Platinum ring resizing help!

[lucckyone]

I just received a Platinum 3 stone engagement ring. It is a quarter of a size too big (size is currently 4.75 but would like it to be 4.5 to stop the spinning and make it tighter) so I want to get it resized. I do not want to do the "traditional" resizing where the jeweler cuts out the platinum to make it smaller. I was advised against a plastic ring guard (no good) and a metal ring guard (even worse n will leave marks).
As mentioned by a jeweler, my only other option is to get it "soldered" or "welded".
Can someone please explain this process to me? Is "soldering" a removable piece of metal that can be removed later in case of me swelling (pregnancy, etc)? I''m mainly concerned with the removal of any platinum and want to make sure "soldering" or "welding" will not do this. Plus knowing the process will help me visualize.

Thank you very much. I appreciate any and all help you can provide!

 

[MissAva]

There is another option where they place small balls of metal inside the ring and that keeps it from turning on your finger, this is great for those of us with bigger knuckles and thinner fingers.

 

[mrssalvo]

I think they solder a bar in the bottom of the ring. your talking 1/4 of a size which is not very much. once the bar is removed i would assume they will repolish it and it will look as good as new when it''s returned to you. If the spinning bothers you, why don''t you want to get it sized to fit you correctly? do your fingers swell in hot weather, in the morning or other various times? Then the bar would still be tight just as if the ring were smaller. for me personally, my ring size did not change at all for either of my pregnancies so I wore my rings the whole time. i know some women who wear their ring on a chain necklace while they are pregnant. As long as you don''t have some type of eternity band they can resize it in small increments without much problem.

 

[FireGoddess]

Here's a thread on sizing beads (and bars) that may help you out.

Here's a link with pictures that explains the sizing beads process.

 

[mrssalvo]

Firegoddess, thanks for posting those links. I had never seen the butterfly spring that Dave showed. that looks like something that i would like if there ever was a need.

 

[denverappraiser]

You''re quite right that the traditional method of sizing a ring is to cut out a small piece at the back center and then weld the two sides together. In your case, the piece would need to be approx 0.5mm wide. Adding a bars, knobs, butterflies and the like will effectively make the ring too small for you so it will be necessary to size it up first by inserting a piece of platinum at that same spot in the back center.

The difference between welding and soldering is that in soldering a different alloy of platinum is used that has a slightly lower melting point to make the seam. For sizing type jobs, it''s almost always welded, where the same metal is used.

Why is it a problem to remove a small piece of metal?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver