Energetic integrity meets honest policy.
Why I stand behind every knot, and why made-to-order has different rules.
Every talisman that leaves my studio is one-of-one — knotted by hand, paired with stones I selected by hand, and finished for a single wearer. That shapes how I handle returns.
I don't run a warehouse that restocks what comes back. Once a piece has been worn, its energetic pairing has already begun — and even from a pure craft standpoint, there is no identical replacement waiting on a shelf. So my policy is different from traditional retail, and I want to be direct about it.
The Sacred Agreement: All Sales Final
On why every piece is one-of-one — and why that changes the rules.
Because every piece is made to order and produced as an Edition of One, I do not accept returns or exchanges for change-of-mind, fit preference, or style reconsideration. The piece you receive is the only one of its kind — there is no other like it in the studio, and it cannot be resold to another wearer without breaking the one-to-one intention of the craft.
This is the exact reason I keep the studio small. If fit, color tone, or wrist size matters to you — and it should — please ask me before you order. I answer every email myself and I'd much rather adjust a sizing spec on the bench than have you receive a piece that doesn't sit right.
The Artisan Promise: I Stand Behind Every Knot
On what I cover, what I don't, and why nothing ships back across an ocean.
All-sales-final is about energetic and craft integrity — it is not about walking away from quality. I am the maker. If something is wrong with the piece I sent you, I will make it right.
One thing I want to say up front: you do not need to ship a broken piece back to me. International return postage often costs more than the remake itself, and asking you to re-package damaged jewelry across an ocean is not how I want this relationship to work. Clear photos are enough for me to act on a claim.
Below is exactly what qualifies as a defect, what does not, and how a claim works step by step. The window for opening a claim is 14 days from the delivery date on your tracking.
What Counts as a Defect
- Transit damage — the outer package or the piece itself arrived visibly damaged (broken stone, snapped cord, crushed hardware).
- Structural craftsmanship fault — a knot that pulls loose within normal wear, a clasp that fails on first use, a stone set off-center from what the photos showed.
- Wrong item shipped — the piece you received does not match the listing you ordered (different stone, different size, different edition).
What Does Not Count as a Defect
Hand-knotted natural stone jewelry is not a machined product. The following are inherent features of the craft, not flaws I will replace:
- Natural variation in stone color, banding, inclusions, or matrix — the piece on your wrist will not look identical to the studio photograph, because the photograph is of a piece, and yours is the piece.
- "Alchemy Agate" and similar reactive stones that shift tone with your body heat and wear — that is the intended behavior.
- Slight asymmetry in knot spacing or cord tension — this is the signature of hand-work and the reason the piece is not factory-made.
- Patina, darkening, or subtle color softening that develops through wear over months.
If you're unsure whether what you're seeing counts as a defect, email me a photo anyway. I'd rather look than have you wonder.
How to File a Claim
Three steps, fourteen days, one email to me.
Step 1 — Email within 14 days of delivery
Write to hello@alaluck.com within 14 days of the delivery date on your tracking. Include:
- Your order number (starts with #ALL).
- One clear photograph of the outer packaging as it arrived.
- One or two clear photographs of the piece showing the issue.
Two or three photos is plenty. I don't need a production shoot.
Step 2 — I respond within 48 hours
I read every email myself. Within 48 hours I'll confirm the claim and tell you which of the two paths below applies, based on the photos and the shipping record.
Step 3 — What happens next depends on the cause
If the damage happened in transit — the piece left my bench intact and arrived broken — I file a claim with the carrier on my side. You do not need to return the damaged piece to me; keep it. Then you choose:
- A refund to your original payment method. I initiate it within 5 business days; your bank typically takes another 2–5 days to post it.
- A remake — I rebuild the piece as closely as materials allow and ship it to you with new tracking. Because every piece is made to order, the rebuild takes 7–14 business days on the bench, and I'll send you photos before it leaves the studio.
If the issue is with my craftsmanship — a knot, a clasp, a structural fault that came from my bench, or a wrong item shipped — that is on me, and I start from a different default:
- A newly made piece, shipped to you at no cost, with a small gift from the studio as a thank-you for the patience. You keep the original. Rebuild time is 7–14 business days.
- A partial refund if you'd rather keep the piece as-is — we'll agree on an amount that reflects the severity of the issue.
- A full refund if neither of the above feels right. Initiated within 5 business days once you confirm the outcome.
In both scenarios, the piece stays with you. I am not going to ask you to box up broken jewelry and ship it across an ocean.
Long-Term Care & Repair Service
On the Lifetime Knot Guarantee and how rebuilds work.
Hand-knotted cord wears over time — especially on pieces you actually live with. If the cord on your piece has softened, frayed, or stretched after months or years of wear, I offer a rebuild service: I re-knot your original stones onto fresh cord at the studio bench, and, if needed, refresh the clasp or closure hardware.
This service is my Lifetime Knot Guarantee. Here is how it actually works:
- Within the first 12 months of purchase — your first rebuild is complimentary. My labor is on me; you cover return shipping in both directions.
- After the first year, or for any additional rebuild — I quote the scope in writing and offer it at or near cost. Return shipping is still yours, both directions.
- Cross-border postage on a single piece adds up, which is why I don't absorb it. I'd rather keep the rebuild fee low than inflate newer-piece pricing to subsidize shipping.
- Once I receive the piece, I rebuild within 10 business days and ship back with tracking.
To start a rebuild, email hello@alaluck.com with your order number and a photo of the current condition.
One limit: stones themselves cannot be replaced. Every piece is one-of-one, and the specific material I selected for you does not exist in duplicate. But the cord, the knots, and the hardware I can always remake.
A Note to EU & UK Buyers
On consumer-rights law and what it does and doesn't cover.
If you are shopping from the European Union or the United Kingdom, you may already know that consumer-protection law gives you a 14-day withdrawal right on most online purchases. There is a specific exception: goods made to a consumer's specifications or clearly personalised (EU Consumer Rights Directive, Article 16(c); equivalent provisions in UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, Regulation 28).
Every à la luck piece is made to order as a one-of-one, which falls inside that exception. This is why I can't accept change-of-mind returns even from EU or UK customers.
What does not change: your right to remedy on a faulty or misdescribed item. If the piece arrives defective, my 14-day Artisan Promise window and the claim process above apply to you exactly as they do to every other customer — that protection is not something I would attempt to waive, and nothing in this policy overrides your statutory rights.
Before You Order
Most returns don't need to happen, because the question got answered before the piece was made. If you're unsure about sizing, cord length, stone tone, or how a piece will sit on your body, write to me first. I'd rather spend ten minutes on email than remake a piece that didn't fit.
For shipping timelines, customs, and delivery tracking questions, see Shipping & Delivery. For general questions, see the FAQ.
The Fine Print
For the formal legal terms covering sales and refunds — liability limitations, jurisdiction, dispute resolution — see the complete Refund Policy. Anything in this Returns page that appears to conflict with the Refund Policy yields to the Refund Policy for legal purposes.