sold fake sapphire My Husband purchased my engagement ring from the John Lewis Milton Keynes store. It was a Sapphire ring with diamond halo surround that I had found in their second hand/ vintage display section. We fell in love with it and my husband purchased it to propose to me. In August 2019, a diamond fell out of the ring. We took it to get replaced, and at the same time decided to have the ring valued insurance purposes. We received a call from the Jeweller in Hatton Garden, London asking us if we were sure we wanted to value the ring, to which we said yes and asked proceeded to ask why. The jeweller let us know that the stone was synthetic and they had asked for opinions of a second and third local jeweller. We were taken aback and explained where we had bought the ring. The jeweller stated that she would take it to a gemmologist to undergo extensive testing. She asked for permission to remove the stone to properly test it, to which we agreed. We received our full report back, which outlined it was indeed a synthetic sapphire. We reached out to John Lewis immediately, and upon receiving the ring back from the jeweller we took the ring to John Lewis that very evening. The store sent the ring back to the seller - Cherie Leigh (a company/individual), who we are informed by John Lewis has been supplying John Lewis with jewellery for over a decade. Initially, they challenged if it was the original ring, we provided proof of purchase. A few weeks later we received a call from the store stating that the wanted to now have a third party valuation. We agreed. The report back, stating that it was a genuine sapphire. The woman who called me from the Milton Keynes store even stated on the phone 'and great news, it has come back bigger'. To our knowledge gems are unable to grow in size and change from synthetic to genuine. Not only did the gem change from synthetic to real, it suddenly changed in every dimension too. It also has a defect hidden under the clasp and the stone is actually damaged and has a chunk missing. We informed John Lewis know we did not believe this to be the same stone and took it back to the same gemmologists to retest this new stone. The ring came back from the gemmologist (whom is registered with the National Association of Jewellers) as genuine, which a much higher price tag. The gemmologists informed us that this is not the same stone that they original tested and provided another report and one showing the defect in the stone. Additionally, the stone that was replaced within my ring has a defect hidden underneath the clasp and requires re-cutting. John Lewis MK Store and the top Directors at John Lewis, including the MD and the Group Operations Director at John Lewis Partnership, Anthony Murphy have all been informed of this matter and are refusing to accept responsible or protect us as the consumer. John Lewis is meant to be a responsible seller. They have refused to outline full details as to who the seller is. From our research, the seller is NOT registered with the Companies House. Cherie Leigh has a P.O. box and a VAT number. Additionally, John Lewis is NOT registered with the National Association of Jewellers. DO NOT TRUST THEM