What hardness for everyday jewelry

[Trafford69]

I bought some tourmaline and garnet for my wife to get mounted in either a ring or necklace. The local jeweler said that since the stones are soft he wants to mount them in platinum to keep the settings from getting loose and dropping the stones. His costs are killer and the custom designed mountings are 5 times the cost of the gems. He makes all of his own settings and his price seems to reflect that.

How hard does a stone need to be to be OK in a standard gold mount?

His comments have me concentrating on stones that are 8 or 9 in hardness and that really limits my selection.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RockHugger]

There is no reason why tourmaline and garnet cannot be mounted in gold. The whole "it needs to be set in platinum because it may fall out in gold" crud is just a sales pitch to charge more for the more expensive material. The lower the kt gold the stronger it is. 10kt being the strongest, and 24kt being the softest. If you are concerned about settings comming loose (if he does his job right, it shouldnt come loose even in 24kt gold!!) then get it set in 10kt gold. I would never set a tourmaline or garnet in platinum anyway inless it has special meaning, or a *high* quality paraiba tourmaline or russian demantoid garnet that deserves platinum prices.

Millions of people around the world have there very very expensive diamonds set in gold...most have no problem what so ever (again, the quality of the jewelers work is important). His sales techniques sound a bit shady to me, and I would be getting second opinions and quotes!

 

[Jim Rentfrow]

I would confirm what RockHugger said. My ex has a 16 carat tourmaline and an 8 carat tourmaline both set in gold and she has had no problems. She has worn one or the other almost everyday for the last three years.

 

[Arcadian]

It would depend on the wearer in many cases. Gold is fine for most rings. I''ve got tourmaline set in gold and I wear them with no problems. Same with garnets (heck I wear sphene for crying out loud!!)

If your wife is hard on her jewelery, you may want to consider necklaces and earrings instead of rings. However, as long as she''s not playing football or wearing them while gardening, she should be fine with most stones in a ring. Its only those stones that are below a Moh''s of 6 that can be cause for worry in most of the population.


-A

 

[sphenequeen]

The real question to keep in mind is what is your wife''s preference, yellow metal or white metal? It sounds to me like this particular jeweler may be imposing his aesthetic onto you. If yellow gold is what you want to work with, go for it!

 

[RockHugger]

You can also get white gold if the platinum prices are what bother you but want white metal.

 

[empress]

Or you could use palladium.

 

[movie zombie]

14k or 18k gold will be just fine. 22k or higher and you run the risk of a just wrong blow at just the wrong time and place creating enough pressure that the stone will pop out. but 18k gold will be just fine. find yourself another vendor/jeweler.

mz

 

[ma re]

Many good points have already been made in the posts above. If the workmanship is of the highest of standards, it doesen''t matter if it''s silver, gold or platinum. Sure, each of these metals has it''s unique characteristics and limitations in terms of using it in jewellery, but that''s why we have a wide range of alloys for different uses and a good goldsmith will know which alloy is the most suitable for which piece to assure maximum wearability and durability. I wouldn''t say that low karatages of gold are stronger than higher karatages, it''s all a bit more complex than that. The higher the purity of gold (the higher the karat mark), less strong it is in terms of maintaining it''s shape, but it''s also less likely to break. Instead, the force that would usually make the piece break upon impact, will, in case of high karat gold, probably just make it bend and lose shape, but not actually break. Lower purities however, maintain their shape better, but the same force that will only bend the high karat gold piece, will cause the low karat piece to literally break. So each has it''s advantages and is better for certain types of designs.

I would agree with what he said about gemstone durability however, that you should use those that are at least 8 on the hardness scale for an everyday ring. It''s because we sometimes don''t think about the jewellery that we wear while doing everyday activities, and if you forget that you''re wearing a somewhat fragile gemstone in a ring, there''s a great risk of damage. Of course, if it''s an affordable and easy to replace stone than you have no worries, and if it''s a necklace, the gemstone hardness really doesen''t matter (Queen Elizabeth regularly wears pearl necklaces for daily activities and they''re very nice even after many years of wear).

 

[chrono]

Date: 2/19/2010 4:23:38 AM
Author: ma re
Many good points have already been made in the posts above. If the workmanship is of the highest of standards, it doesen''t matter if it''s silver, gold or platinum. Sure, each of these metals has it''s unique characteristics and limitations in terms of using it in jewellery, but that''s why we have a wide range of alloys for different uses and a good goldsmith will know which alloy is the most suitable for which piece to assure maximum wearability and durability. I wouldn''t say that low karatages of gold are stronger than higher karatages, it''s all a bit more complex than that. The higher the purity of gold (the higher the karat mark), less strong it is in terms of maintaining it''s shape, but it''s also less likely to break. Instead, the force that would usually make the piece break upon impact, will, in case of high karat gold, probably just make it bend and lose shape, but not actually break. Lower purities however, maintain their shape better, but the same force that will only bend the high karat gold piece, will cause the low karat piece to literally break. So each has it''s advantages and is better for certain types of designs.

I would agree with what he said about gemstone durability however, that you should use those that are at least 8 on the hardness scale for an everyday ring. It''s because we sometimes don''t think about the jewellery that we wear while doing everyday activities, and if you forget that you''re wearing a somewhat fragile gemstone in a ring, there''s a great risk of damage. Of course, if it''s an affordable and easy to replace stone than you have no worries, and if it''s a necklace, the gemstone hardness really doesen''t matter (Queen Elizabeth regularly wears pearl necklaces for daily activities and they''re very nice even after many years of wear).

I agree with Ma Re on the characteristics of various metals (14K, 18K and PT). Therefore, I do not see any issue of setting your tourmaline and garnet in 14K gold over platinum for your application. I had a tourmaline in a white gold ring with no issues even after several years. I am currently in the process of resetting my garnet from a white gold ring into a platinum ring only because I felt the stone deserve it. The white gold setting was only a temporary mount but held up very well. The stone was never loose at any time. As for the hardness issue, for an everyday wear ring, I agree that you should stay above 8 MOH, but if for a pendant, it doesn’t matter as much because the risk of damage is extremely low due to where it is worn on the body.

 

[Stone Hunter]

I agree with all of the above PSers!

8 and above still leaves you with Spinel, Chrysoberyl, Sapphire, and Diamond!

Many different colors and shades to choose from in those stones. Pink, Green, Yellow, Blue, etc.

If she wears the ring just a couple of times a week she can have the garnet and tourmaline set in rings.

HTH

 

[Trafford69]

Wow!!!! Great discussion!!!!

I really wondered about some of his claims. THe guy is a custom jeweler that designs and makes all of the jewelry he sells including the settings. He is a goldsmith, I guess. He designs it amd molds the metal into the settings. I realize that that takes a lot of time and talent but for me it is hard to justify the cost when you are getting the stones at such good prices. I just cannot justify spending five times the cost of the stones on the settings. Perhaps I am just unfamiliar with the price structure of jewelry. My wife loves his designs and they are very nice and absolutely unique but so is the price. I love giving business to local craftsman but I do have to draw the line somewhere. Money is not an unlimited resource for me. I would feel a lot better if I had some others that offer the same services so I can make some comparisons.

Once agian thank you for the great discussion. I now have a lot of things to think about.

Who are the reasonable dealers to use to get stones set? What are the considerations? I don''t think the gems I have purchased are calibrated but I am not sure how much of an impact that really has,

Once agian any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Gailey]

Yawn, another prima-donna jeweller. This one has a "job-lot" of platinum out back.

Trafford, I'm not being disrespectful to you, these boards are full of "Jeweller" stories in a similar vein. Do yourself a favour and do a search for "Julia Kay Taylor" or "JKT" on this forum, and you will find stunning work in both silver and gold. She won't fleece you either.

Julia Kay Taylor

 

[Trafford69]

Gailey,

I appreciate your comments. I feel the same way but I am also torn because I have no problem rewarding a craftsman for his work. I do believe you get what you pay for and I am not afraid to buy quality. I also do not like to be over-charged for a BS stroy. To me there is no reason for that. Just play it straight and let me make the decision. I am in Pittsburgh and there are not a lot of choices for jewelers. The jemstones dealers I have found on this site have been exceptional. I have had great expereinces and great prices from Gemline, Art Cut Gems and AC Stones. These folks conduct themselves with honor and I will reward them as often as possible with my business.

I will check out Julia Kay Taylor as you suggested.

All I ask for is a fair shake. I will respond to that with my business including quick payment and patience when I have problems. I am also not shy about recommending good vendors to others, both online and personally. I appreciate all the responses and the information this site has provided. The information I get here helps me separate those with integrity and honor from those that will say anything to make a profit.

I will proclaim to everyone right now that I will not hesitate to buy from AC Stones, Art Cut Gems or Gemline again. I will give them the greatest compliment that I can. They conduct themselves with honor and are trustworthy business people. I plan to purchase from them again. In fact, I will be making my second purchase from Gemline this week, just two weeks after my first purchase.

Hats off to Pricescope for providing gem and jewelry buyers with a great resource to help make good decisions.

 

[T L]

Date: 2/18/2010 5:23:04 PM
Author:Trafford69
I bought some tourmaline and garnet for my wife to get mounted in either a ring or necklace. The local jeweler said that since the stones are soft he wants to mount them in platinum to keep the settings from getting loose and dropping the stones. His costs are killer and the custom designed mountings are 5 times the cost of the gems. He makes all of his own settings and his price seems to reflect that.

How hard does a stone need to be to be OK in a standard gold mount?

His comments have me concentrating on stones that are 8 or 9 in hardness and that really limits my selection.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many jewelers are afraid to set stones that are softer than sapphire or diamond, and this might be his issue too, but he doesn''t want to admit it. Look at his pieces, are they only diamonds and sapphires or rubies?