Lover’s £30k payout for gem that fell out of ring
A BUSINESSMAN who sued jewellers after a rare yellow diamond he gave his girlfriend fell out of her ring and was lost has been handed £30,000 compensation by a judge.
Mark Hare bought the octagonal 3.1-carat gem in 2017 for his then partner, Olivia Claffey.
The pair had the stone set in a £1,750 white gold ring, encrusted with smaller diamonds, and Miss Claffey, 41, began wearing it from February 2018. But she lost the £29,000 central gem at london’s victoria Station on March 4 that year, sparking a fruitless search.
Mr Hare, 58, sued the jewellers from whom he bought the ring and stone and who had the gem set into the ring – Raymond lloyd ltd, trading as Philip lloyd Jewellers, of Reigate, Surrey.
The insurance broker, of Warninglid, West Sussex, insisted the ring setting was shoddy, while the jewellers denied liability – saying Miss Claffey must have damaged the ring. But at Central london County Court, Judge Nicholas Parfitt ruled that the white gold was not of ‘satisfactory quality’, awarding Mr Hare £30,000 damages, including interest.