Near disaster - Avoid future repeat?

Thank you! My younger son took the picture of our "deck fox" that used to come around. He entered it in a 3rd grade art contest and won his category :smile: He's almost 21 now so it's a sentimental photo!

PS this is the same deck that my diamond was lodged between two boards!
wow
you must live in the country?
we live in so cal.....now in a sorta country property. but when we lived in a regular suburban neighborhood with a quarter acre, we had two foxes in our yard. only saw them once. we'd been out of town and they must have known that and made themselves comfortable
 
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wow
you must live in the country?
we live in so cal.....now in a sorta country property. but when we lived in a regular suburban neighborhood with a quarter acre, we had two foxes in our yard. only saw them once. we'd been out of town and they must have known that and made themselves comfortable
I live in suburban Chicago, about 45 miles away and a couple of weeks ago I was looking at my outdoor camera and saw a fox walk up my sidewalk, look at my porch and leave through the hostas, and I had just been out there looking (as ALWAYS) for my newspaper. The wildlife is definitely moving back in.
 
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I live in suburban Chicago, about 45 miles away and a couple of weeks ago I was looking at my outdoor camera and saw a fox walk up my sidewalk, look at my porch and leave through the hostas, and I had just been out there looking (as ALWAYS) for my newspaper. The wildlife is definitely moving back in.
I love to see wildlife (coyotes not so much). we used to see lots of possoms and some skunks at the old house. here lots of ground squirrels (eating our plants), rabbit and birds - roadrunners, quail :smile:
 
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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!
I believe that lessons in life will be repeated until learned. So if I were in your shoes, I will have it insured first. And second, I will opt to have more prongs for safety.
 
Have you thought about putting it in a bezel setting? It it were me, I would pave the bezel and make it east-west. How cool would that be?!!!
I have thought about the bezel setting as well. I'm not sure about east west though. Probably a bit to radical for me, but certainly an interesting idea :smile: I looked at a Tiffany watch in east west and decided it would drive me nuts!
 
wow
you must live in the country?
we live in so cal.....now in a sorta country property. but when we lived in a regular suburban neighborhood with a quarter acre, we had two foxes in our yard. only saw them once. we'd been out of town and they must have known that and made themselves comfortable
We do live in a rural mountain setting. We see all sorts of wildlife here. Unfortunately the fox have disappeared. It is rumored that they succumbed to a mange outbreak. Sad to have lost them, but not sad the coyotes went the same way!
 
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I live in suburban Chicago, about 45 miles away and a couple of weeks ago I was looking at my outdoor camera and saw a fox walk up my sidewalk, look at my porch and leave through the hostas, and I had just been out there looking (as ALWAYS) for my newspaper. The wildlife is definitely moving back in.
I have pictures of this same fox sleeping on our lounge chair! He all but moved in for a while. Came back several years in a row!
 
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What does your new jeweler recommend? I think you should wear and enjoy your ring, and if the three prong setting makes this impossible, I’d have it mounted in a sturdier setting with the additional prongs.
 
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As a jeweler, I would never recommend setting a stone that large in three prongs. Six is definitely the way to go, with a V prong for the tip. Also having prongs retipped repeatedly is not safe for the jewelry. To retip prongs heat has to be applied, every time heat is applied to the ring air bubble form in the metal on a microscopic level. It’s called porosity and it’s why you don’t what to do numerous repairs or resizings on a ring- because you ultimately make the ring brittle. Prongs should only be retipped when absolutely necessary and platinum prongs should not need to be retipped for several years unless they caught on something significant in accident type circumstances, definitely shouldn’t be needed from standard daily wear.
 
As a jeweler, I would never recommend setting a stone that large in three prongs. Six is definitely the way to go, with a V prong for the tip. Also having prongs retipped repeatedly is not safe for the jewelry. To retip prongs heat has to be applied, every time heat is applied to the ring air bubble form in the metal on a microscopic level. It’s called porosity and it’s why you don’t what to do numerous repairs or resizings on a ring- because you ultimately make the ring brittle. Prongs should only be retipped when absolutely necessary and platinum prongs should not need to be retipped for several years unless they caught on something significant in accident type circumstances, definitely shouldn’t be needed from standard daily wear.
Interesting...thank you!
I have seen 6 prong studs for a long time now...stylish yet functional. 5 tcw is a large enough stone to accommodate more metal. Do it!
 
Wow, what a story and I’m so glad you found it.
I agree re everyone’s super-helpful advice and only wanted to add that I have been very happy with Jewelers Mutual insuring my important pieces.
They are easy to work with, I always get a helpful real person who is knowledgeable and they have been around forever.
In addition, I find I enjoy my big pieces much much more and wear them more frequently and without stress...the way it should be!
As soon as you fax them the appraisal, you are good to go and enjoy!!
(PS- I am only a happy customer and have no other interest in their business!)