Should I take this guy to court?
Back in 2016 I took two necklaces to our local jeweler. One was a vintage bead necklace that my ex’s mom gave me. It was probably from the 30s. At one point it broke and I collected up all the beads against the day I could get it restrung.
The other was a necklace that my mom gave me back in the 80s for my birthday. It was unique. It advertised “fresh water pearl,” but the “beads” weren’t round at all. The beads were long and wavy. The were probably plastic and not pearl at all but I liked it.
I had this idea of having the jeweler string them into one necklace that I wanted to give my grand daughter on her 16th birthday….
Keep in mind I took it in in 2016. I’d go in to check on them once in a while, but it was never done. He’d always say “I’ll work on it this week.”
It’s been 4 freaking years so I finally got a little pissed off!! Then he produced this Gawd awful, fugly crappy necklace and tried to convince me it was mine. I said it was NOT mine. He said it was because it was in that zip lock bag with a card that hand my name on it, in my hand writing, and the date. He had obviously taken my card out of my necklaces and put it with that one. We actually got into an argument over whether or not that was my necklace! So I left with his promise to find my necklaces. That was about 4 months ago.
I went back in today with a necklace that was similar to the vintage one. He kept asking if that was THE necklace. I kept saying, “No, it’s just similar, so you’ll have an idea of what your looking for.”
Then guess what he did…he came up with the SAME damn zip lock bag, with the same fugly necklace and we again argued over whether or not it was my necklace!! It was like a bad deja vu.
I want my necklaces back. Should I maybe take a cop in with me and ask if I can look through his inventory?
He’s pretty old, BTW. In his 80s, at least.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
35 Answers
He probably sent it to a “bead stringer” and sent more then one necklace. My wife used to string for a high price jeweler, twenty-five years ago as a paying hobby. She specialized in ocean pearls with knots between each pearl so if it broke you only had to chase one bead. She had an inventory system with tags and everything was numbered.
They got mixed up at stringer.
Yes Fresh Water Pearls can look like Rice Krispies !
After 4 years . . . it maybe long gone.
Yeah sounds like fresh water pearls to me. The fresh water ones are not perfectly round, @Dutchess_III. They’re wavy and ripply and shaped like potatoes.
These were long and wavy and thin. They were elongated.
Is there some way a court would give me permission to access his inventory so I can search?
I think your main problem is going to be that you have no proof, @Dutchess_lll. No photo of yourself with the necklaces, no photo of the necklaces, no receipt for purchasing the necklaces (I understand they were a gift). What says you’re not lying and will go to the jeweler’s inventory and pick out the nicest pearl necklace and say “that’s the one!” I know you wouldn’t do that but they don’t know that you won’t do that.
I think part of the problem is you waited four years. I know you were asking for it every now and then, but it’s still four years ago.
Why don’t you go back and ask the guy if he would let you take a look at what he has? Maybe he will be agreeable if you’re nice about it.
He’s deaf as hell plus he’s convinced that one necklace is mine.
My sister bought the necklace at Mom’s direction. She’d be a witness.
My ex would be a witness too.
doubt you will get satisfaction and it will cost you money you don’t have. He may be senile, has lost the necklaces and they won’t be found. It’s sad because they had sentimental value for you but I suspect they are gone.
Given it has been four years, they really did not mean enough to you to waste your energy on a court case that is questionable at best. Consider it one less thing to pack, and look for a nice necklace for the grand daughter when you go to Washington State.
You guys are probably right, but he he just kept putting me off, promising he’d get it done next week. Then his wife developed cancer and that took his time over. She was sick for 3 years.
I didn’t wear the necklaces so I wasn’t really missing them and we had time. My grand daughter was 13 when I took them in….should I at least file a report so that when he dies maybe I could go through things.
Do you have a receipt with the description as usually that is given when dropped off?
Face it, you lost any case you think you might have by waiting four years.
Don’t get nasty people. I am aware I have lost.
You should only take a guy to court when you have absolute proof you are correct, such as photographs, the value is more than the court costs, and you find a lawyer who will work for settlement fees only.
@Dutchess_lll: You can get witnesses but that won’t help your case. You need proof. You have nothing. Not a receipt, not a drop off ticket, not a photo.
Hindsight being 20/20, probably after a few months of him not doing anything, you should have picked the necklaces up and taken them somewhere else for restringing. Also, taken a photo of the necklaces when you dropped them off, so you would at least have something to go on.
I’ll just let it ride. He also has a touch of dementia. Maybe they’ll get back to me some how.
I think you’re screwed. But the experience is a good lesson on photographing anything you intend to entrust to others for repair or renovation in the future.
That’s right. I swear if I went in today he’d swear that necklace IS mine because he put that ticket with my name on back in the ziplock bag.
Yesterday I tried to get him to leave the tag out but he said if he left it out he wouldn’t know who the necklace belonged to.
God it was incredibly frustrating
Have you tried showing him the picture of the necklace that looks similar?
At least you have the comfort of knowing his confusion isn’t manufactured. Small solace, but there it is.
Yes. I physically took in a necklace that I found that was sort of similar.
I also explained the other one was fresh water pearls. Absolutely nothing like that piece of junk he keeps insisting is his.
Have you considered the possibility that it actually is the right necklace, and that after so long your mind has built it up to be more grand than it actually is?
From your description in the first post (“probably plastic, but I liked it”) it sounds like the necklace was a simple bit of costume jewelry.
No it’s not possible @Darth. One was a vintage bead necklace, the other was fresh water pearl.
What he is trying to shove off on me is some sparkly blue glass costume jewlery. There are two strands of it, which he keeps calling two necklaces.
I had never researched fresh water pearls, but when I did the other day, that’s what the one necklace looked like.
@Dutchess_lll: Please take my suggestion and go in there, nicely, and ask if he can let you see his other inventory. You never know, it just may be there. Doubtful after four years but you have nothing to lose.
That was a VERY bad pun @jca2!
I will try to do that. He’s just gotten so batty….
”Doubtful after four years but you have nothing to lose.”
:D.
He lives in a big Morton building on Main street. The entry way is his Jewelry store. The rest is is his personal residence. I thought I heard him say he kept his stuff in a bank vault off the premises.
Most jewelry stores are required by their insurance company to have an on-site vault. Every night they must put all inventory in the vault, anything stolen during an after closing robbery not in the vault is not covered by insurance.
He has it on-site.
IDK. That’s just what I thought he said.
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
