Problems with Niessing tension set ring - any jewellers here?

FreddieVanHalen

Hi,

My wife's wedding ring is Niessing tension set ring, and the diamond has just fallen out of it for the second time.

Both the first time, and this time, Niessing is saying it's nothing to do with the quality of their ring and that we must pay £450 to have it repaired.

My wife doesn't feel that she's abused the wedding ring, she removes it to go to the gym for example.

Does anyone know about these things? My wife is getting pretty mad and upset about it given that it's her wedding ring and she's being treated like shit by Niessing. I'm getting fed up of having to pay for repairs to shoddy product!

Thanks!

FreddieVanHalen

Bit more of a specific question - we’re now both so fed up of this ring that we’re thinking of having it melted down and made into a new one - any experience of how to buy this kind of jewellery work?

DLM

@Myranda

maltingsaudio

No help here but looking at the design and the execution that was never going to be a reliable way of fixing the diamond to the ring, I would argue not fit for purpose.

Myranda

£450 to re-seat a stone is insane... Unless it's made of metals that can only exist for seconds in lab conditions... For tidying up a tension set our stone setter would charge us about £10 to £20... Add on a polish and our 2x to 3x mark up on costs would still be less than £100

While you're looking at melting it I'm curious as to which of their tension set ring designs it is... Got a picture? 

As to melting it - any jeweller who makes stuff should be happy to do this, it's a job worth virtually no material cost so it's all time (often there will be material added as sawing/filing will reduce the material a bit, but close to zero materials).

A good goldsmith will be able to make most designs and only a few choices will need specific machines or techniques ... So start looking at rings in catalogs and magazines or online, find out what she really wants, go to a jeweller get a price and I'll let you know if it's the right ballpark price - I would normally knock out between 5 and 20 wedding rings a day (depending on complexity) so unless she has her heart set on a crazy design with complex moving parts it should be possible to work out what time it would take and so what hourly rate you're being quoted.

Very tired as I'm having a very long day so I hope this makes sense... Basically... 450 is mental

strtdv

Surely resetting this just involves applying the correct force to the ring, dropping the diamond back in and then releasing the pressure to allow it to grip the diamond? Charging £450 for that seems scandalous. They also seem a bit "emperor's new clothes". I'd probably just get it melted and remade in a more timeless design. If you're planning on being with the person for the rest of your life them you want a ring you'll still like when you're 80.
Also, resizing tension rings (as will likely need to be done at some stage) seems to be a major PITA.

FreddieVanHalen

Hi @Myranda really appreciate your reply which is very helpful indeed.

I think we've been quoted about £350 by the jewellery shop for the work to remake the ring into a simpler design (I'm not sure exactly what would have been chosen for that design, i.e. if it was another tension set, a traditional mounting or even just a band.

The ring we currently have looks a bit like the picture below but with a very small diamond.

I've read a couple of online reviews of these Niessing tension rings that have fallen apart and I certainly wouldn't recommend one after the problems we've had and the way we've been treated by Niessing.

At least if we get it remade it's a chance to take control of this mess and create a more positive memory/experience out of things...and get a chance to give work to a good independent designer/maker rather than some corporate that is selling a dream without reality...

strtdv

And shouldn't these be called "compression set" as the diamond isn't under tension and the ring is in torsion more than tension?

FreddieVanHalen

strtdv said:

Surely resetting this just involves applying the correct force to the ring, dropping the diamond back in and then releasing the pressure to allow it to grip the diamond? Charging £450 for that seems scandalous. They also seem a bit "emperor's new clothes". I'd probably just get it melted and remade in a more timeless design. If you're planning on being with the person for the rest of your life them you want a ring you'll still like when you're 80.
Also, resizing tension rings (as will likely need to be done at some stage) seems to be a major PITA.

Yep, my wife really likes the look of this design but is now thoroughly miserable about the hassle and Niessing's attitude.

Even if they offered to repair for free, given that it's now failed twice I'm not sure that we'd accept as we'd just be scared of it failing and having to go through all this hassle again.

Remaking now definitely seems the way to go.

DLM said:

@Myranda

Thanks DLM for tagging - I had hoped we'd have an expert somewhere but I couldn't remember who it was!

FreddieVanHalen

strtdv said:

And shouldn't these be called "compression set" as the diamond isn't under tension and the ring is in torsion more than tension?

There are certainly some contortionists in Niessings customer services team ;-)

Paul7926

By no means a jewler but instead of starting from scratch could not a traditional mount be placed in the gap. And soldered on of course.

underdog

I may be being stupid here, but that looks like a very basic issue of the gap being too big to hold the stone in place. Very similar to BCR ring use in body piercing, so you'd just have to remove stone, close gap slightly smaller than  stone, then force open to get stone in and held in place.

How can that possibly cos £450, or even £20.

FreddieVanHalen

underdog said:

I may be being stupid here, but that looks like a very basic issue of the gap being too big to hold the stone in place. Very similar to BCR ring use in body piercing, so you'd just have to remove stone, close gap slightly smaller than  stone, then force open to get stone in and held in place.

How can that possibly cos £450, or even £20.

Good question. Perhaps it is because of the Volkswagen like quality and ethical standards of this particular manufacturer? 

underdog

FreddieVanHalen said:

underdog said:

I may be being stupid here, but that looks like a very basic issue of the gap being too big to hold the stone in place. Very similar to BCR ring use in body piercing, so you'd just have to remove stone, close gap slightly smaller than  stone, then force open to get stone in and held in place.

How can that possibly cos £450, or even £20.

Good question. Perhaps it is because of the Volkswagen like quality and ethical standards of this particular manufacturer? 

I don't know how much pressure it takes to open and close the gap in the ring you have but I've done titanium Ball colure rings over 10mm in thickness with a set of pliers (one to open one to close) that cost me a fiver. 

Phil_aka_Pip

@underdog fwiw I've found most of the titanium BCRs I've bought recently don't grip their balls very tightly (oo errr) and after a couple of times of persuading them to let go of the ball they don't grip it at all.

Not helped by the ball having a miniscule dimple instead of being drilled properly like they used to be.

'kin modern shite!

Paul_C

superglue ?

underdog

Phil_aka_Pip said:

@underdog fwiw I've found most of the titanium BCRs I've bought recently don't grip their balls very tightly (oo errr) and after a couple of times of persuading them to let go of the ball they don't grip it at all.

Not helped by the ball having a miniscule dimple instead of being drilled properly like they used to be.

'kin modern shite!

I'm a body piercer but I must say the BCR is the worst piece of jewellery I have to work with, using tension to hold a ball in place is not only not secure but bloody difficult to fit depending where in the body it is, and even more so now everyone wants a very tight fit.

FreddieVanHalen

Paul_C said:

superglue ?

:-) if they'd done that and charged me 450 the last time the stone might still be in it's mount!

underdog said:

I'm a body piercer but I must say the BCR is the worst piece of jewellery I have to work with, using tension to hold a ball in place is not only not secure but bloody difficult to fit depending where in the body it is, and even more so now everyone wants a very tight fit.

Interesting to see some of these problems are crossing artistic media! 

FreddieVanHalen

@Myranda thanks for help yesterday - a Northern based jeweller has offered to rework for about £380 into a standard design with more traditional mount for the small diamond.

Another London based jeweller is quoting rates of about £120 per hour - is that a fair rate? Sounds expensive but may not be far off given a London cost base...any thoughts?

Thanks!

Myranda

FreddieVanHalen said:

@Myranda thanks for help yesterday - a Northern based jeweller has offered to rework for about £380 into a standard design with more traditional mount for the small diamond.

Another London based jeweller is quoting rates of about £120 per hour - is that a fair rate? Sounds expensive but may not be far off given a London cost base...any thoughts?

Thanks!

We were outside of London and it was *cough* years ago so but we would look for around £60-£80 an hour (we charged wealthy types more... because... they had more... I mean changing a watch battery for most was £5, but for a more expensive watch the same battery was £10). If we were buying materials we just took the retail price and times it by 2.5 to 3

So it's a fairly sensible pricing.

underdog said:

I may be being stupid here, but that looks like a very basic issue of the gap being too big to hold the stone in place. Very similar to BCR ring use in body piercing, so you'd just have to remove stone, close gap slightly smaller than  stone, then force open to get stone in and held in place.

How can that possibly cos £450, or even £20.

You're not wrong... but... diamond is notably tougher than gold, so bumps on the stone will dent the very carefully cut recess the stone sits in, once it's loose pretty much need to file it down and re-cut the slot - substantially less than £450 of work, but probably a lot more than just squeezing the ring a bit... maybe £50 including any re-finishing. Oh and the stone has to sit very flat and central or the stone will pop out - or break (though brilliant cuts around the girdle are pretty damn strong, they're still susceptible to chipping and fractures)

Most tension sets are either a a faux tension set with a metal ring hidden under the stone so the ring as a whole is still complete, preventing it from opening over time... or are made from materials that wont open as much over time - tungsten, ceramic, etc, or are thick enough that it takes more force to bend and deform... but gold and platinum are not indestructible and over time precious metal tension rings will loosen. wedding rings are not a great choice for tension set stuff because they're worn all the time, tight jean pockets, handbags, hand rails on stairs, all these things and more batter, squeeze and abraid wedding rings all the time, hence court shaped (smooth oval profile) plain rings being comfortable and the longest lasting.

FreddieVanHalen

Thanks @Myranda very helpful and appreciated.

Agree with your thoughts on tension set - really wishing that we'd never bought the damned thing.

Feel very let down by Niessing, even with daily use I'd hoped a tension set would last longer than 18 months. Their attitude seems to be "melt it down, whatever, now you've bought it we don't give a fuck!"