Hi Ladies (and Gents!)
I'm not sure if anybody can help but I will try and explain as best as I can and if anybody has any advice or experience of this then please let me know because me and OH aren't sure what to do or where we stand, bit of a long post but you will need the background info....
My OH's sister was with this guy for about 4 years, they lived together, were planning a future together etc and then all of a sudden they split up and straight away he is with this other woman and within months she is pregnant (although he still claims they weren't together when OH's sister was with him) anyway I am just giving you an idea of what this guy is like...I have never been his biggest fan, even when he was with SIL2B I always said to H2B I wasn't keen and when they split it kind of confirmed what a d**k head he was!! and although all the family realised the true him, SIL2B still speaks to him as a friend....still with me? ....
this guy is a jeweller, he used to own his own shop, then tried doing 'bespoke' designed and made jewellery and now he does similar but working for a shop, so he does all the custom made stuff.... I always said to my OH that I would HATE for him to get my ring from him if he were to ever ask me to marry him and he knew i was dead against it etc....anyway time went on and OH wanted to ask me to marry him (obviously i didn't know at this point!!) he had a budget of £900-£1000 but obviously wanted to get the best he could....OH's sister suggested going to her ex to see if he could do them a deal and even though I had asked him never to buy from him, OH went along and the ex said that he could design a bespoke ring, exactly what i wanted worth £2,500 and OH would only have to pay him £900....this was all designed and agreed but as it was a 'favour' the value (£2,500) was not written down etc....
OH decided that if he went into a normal shop with £900 there was noway he could get me as nice of a ring and so decided to bite his tounge and agree to pay £900 for this £2,500 custom made ring....the ring arrived and was paid for through the shop on card and then OH asked me to marry him we got all teary and excited and then he decided to tell me that 'don't get mad at me but....' and told me that he had got SIL2B ex to design it but 'don't worry he got a really good deal' at this point i was very happy that i was engaged to the man i love but secretly VERY annoyed that he had gone to someone that I specifically said not to...I brushed over it and presumed that OH must have just wanted the best for me (fair enough) although i wanted to know the price etc and from this point on the fact that OH was claiming it was worth £2,500 and he only paid £900 was really playing on my mind, i'm not stupid, I have seen rings that cost that much and the diamond etc is much bigger and blingy etc (I love my ring to bits and the money doesn't matter, don't get me wrong, but I didn't think it was worth £2500!!) ....
So then we get a valuation through off the jewellers so i can insure my ring... on the valuation there is a full description of my ring and the value....£1250!!!!!!!
obviously I immediatly said to H2B that he had lied about the price but H2B claimed it must have been a mistake and quickly text him to ask what was going on, why was the valuation only that? the ex spun H2B a load of bulls**t about how it must have been a mistake by his assistant and he will send a new one out with the true value (£2,500) asap! few weeks later nothing...another text...more rubbish....weeks later nothing!! .... by this point I was convinced the true value was £1250 and OH had been lied to...one of my friends works at their families jewellers and we were passing and decided to pop in...she asked if they could value my ring, i deliberatly didn't tell them my valuation etc and they examined for ages and came back and said it was worth between £950-£1000, i told them that i had the £1250 through to which they said that is feasible but in NOWAY is it worth £2,500 (shock horror!!)
they also told me that the ring should be hallmarked, my ring is palladium and under the hallmark act, palladium is now included and any brand new ring sold through a shop must be hallmarked so according to this other jewellers he sold it illegally without a hallmark!! I have since looked up this act and from what i can gather it is an offence to call my ring and to sell me a ring described as palladium without the hallmark (my valuation says palladium) however it does not give any clue to what the consequence is if anyone commits these 'offences'
so i want to know:
. Is there anything we can do about the fact that H2B was sold a ring aparently worth £2,500 for £900 only to be told it's worth £950-£1000?
(i know H2B is still saving £50/£100 but he only went to this guy because he thought he was getting an amazing deal otherwise he wouldn't have gone near him!!)
. Does anybody know what we can do about him selling us an unhallmarked ring? what are the consequences of an 'offence' like this?
. Is the matter worth taking up or not? Ideally OH would like to see something happen even if it's a warning about not hallmarking!! I don't particularly want him to take it back to hallmark as i don't trust him at all anymore and don't want to be without my ring knowing it's in his possession!!
. Is this a court matter or more of a trading standards issue?
I totally realise that in a way its my OH's stupid fault for being so gulliable but whats done is done and I love my ring!! I just want justice! OH feels so silly as he was telling people about his 'fab deal' and now he has pretty much found out he paid what he would have paid in goldsmiths or h.samuels etc and he is fuming!
If you have read this far i'm impressed!! thanks for listening to my rant and any info or advice would be great!!
Thanks 
x
