Remember a while back when we wrote an article about bad warranties and warranty disqualifiers? Well, we’re back with another warranty type to avoid: those that require jewelry inspections.
Loads of jewelers are still offering shoddy warranties filled with clauses that virtually eliminate your jewelry’s coverage.
One of the easiest ways for a jewelry company to turn its back on you and your jewelry is to require you to get six month “inspections” on your treasured pieces.
These inspection clauses are so effective at getting jewelry companies off the hook for repairs and replacements that in many markets six-month inspections have become the industry standard.
Who do these guys think they are? Dentists????
Despite what anyone may tell you, your jewelry does not need to be examined as often as your teeth. We promise.
According to our resident expert, there are three main reasons that a jeweler will require six-month inspections.
The first is that having you come into the store every six months gives them an opportunity to try to sell you something new every six months. This is pretty straightforward:
Most couples never set foot in a jewelry store until they are shopping for an engagement ring. And just as many couples never return to a jewelry store once the ring is purchased. (Okay, never is a really long time, but most couples come infrequently at best.)
Most of our lives simply aren’t filled with occasions that require a new piece of precious jewelry every six months. Jewelers know this, and so they use necessary inspections to pull you back in to their stores more frequently than you’d otherwise come.
We don’t do this, because we think you have better things to do with your time (like going to the dentist.)
But there are two other, darker reasons some jewelers require these six-month checkups.
Remember the television show, Inspector Gadget? Remember how dimwitted he was? Okay, we aren’t pointing the finger at any jeweler in particular, but we have seen too many instances where some “inspector” finds a “flaw” in a piece of jewelry, then turns around and tells the client that unless they pay to have the problem fixed immediately, the client’s entire warranty will be nullified.
This is as scammy as it gets.
Precious jewelry should be built to last. It should have the structural integrity to be worn every single day. After all, isn’t that kind of the idea behind wedding rings?
This isn’t to say that bad things don’t happen on occasion. But it’s rare. Well-made jewelry is even more durable than it is beautiful, and so you have to wonder: if a jeweler thinks from the onset that your piece needs frequent inspections, then how confidant is he in his product? And if he isn’t confidant, what’s the reason? Does he know that his pieces simply aren’t that well made?
The truth is most jewelers don’t build rings to last.
They sell compromised rings to you, and they litter your future with repairs that wouldn’t be necessary in a well-made ring. The best indicator of the quality of the ring you’re about to buy is its warranty.
Our rings are made so well that we can confidently offer a lifetime guarantee on each and every one of them.
The final reason for 6-month inspections is worse still.
Jewelers require six-month inspections because just like your childhood nemesis, they want to see you fail.
What???????
It’s true. They require you to come in every six months precisely because they know you won’t.
Jewelers know life happens. In fact, they bank on it.
They know that at some point between your moment at the register and your final breath, you will miss an inspection. And as soon as you do, they’ll say you haven’t upheld your end of the bargain and as a result, your warranty is no longer valid.
And these kinds of jewelers are the ones selling inferior quality rings to begin with, which means they’re exactly the kind of rings that really need that warranty.
Imagine if you had a bad cavity. You can’t eat hot food or cold beverages. Your tooth hurts all day right down into your jaw, and your dentist, after taking a good long look at your mouth says, “Well, I’d love to fix that tooth for you… but it’s been more than six months since I saw you last.”
Yeah. Said no dentist ever. And neither should your jeweler. Period.
The truth is if a piece of jewelry is built right, it will be worthy of a true lifetime guarantee. NOT a guarantee you have to renew every six months for the rest of your life. There’s a big difference.
And if you have found the piece of your dreams at a jewelry store that won’t back that piece for life, don’t fret, and don’t buy it.
Come instead to our custom shop where dreams not only come true, they are truly built to last and have the warranty to prove it.