What to Check When Your Order Arrives

Before you cut the tape

Start recording on your phone before the package is open. One continuous take, no cuts, showing the shipping label, the outer box from all sides and the seal. Then open it on camera and take the piece out. If everything is perfect you can delete the video in a week. If something is wrong, it is the clearest evidence of what arrived and in what state.

Look at the outer box first. Crushed corners, a torn or retaped seal, or a box that rattles more than it should are worth a photo before you go any further.

The eight checks

None of these take long. Do them at a table near a window, with a soft cloth on hand.

1. The unboxing is filmed in one take, from the sealed package onward.
2. The outer box and seal are intact.
3. The piece matches the listing: design, metal color and size.
4. The stones look full: no empty seats, and nothing dark or dead after a wipe.
5. Prongs sit evenly and nothing snags.
6. The clasp or bail opens, closes and holds.
7. A watch runs, and the crown sets the time.
8. Everything in your order is in the box, with its packaging.

Checking the stones

Wipe the piece with a soft cloth before you judge it. Packing and handling leave fingerprints, and a thin film of oil on the back of a moissanite is enough to make it look gray. Then hold it in daylight and tilt it slowly.

• Missing stones show as a small hole or an empty set of prongs. Work along each row, edge to edge, rather than looking at the whole piece at once. On a watch, go around the bezel stone by stone.
• Dead spots are stones that stay dark from every angle. After a wipe, most apparent dead spots disappear. One that stays dark may be sitting tilted in its seat.
• Prongs should look even and hold each stone flat. Run a cotton ball lightly over the surface. If it catches, a prong is raised, which can snag clothing and loosen over time.

A loupe or your phone’s camera zoom helps here. For how stones are held in, see Stone Settings Explained.

Checking a watch

A watch has more moving parts, so give it a few extra minutes.

• Hands: when the minute hand is on 12, the hour hand should sit right on an hour marker. The hands should not touch each other, and the seconds hand should move.
• Crown: pull it out gently, set the time and push it back in. If it screws down, unscrew it first and screw it back fully when you are done. How to Set the Time and Date has the details.
• Crystal: look across it at an angle under a lamp. Scratches and chips show up best that way. Our watches use mineral crystal.
• Inside the dial: tilt the watch and look for anything moving under the crystal. A loose stone inside a pavé dial will slide around.
• Clasp: open and close it several times. It should click shut and stay shut when you tug the bracelet.
• Bracelet: if spare links came with it, keep them together in a small labeled bag.

If the watch is not running when you take it out, that is not always a fault. Depending on the movement, the crown may simply be pulled out, or the watch may need winding or a little time on the wrist. Quartz vs Automatic Movements explains the difference. If it still will not run, contact us.

Trying it on

Only put the piece on once the checks are done, so any mark you find later is clearly from wear rather than from the box. For a ring, try it at room temperature with dry hands. Fingers shrink in the cold and swell in heat and later in the day, so a ring that feels tight straight after a hot shower may be fine an hour later. For a watch, hold off on having the bracelet sized until you have finished checking everything else and are happy with it; How to Size a Watch Bracelet covers the job when you get there.

With a pendant, thread it onto the chain you plan to wear and let it hang. Check that the bail moves freely and the pendant faces forward rather than flipping over.

Metal color and your screen

Phone and laptop screens shift color, and so do warm indoor bulbs. Rose gold in particular can look pinker under a yellow lamp and almost coppery in shade. Compare the piece to the listing photos in daylight, with your screen at full brightness, before deciding the color is off. Two-tone pieces are worth checking in the same light as well, so both metals are judged fairly.

Films, stickers and packaging

Watches often arrive with clear protective film on the caseback, clasp or crystal. Leave it on until you have done your checks, then peel it off. Left on for weeks, the edges collect grime and moisture.

Keep the box, the inner packaging and any tags until you are sure you are keeping the piece. Our Refund & Return Policy sets out what applies to returns, so read it before you throw anything away.

If something is wrong

Email [email protected] as soon as you notice it. A message with the right details gets sorted far faster than a one-line note. Include:

• Your order number.
• A short description of the problem and when you noticed it.
• A photo of the whole piece and close-ups of the problem, taken in daylight.
• Your unboxing video, and photos of the outer box if it was damaged.

Once everything checks out, How to Clean an Iced Out Watch covers how to keep it that way.