Help with Littlewoods

[Trueman1986]

Hi all, this is my first post on here and I was hoping that someone could help me or give me advice.......

My problem is with Littlewoods, the catalogue company. I bought a rather expensive engagement ring from them at the end of 2007/start of 2008 - it has since been paid off. a few months ago my partner trapped her hand in a drawer in work and managed to chip the diamond - now in case you didn't know diamond is THE hardest substance known to man. I was suspicious of this and took it into a jewelers, the jeweler said it is a real diamond but it must have been a faulty diamond.

I proceeded with ringing littlewoods up and they said they would contact me in a few days - 2 weeks later I get a letter stating that because I didn't take insurance there's nothing they can do.

My question is - because I see this as them selling me faulty goods, can I pursue the matter demanding a replacement or refund? Or would I have a leg to stand on if I took the matter further i.e legally? Or am I wasting my time because I didn't take insurance?

Sorry for the essay and your help is much appreciated :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Tools]

Re: Help with Littlewoods

Hi Trueman and welcome to Beagles.

As you say, diamond is one of the most hardest of materials, however, "Diamonds are the hardest substance on Earth" is practically a mantra for jewellers trying to impress you with its physical properties if you're not swayed by its beauty. Too bad it's not true: while diamonds are the hardest natural mineral substance, it is not THE hardest substance known to man. In 2005, physicists Natalia Dubrovinskaia and colleagues compressed carbon fullerene molecules and heating them at the same time to create a series of interconnected rods called Aggregated Diamond Nanorods (ADNRs or "hyperdiamond"). It's about 11% harder than a diamond.

Unfortunately its relative strength may be compromised with impact damage, diamonds can be crushed quite easily. The main use of diamonds is not in fact for jewellery and 80% of mined diamonds (about 100 million carats) are used for the industrial purposes of cutting, drilling, grinding, and polishing. This involves crushing the mined diamonds to a fine powder. The "cleavage" of a diamond is said to be perfect, this means that if you break a diamond, it will split cleanly and evenly each time.

I know this information may not be of much consolation to you, but it may pre-warn you of any arguments the manufacturer/supplier may come back with.

It is possible you may have a claim for supplying you with a less than perfect diamond, but as the purchase was made over 12 months ago you would have to prove that there was a "fault" present, as the jeweller put it, at the time of purchase. Was the clarity of the diamond advertised to you at any point? The grade of diamond is often reflected in the price and as such it could be argued by the supplier/manufacturer that this was the case.

If you/your partner have accidental damage contents insurance it may be that she may be able to claim through that.

Sorry if this has not been what you wanted to hear but as Confucius said "Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one."
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