Aging Engagment Ring Questions

[brae]

Here are the pictures I promised and then got sidetracked!

Grandmother's engagement ring, damaged from diamond removal.


Her baguettes (the center diamond is in my mother's engagement ring).


And the new ring, made with her old gold from the setting and her diamonds.

 

[BAGWANNABE]

Here are the pictures I promised and then got sidetracked!

Grandmother's engagement ring, damaged from diamond removal.


Her baguettes (the center diamond is in my mother's engagement ring).


And the new ring, made with her old gold from the setting and her diamonds.

Beautiful!

 

[kath2]

That's a fantastic design--chic and contemporary!

 

[BigPurseSue]

Here are the pictures I promised and then got sidetracked!

Grandmother's engagement ring, damaged from diamond removal.


Her baguettes (the center diamond is in my mother's engagement ring).


And the new ring, made with her old gold from the setting and her diamonds.

Omigosh! LUV IT! It's elegant and vintage-y and modern and classic all at once. What a beautiful way to remember your grandmother! Thank you for posting the pictures!

 

[BigPurseSue]

I forgot to answer the integrity question. If it's only the bottom half of the ring that needs a reshank, you can tell him that. To build 4 prongs means they will cut off the current prongs and build new prongs with new gold for you. If there's no porosity, new lower half shank and new prongs attached to old top shank should be sturdy, no integrity issue. But you will notice that much of your old ring is taken away and that might be an issue if you're sentimental. If so, it's better to use the old setting for a gem stone and get a similar new setting for your diamond. I'm no jeweler but I'd think the integrity is more an issue if I only add solder to the prongs. I'd be more concerned about the prongs than the lower shank here as a diamond can be lost if the prongs are loose.

The jeweler said they would "add a new crown" to the ring so I assume that would mean that they would cut off the old prongs and add new ones. It never occurred to me what questions to ask at the time because I was surprised that the ring would need new prongs. What you said, bolded...yes, I was thinking that if they cut off so much of the ring to repair it, then it's really not the same ring, is it?

You have to know the quality of this persons work. If they can bulk things up seamlessly, and do a quality job retipping, it's worth doing so. But you really probably need it reshanked, vs a patch job on that end.

Can you suggest questions I might ask to find out about the quality of the goldsmith's work? I know this store has 6-7 jewelry artists they regularly employ, and they have an excellent reputation locally. But how would I know who is doing the work? And whether they're good?


A friend had a custom wedding ring made by another local jeweler with a supposedly great reputation. The gold ring cracked after just a few months of careful wear and the jeweler refused to repair it without charge. I also had a less than great experience with this jeweler, in spite of their great word-of-mouth. It seems hard to find a good jeweler in spite of Angie's List and Yelp.

Yup, repairing the old ring would preserve the sentimental value of it. Also brings to mind that philosophical idea: how much of the old ring can be replaced and still retain its status as the old ring?

That's my thought, I'd be replacing so much of the setting, will it really be the same ring with all its old little curves and quirks?

Make sure they retip all the prongs at the same time. I had an emerald and diamond ring that needed retipping and I was balking at the price (multi-stone ring with lots of prongs). They convinced me that they could just do half the prongs and it would be fine. The new prongs are quite a bit larger than the old prongs and to me the ring looks lopsided now.

Oh my! Thanks for the warning!

For cost and safety reasons, I would get a new ring and melt down the old ring to make a pendant or something. Your current setting is common enough that the price for a new one is not much more than the total cost of repair. Besides, there are just too many uncertainties with the integrity of the repaired ring (repair everything that is needed to fix and do so correctly by a skilled henchman). I think I would be more bothered by losing the diamond than the old setting.

Look at the situation this way. Here is your chance to "upgrade". Do you want to stick with a classic solitaire or something else?

That's part of the dilemma I'm having. I really love this ring. DH picked it out. I've worn it everyday for over 25 years. But it would be nice to have a ring in which the diamond's setting is lower, maybe flush with the gold. The diamond is set high and it's very pokey, and an annoyance at times. So it might be an opportunity to get a more comfortable and more substantial setting. But I LOVE this ring and all the sentiment behind it!

I would just repair the old ring.

Yes, maybe this is what I should do. It's a dilemma. I do need to give this a lot more thought.


Thank you, everyone, for your ideas and comments!

 

[katierose]

The gold on the back of my engagement ring has grown very thin over the years. Worried that it may soon wear all the way through, I took it to a jewelry store in town that's known for excellent craftsmanship to see if they could add some gold. Their goldsmith looked at the ring and said that the gold on the prongs holding the diamond in place is also wearing thin. Ideally the mounting should be replaced, but they could also solder some gold to the prongs for a sort of temporary fix that should last a few years. To fix the back of the ring they would cut off the shank and affix a new gold backing to the ring. All this would cost about $365-$375. That would include adding a new mounting. Cost would be about $275 to simply add gold solder to the prongs while replacing the back of the ring.

The ring is a solitaire, with a traditional Tiffany-style setting.

An alternative would be to buy a new ring setting, which is really not what I want to do since I love this ring, DH picked it out for me so many years ago, and it bears all the sentiment of that.

But here's the clincher. They had in their sample box a ring setting that's nearly identical to my ring, it's my size, it would fit my stone, and since this style seems to have gone out of fashion, they offered it to me at just a bit over $200. My reservations include the fact that the white gold ring mount (the prongs, or crown or whatever it's called) don't look quite as substantial around the base as those of my current ring. And of course, it's not the ring DH bought me.

My questions:
What would you do?
Does anyone have an engagement ring in which the prongs have worn down due to age, and what did you do about it?
Has anyone ever replaced the back of their engagement ring when it thinned?
Anything else I should consider?

I just had a similar dilemma. The mounting on my solitaire E ring had worn all the way through on the front and back at the base where the wedding ring rubbed against it. I'm very sentimental about these rings so decided to repair it. The jeweler replaced the mounting and it now looks exactly the same, can't even tell, and I don't even consider the repair any more than I would repairing the prongs.

 

[Asscher]

Your friend's ring most probably cracked due to porosity in the metal. You can't really tell if a band is porous unless they are very sloppy with their work as the bench can always touch up the porous outer part before delivery. But porous inner part, we won't have any idea till it cracks. But you shouldn't worry about cracking since it isn't so common. So make sure you get a jeweler who will be responsible even if such a thing happen a few months down the road.

Ask to see samples of each bench's work. Pick the one with the best craftsmanship for your repair. It might be the most costly bench though. Usually one gets what one pays for so it's worth it for the peace of mind. Hope to see you post photos of your repaired ring soon.

 

[floatinglili]

A ring that has had a section replaced will not be as strong (although strong enough to function as a ring in most circumstances!)

Your jeweller is doing you a favour in replacing the head as well. You would be devastated in having your diamond go missing, so the new head is a no brainer.

In your position I would probably lean towards getting a new ring made up (or order a similar one) that is very similar to the old.
You could take the opportunity to have the head made in platinum, if you like. You could tweak the design (if you chose to have it made up specifically for you), or you could find a design that might address some of the issues you had with the older ring design wise (eg lower set).

If you were really keen you probably could organise to melt the ring down for it be used in your new ring if you were interested in having it made for you locally, but this would be a more expensive thing to do than just getting a setting ordered in.

 

[BAGWANNABE]

"That's part of the dilemma I'm having. I really love this ring. DH picked it out. I've worn it everyday for over 25 years. But it would be nice to have a ring in which the diamond's setting is lower, maybe flush with the gold. The diamond is set high and it's very pokey, and an annoyance at times. So it might be an opportunity to get a more comfortable and more substantial setting. But I LOVE this ring and all the sentiment behind it!"

As I said before, my diamond is very sentimental because my husband picked it out for me over 16 years ago. I tried to bring some personal meaning to my new custom ring by adding 18 pave diamonds that represent our wedding date and 18 is also a lucky number. I know my ring is not everyone's style, but I, too, wanted my diamond to sit lower. I couldn't be happier with the results.

There are so many ways you could reset your diamond to make it secure for the next 23 years! Good luck with your decision!

 

[BAGWANNABE]

A pic on my finger.

 

[BigPurseSue]

I just had a similar dilemma. The mounting on my solitaire E ring had worn all the way through on the front and back at the base where the wedding ring rubbed against it. I'm very sentimental about these rings so decided to repair it. The jeweler replaced the mounting and it now looks exactly the same, can't even tell, and I don't even consider the repair any more than I would repairing the prongs.

How many years of wear did it take for the wear to happen? My e-ring is also worn where the wedding ring has rubbed against it. I've been wearing my e-ring 24/7 for 25 years and looking at it closely the whole ring is pretty battered. Good to know that a good jeweler can make it look like new.

Your friend's ring most probably cracked due to porosity in the metal. You can't really tell if a band is porous unless they are very sloppy with their work as the bench can always touch up the porous outer part before delivery. But porous inner part, we won't have any idea till it cracks. But you shouldn't worry about cracking since it isn't so common. So make sure you get a jeweler who will be responsible even if such a thing happen a few months down the road.

Yes, very sloppy. That characterizes that particular jewelry store. I took a pendant in there to be engraved and, omigosh, it came back looking as if a truck had run over it! How do you screw up engraving a couple of initials?

Ask to see samples of each bench's work. Pick the one with the best craftsmanship for your repair. It might be the most costly bench though. Usually one gets what one pays for so it's worth it for the peace of mind. Hope to see you post photos of your repaired ring soon.

Thanks for the advice! I will ask to see samples!

A ring that has had a section replaced will not be as strong (although strong enough to function as a ring in most circumstances!)

Your jeweller is doing you a favour in replacing the head as well. You would be devastated in having your diamond go missing, so the new head is a no brainer.

In your position I would probably lean towards getting a new ring made up (or order a similar one) that is very similar to the old.
You could take the opportunity to have the head made in platinum, if you like. You could tweak the design (if you chose to have it made up specifically for you), or you could find a design that might address some of the issues you had with the older ring design wise (eg lower set).

If you were really keen you probably could organise to melt the ring down for it be used in your new ring if you were interested in having it made for you locally, but this would be a more expensive thing to do than just getting a setting ordered in.

I spoke to DH tonight about it and his vote was to get a new setting. Or else leave the battered e-ring in the jewelry box and just wear it on special occasions. But I already have enough special occasion rings and not enough special occasions for them. This is the diamond I live with!

As I said before, my diamond is very sentimental because my husband picked it out for me over 16 years ago. I tried to bring some personal meaning to my new custom ring by adding 18 pave diamonds that represent our wedding date and 18 is also a lucky number. I know my ring is not everyone's style, but I, too, wanted my diamond to sit lower. I couldn't be happier with the results.

There are so many ways you could reset your diamond to make it secure for the next 23 years! Good luck with your decision!

View attachment 2684048View attachment 2684049

I LOVE your ring! I love the bezel setting. It's so much safer than prongs. Your ring also looks like it is very practical to wear for everyday since there are no prongs, the side diamonds are channel set, the gold is substantial, the texturing looks like it won't reveal all those tiny scratches gold develops over time. And it looks beautiful on your finger! Love it, love it! Thank you for uploading pictures!

 

[floatinglili]

I agree Bagwannabee, your ring is lovely!

 

[BAGWANNABE]

I LOVE your ring! I love the bezel setting. It's so much safer than prongs. Your ring also looks like it is very practical to wear for everyday since there are no prongs, the side diamonds are channel set, the gold is substantial, the texturing looks like it won't reveal all those tiny scratches gold develops over time. And it looks beautiful on your finger! Love it, love it! Thank you for uploading pictures![/QUOTE]

Thank you. It is very comfortable to wear - and I wear it everyday because I love it. As much as I miss my original band, it is becoming very special to me. The side diamonds are actually micro pave. Channel would have probably been more practical, but I really like the look of the pave. And, the bezel is so secure and I love the way it makes my diamond look.

Take your time finding something you love.

I agree Bagwannabee, your ring is lovely!

Thank you!

 

[katierose]

How many years of wear did it take for the wear to happen? My e-ring is also worn where the wedding ring has rubbed against it. I've been wearing my e-ring 24/7 for 25 years and looking at it closely the whole ring is pretty battered. Good to know that a good jeweler can make it look like new.

About the same, 25 years of 24/7 wear.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[BigPurseSue]

Bit of an update. I went to a local jewelry store with a good reputation and looked through their Stuller catalog for a new setting that's similar to my current failing one. I found several that I liked. Today they called me to tell me that most of the settings I liked have been discontinued and they were unable to order them. I will wait a while to see if any sample settings come in.


I found a ring setting I love on Blue Nile and called to ask whether I can order just the setting. I was told there are only a few ring settings on Blue Nile they will sell without a diamond and only occasionally. And when they do sell them diamond-less they don't include the prongs. You must buy those separately from your jeweler and those can run up to $175 plus the setting fee. Plus the setting doesn't come with the BN lifetime guarantee. The skillful BN rep almost sold me a new diamond. "Diamonds today are cut so much better than they were 25 years ago. They look so much better!"