K.B. Jewelers

On May 7th, I visited [redacted] of KB Jewelers with the purpose of having him mount a ruby stone in a ring. The ruby has been in my possession for since 1961 and prior to that was kept by my parents. My father found the ring in the [redacted] around 1927 at Montevideo Port, Uruguay. I presented him the stone and he wrapped in a cloth. The ruby had a deep red appearance with violet shading within it. It was flat on each side and slightly worn. Dimensions were approximately 12x8x3.5mm. We selected a ring in which the ruby would be mounted. I exchanged him gold for the selected ring. I gave him a $200 deposit and he provided me a receipt. I returned on May 12th to pick up the mounted stone. I instantly realized that the stone was not the one I left him with on May 7th. The size, color, and appearance were different from the original stone I provided. The new stone had a pinkish appearance, the size was different and had a sharp cut unlike the original stone I provided him. I later had the stone he provided me examined by GIA (Gemological Institue of America) that reported the stone as a synthetic corundum with the following dimensions 11.5x.8.9x4.9mm. The stone is visibly thicker than the original one I left him. [redacted] denies having switched the stone and refuses to provide me the original.

(Separate from the above incident) During the same visit on May 7th, I left him my diamond ring for him to adjust the crown. When I returned on May 12th, and asked him for the diamond ring. When I had asked him for it he had completely forgotten about it and responded, “What other ring?” I told him to look at the receipt. He then proceeded to search through a case. He had misplaced it and claims he had inadvertently put it with another customer’s items. I had to assist him in identifying it among other rings. I later returned on June 7th to discuss the problem. I told him that perhaps he misplaced my ruby just as he had misplaced my diamond ring. He became defensive and denied making any error with the ruby. He claims that he had steam cleaned the ruby, and that the change in color was a result of the cleaning process. He says there may have been paint or dirt on the stone.