A Prong in Time

It’s been a while since I’ve ranted about folks who don’t maintain their precious pieces of jewelry. Now that I have lots of time on my hands, I’ll be relentless (I’m still telling myself I’m sorta kinda retired). I admit I’m enjoying this pseudo-retirement thing, at least for now. If I do come in, I come in late and then leave early to make up for my coming in late. I have tried to be on a maybe I’ll come in, maybe not basis, only my daughter Lindsay keeps reminding me, “ It’s season you have to at least make an appearance even if it’s only for a couple of hours, I need you here, it’s busy!! "

When I am in, I’m still finding lots of needlessly expensive repairs being performed in the busy workshop. I employ two bench jewelers (or goldsmiths), so when things get really busy, I grace them with my presence and help out. That makes three cooks in the kitchen, so to say, three goldsmiths in the shop is a good thing when you are up to your elbows in repair work.

Only recently, a woman came in traumatized by the loss of her two-carat diamond. When I inspected the mounting that held the diamond, all but one prong remained on her six-prong setting. The suction of the grime was all that was literally holding the diamond in until the inevitable happened. That could have easily been avoided.

The incoming job repair envelopes contain lots of rings missing diamonds here and there; most of these are not traumatic life-threatening replacements but occasionally some are, especially when the important center diamond or precious stone has jumped out of your setting to places unknown without you being aware of its departure. Trust me, there were many red flags telling you in advance it was leaving. A quick lesson about Jewelry 101: diamonds and precious gemstones are not “glued in” any kind of fine jewelry (it’s true glue is used mostly in costume jewelry, pearls without prongs holding them in jewelry are sometimes glued to a post). Gems are held in with prongs, flat work beads, or bezels. Whatever the means of holding the gem, a prong, for example, they can wear down or crack and/or break off. On your average four-prong setting even one lost prong can lead to stone loss - that’s the main reason we suggest a six-prong setting for diamond engagement rings. Even bezels that surround a gem with a wall of metal instead of a prong(s) can wear in time, especially if the bezel is 18 karat yellow gold.

Most prongs, even if in a yellow gold ring, should be white gold; yellow gold prongs wear or bend quicker if worn daily because they are not as strong to absorb wear and tear like white gold does.

White gold has silver and sometimes a nickel alloy added to 24kt. gold to make it white like platinum. Although the two metals are not related, they look alike. By the way, there is no such thing as a “white gold mine”.

First thing to perform is a prong roll call: are all prongs present and accounted for? Many of you will find one or more missing in action; that’s not a good thing, especially if it leads to a total loss. Prongs can be re-tipped and replaced. If they are all shot and worn down to nothing, the head component (four or six-prong unit) can be replaced totally to be like new. If you have been wearing the ring since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, or it’s a family heirloom worn by several generations, there is most likely going to be severe wear to the setting and the prongs.

Simple maintenance. This also goes for most everything made from precious metal, and recently, due to the current “metal madness,” silver has now joined the ranks of being valuable jewelry. Clasps on chains and bracelets, including earring screw backs, can wear, internal steel springs rust out and the clasp fails (pool and salt water only speed up the degrading of steel whether stainless or not!). Earring backs should fit snug and tight; loose-fitting is a guaranteed loss someday. Replacing a missing important diamond stud that could have been prevented can be an expensive ordeal matching the other today.

The bottom of your ring is the lower shank. Check it for extreme wear. I have seen ladies' rings where the bottom was almost as thin as a horsehair and she wondered why it broke. Tennis bracelets are a constant problem with wear because of the number of movable links; they tend to break by the clasp although wearing the bracelet 24/7 can cause wear throughout the entire bracelet. Link repairing of a tennis bracelet is also costly if more than one needs attention.

Best way to test for wear is to place the bracelet flat on a table. Now grab both ends and slowly try to make a circle while still flat on the table - don’t force it! If it nearly completes a circle or tighter, you have serious wear on the links; if the bracelet is still a bit stiff, that’s a good sign of low wear.

Wear on the jump ring or bail on medals and charms, or any pendant for that matter, is a common problem. That St. Christopher medal Grandma gave you at your confirmation and that you have cherished for all these years could fall off if the jump ring is worn to a hair. Even worse, if the rings holding the catch fail, you could lose the whole chain and all…examine it for wear and tear!

Loss of your cherished jewelry can be avoided if you have your pieces inspected by your local jeweler or us, The Harbor Goldsmith. Periodically, we will even clean it free of charge (there is a small charge for “The Full Monty,” a complete cleaning and polishing service that includes a boil out and full polishing to remove tarnish and scratches, leaving your jewelry looking like the day you got it).

A prong in time would have saved that woman who lost her diamond…a cool $25,000.