wouldn't be surprised if they truly did swap out your ring. What happened with my grandmother's ring also keeps me from buying jewelry from even reputable jewelers, so that's one of the reasons why I stick with brand names. I pay more but I get peace of mind.
Good luck, I hope you get this straightened out!!!
I'm so sorry! This happened to me once when I sent an oriental rug out to be cleaned. We moved, so I didn't unroll it for a couple months, and when we did, it was a smaller, thinner, cheaper rug! I was sure they switched it, but when I called, they brought over my rug.
I know it's not the value, you just want your ring. I hope you get it.
I know it's not the value, you just want your ring. I hope you get it.
OMG!! My heart ACHES for you. ACHES. 
Don't give up on dealing with the retailer. HOUND them if you can. Annoy the piss out of them so they are forced to do everything in their power to find your ring. you can prove anything through photos, definitly involve the authorities!!!
KOHL I am soooo sorry to hear about your grandmothers ring!
I will say there is something to say about taking pictures of your rings ladies!!! I took befores of my ring in the last 2 minutes before I ran out the door to take my ring to the jewelers for a new head and new shank. I can't tell you how much those pictures paid off when things started going wrong with my ring (proving damage hadn't been there pre them working on it and such). So ladies, put your camera on the little flower icon (macro) zoom in, and take some pictures!!
Don't give up on dealing with the retailer. HOUND them if you can. Annoy the piss out of them so they are forced to do everything in their power to find your ring. you can prove anything through photos, definitly involve the authorities!!!
KOHL I am soooo sorry to hear about your grandmothers ring!
I will say there is something to say about taking pictures of your rings ladies!!! I took befores of my ring in the last 2 minutes before I ran out the door to take my ring to the jewelers for a new head and new shank. I can't tell you how much those pictures paid off when things started going wrong with my ring (proving damage hadn't been there pre them working on it and such). So ladies, put your camera on the little flower icon (macro) zoom in, and take some pictures!!