Before I start let me emphasis that I realize material things shouldn't be considered real world issues, however from a personal standpoint sometimes they can be!
My husband bought me a beautiful 5 carat pear shaped diamond in a beautiful setting for our 20th anniversary 3 years ago. I have taken the ring back to the jeweler where he purchased it to have prongs checked and re-tipped every year. The jeweler has a very good reputation locally is is well known and respected in the community.
Last weekend my son and daughter-in-law were at our house for a cook out. I had been sweeping deck and working on dinner all evening. At dinner my daughter-in-law looked at me with horror and pointed at my ring. When I looked down I saw that the center stone was missing! She loves and admires the ring and told me she had seen the stone in the ring an hour before it went missing. So along with my other son, the 5 of us started the search with me feeling like it was a total lost cause. Low and behold my younger son spotted the stone in between the boards of the outside deck. A true miracle given that I had been sweeping the deck shortly before. It was truly unbelievable!
I took the loose stone and setting to a different jeweler who happens to be a family friend. He said that when the prongs were tipped they used an incompatible metal causing the metals to oxidize and eventually break. After examining the setting further he determined that it's not viable as it's pitted and the pave stones will likely fall out as well. The setting is in platinum and he said it should never happen unless it was cast improperly. He is going to recast the same setting that I love and reset the pave stones. The original setting only had 3 prongs which he said is typical for a pear set stone. He said that if done properly and brought in and checked every six months it should be fine. My question is that I am not sure I will ever be comfortable with only 3 prongs ever again. I'm not even sure I will wear it for fear of a repeat incident and that I will most likely never have the good fortune I was given this time.
So if it were you, would you have it reset with 3 prongs given that's what looks best for a pear shape stone, or would you opt for more prongs and a safer, yet less attractive setting? It's also a lesson to me that I will not ever wear it again until it's insured. A truly dumb move on my part for not having done so originally. I had "intended" to have it insured but never got around to it. You can believe I will now. I would appreciate the calm and unemotional thoughts of fellow forum members!
My husband bought me a beautiful 5 carat pear shaped diamond in a beautiful setting for our 20th anniversary 3 years ago. I have taken the ring back to the jeweler where he purchased it to have prongs checked and re-tipped every year. The jeweler has a very good reputation locally is is well known and respected in the community.
Last weekend my son and daughter-in-law were at our house for a cook out. I had been sweeping deck and working on dinner all evening. At dinner my daughter-in-law looked at me with horror and pointed at my ring. When I looked down I saw that the center stone was missing! She loves and admires the ring and told me she had seen the stone in the ring an hour before it went missing. So along with my other son, the 5 of us started the search with me feeling like it was a total lost cause. Low and behold my younger son spotted the stone in between the boards of the outside deck. A true miracle given that I had been sweeping the deck shortly before. It was truly unbelievable!
I took the loose stone and setting to a different jeweler who happens to be a family friend. He said that when the prongs were tipped they used an incompatible metal causing the metals to oxidize and eventually break. After examining the setting further he determined that it's not viable as it's pitted and the pave stones will likely fall out as well. The setting is in platinum and he said it should never happen unless it was cast improperly. He is going to recast the same setting that I love and reset the pave stones. The original setting only had 3 prongs which he said is typical for a pear set stone. He said that if done properly and brought in and checked every six months it should be fine. My question is that I am not sure I will ever be comfortable with only 3 prongs ever again. I'm not even sure I will wear it for fear of a repeat incident and that I will most likely never have the good fortune I was given this time.
So if it were you, would you have it reset with 3 prongs given that's what looks best for a pear shape stone, or would you opt for more prongs and a safer, yet less attractive setting? It's also a lesson to me that I will not ever wear it again until it's insured. A truly dumb move on my part for not having done so originally. I had "intended" to have it insured but never got around to it. You can believe I will now. I would appreciate the calm and unemotional thoughts of fellow forum members!
