Store sued after £30k diamond fell out of ring

A BUsInessMAn is suing a jewellers after a £29,000 yellow diamond fell out of a ring he gave his ex-girlfriend.

Olivia Claffey, 41, noticed the gem from her £31,000 ring was missing at victoria station in London in March 2018.

There was a frantic search as rail staff scoured the tracks but the precious stone – which was given to her as a Christmas gift by then boyfriend Mark Hare, 58 – was never found.

Mr Hare, from Warninglid, West sussex, is now suing Philip Lloyd Jewellers, which sold him the ring – despite allegations in court that his ex was ‘reckless’ with jewellery.

The insurance broker claims the diamond was lost because the setting holding it in place had snapped off.

He said he is owed the diamond’s market value – which he says is currently £56,950 – or the £29,000 he paid for the stone.

His barrister, Andrew

The ring... minus its gem

spencer, told Central London County Court that the ‘ring setting was not of satisfactory quality’ and whoever set it did not employ ‘reasonable skill and care’ as Miss Claffey had only worn it a few times. But Philip Lloyd Jewellers, based in Reigate, surrey, insist it was of good quality and blamed Miss Claffey’s ‘reckless use of jewellery’.

Judge nicholas Parfitt heard that Mr Hare shelled out £30,750 for the ring.

Miss Claffey collected it in February 2018 but says she wore it only two or three times before losing it the following month.

she told the court she spent four hours searching for the diamond at the station before she finally called Mr Hare to tell him the bad news.

Miss Claffey said it was ‘the worst phone call I ever had to make’, adding: ‘I was nervous because I had to say “by the way the £29,000 diamond you gave me for Christmas which at the time was the most beautiful and significant thing I’d ever been given was lost”.’

sally Anne Blackmore, who represented the jewellers, said evidence suggests ‘ the diamond was lost as a result of heavy wear and lack of care by the wearer’.

When she asked Mr Hare whether Miss Claffey neglects her jewellery, he said: ‘I don’t consider her any better or worse than any other young lady.’

Judge Parfitt reserved his ruling and will deliver it at a later date.

‘Heavy wear and tear’