A Q for everyone who has an e-ring set in plat.

[Blazingstarangel]

I''ve been searching around, looking for threads about platinum and diamonds in chlorine swimming pool water. So far I''ve found that platinum is okay, but bad things can happen to the solder and diamond''s polish.

To everyone with a platinum e-ring who likes to swim: Do you take your ring off everytime before you go in? And if you keep it on, have you noticed any effects/how do you fix them?

Also, does anyone know exactly WHAT happens to the solder? Does the diamond become permanently damaged or just need to be cleaned?

-Sarah

 

[canadiangrrl]

Can't answer your questions vis-a-vis the damage issue, but I can tell you that I took my ring off to swim a few weeks back. I don't wear it to do dishes, or in the shower, and I take it off every time I wash my hands. Not because of potential damage to the platinum, but because I'm paranoid about losing it, and it's about 1/4 size too big - gets really loose when my hands are wet.

I wouldn't wear it swimming if I were you. Too hard to fish it out from the filter.

 

[valeria101]

My rings do not swim well (and are YG).. but my platinum earrings are happy and well after a good number of dips in pool water (two years worth by now). Really nothing hapened. There is no way the polish of stones could be affected: where did you find that bit of wisedom?

 

[Mara]

I thought platinum could pretty much withsstand anything like that...esp if people use things like ammonia and other household items to clean their ring. Chlorine can't be that much worse if at all than something like Spic and Span! We don't swim in that.




Definitely will not affect diamond's polish.

 

[Blazingstarangel]

I read some posts about diamonds getting cloudy after swimming but nobody said if this was just something that needed to be cleaned and didn't affect the ring, and then I read somewhere else about the "polish" being affected (I can't remember where).

Okay so the thing is, I am a camp counselor, so this summer I will be swimming quite a few days of the week. I don't want to leave my ring at home (that would make me sad), but I also don't want to have to worry about someone stealing it from the side of a public pool. So I would wear it, maybe with a hair tie to hold it on my finger (depending on how loose it got).

But if my ring is going to look horrible after swimming with it, that will be really sad too. I didn't learn about the problem with the solder until today, that had never occurred to me before. I guess I figured the best way to figure out what I should do is see what other people are doing! So if anyone has had any experience with the solder changing, please post!

 

[Mara]

I'm sure you are more than fine to wear the ring in the pool. Just clean it when you get out.




Good luck.

 

[Manks]

... which reminds me of a funny story.

A few years ago, a girlfriend of mine (that wore contact lenses) and I went on holiday to a Portuguese villa complex. The complex had two pools (important that bit).

Second day she was swimming in one of the pools and she lost one of her very expensive contact lenses.

Annoyed at having lost a lense, she went to recption to see if they could check the pool filter later in the day to see if her lense was there.

The dialogue went like this:

Girlfriend: Hello, I have lost one of my contact lenses,
I wonder if you could help me? I was swimming in one of the pools when it went missing, could you check the filter?

Receptionist: Certainly madam, which one was it?

Girlfriend: The left one...


Think about it...

 

[fire&ice]

Hey Manks - she wasn't a rocket scientist I suppose. [:loo

That said, my platinum ring swims. I have noticed that when the droplets dry on the table they can be sort of cloudy. Nothing that a blow of breath & a towel can't cure.

 

[goldenringlets]

I've had my engagement ring for only two weeks, but I'm a pretty avid swimmer and have swum most days. One thing I can tell you is that the ring looks beautiful in the swimming pool! My jeweler looked shocked when I asked him if I could swim with it (but he also looked like he hadn't a day of exercise recently) and told me to take it off. I feel the risk of damage must be balanced by the risk of taking off one's ring and having it stolen.

Also, I think we need advice from a physical chemist. Surely the combination of chlorine and carbon must do something fairly predictable?

Where I wouldn't wear any jewelry is to a place like the Blue Lagoon in Iceland (anybody been there?) or other salty mineral baths where nothing, including jewelry and hair, come out the same color one goes in with.

Also, according to a magazine for people who have lost limbs to amputation, one should not swim in the sea with anything too shiny, so as to decrease the chance of a shark attack.....

Goldenringlets

 

[Blazingstarangel]

LOL!

Great stories! So then nothing happened to the solder either? Or does everyone else have an expensive ring without any soldering done at all to the head?

Any experts out there?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

If you can survive the chlorine, you will not have any problems with any jewellery

 

[goldenringlets]

OK-
Have a look at these sites....Basically, I'm going to continue wearing mine in the pool, albeit pinned inside my suit until it's resized to fit.

Some of these sites discuss chlorine bleach (with which some people apparently clean their rings). To have a ring not do well in chlorine bleach is not to say one ought not swim in it - your body wouldn't do very well in bleach either.

The last site asserts gold ought to be kept out of swimming pools, but that vodka is a good cleaning agent for jewelry. Do you think we ought to be swimming in vodka, instead?!?

Here are some excerpts from the various sites. The first, IMO, doesn't "hold water". For tap water to be associated with ring breakdown, these guys need to look at rings of people who remove them to wash-up. It's quite possible these rings, too, would show signs of wear.

http://www.daviesjewelry.com/Jewelry_tip.asp
http://www.jewelry1.com/CHLORINE.HTM
http://www.petersjewelers.com/petersjewelers/jewelcar.htm


"There is a small amount of chlorine in tap water that probably accounts for the fact that after long periods of time engagement ring prongs begin to break. This has erroneously been blamed on poor quality jewelry. In reality, it was due to the ring's long-term exposure to chlorine."


"Chlorine, as in bleach, household cleaners, pool, hot tub, and even drinking water will cause premature breakdown of karat gold jewelry. The lower the karat, the worse the effect. Platinum family metals are impervious and offer the best solution for long term durabilty.

"Chlorine reacts specifically with the copper and nickel portions of gold jewelry alloys. Copper and silver are the primary alloys for yellow gold and nickel is the primary alloy for white gold. Chlorine dissolves the copper, or in the case of a white gold mounting for a diamond the nickel, and causes a perfectly good and often new piece of jewelry to break."

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

What a load of rubbish.

I will take an old ring mount and put it in 1/2 bleach / 1/2 water and report back evcery few months

 

[newenglandgemlab]

Platinum should be welded and not soldered. If welded, you won't see any seams and not encounter any problems with chlorine. Some bench jewelers that may not be as talented working with platinum will opt to use a solder, but this is not the best way of doing it. Welding takes a lot more talent. Cindy

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I agree Cindy
But even so Cindy have you ever seen solder disolve or etched from swimming pool water?

I mean really - we leave rings in hot acid pickle baths overnight!!!
And if you get a tiny bit on your clothing it comes out all holey!!!

 

[newenglandgemlab]

Hi Gary,

I agree with you and would not give a hoot if this were my jewelry. The industry has frightened the public into believing this is really a 'serious' problem. Many handouts have been printed by the JA. You would have to be doing a lot of swimming to see any damage and your fingers would be well past the 'raisin stage'....Cindy

 

[Blazingstarangel]

That's really interesting, I didn't know that some rings were welded instead of soldered...I'm not sure which the one I'm getting shortly is, I'll have to call my jeweler today and see. I hope it's welded! Wish me luck!

 

[Blazingstarangel]

By the way, thanks for all the help everyone...you're awesome!

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 12/17/2003 6:48:25 AM newenglandgemlab wrote:

Hi Gary,

. You would have to be doing a lot of swimming to see any damage and your fingers would be well past the 'raisin stage'....Cindy

----------------

Yeah, I'm sure this is true. But, I do see the argument w/ minerals in tap water, not specifically chlorine. We have copper pipes & something in the water that has a small corrosive effect on the pipes. I suppose that could translate to jewelry; but, not to the point that I would change my behaviour.

 

[Groovy Chick]

Just wear ya jewellery, StarAngel. It will be fine. The WHOLE POINT of paying through the nose for platinum and diamonds is it's durability and longevity! If you're going to take it off, you might as well have a CZ set in tin! There's WAY too much risk in the long-term of habitually removing your ring for ANY reason. It could be years from now, but one day it will be gone. A colleague of mine got engaged a month ago and she's lost her ring already. Took it off, and put it in her pocket. It's gone to ring heaven i'm afraid. I have a lovely diamond solitaire in platinum and have been swimming with it. It never leaves my body!




BTW, Cut Nut, there's a polite way to disagree with someone. You ought to respect others' opinions regardless of whether or not you agree with them.

 

[canadiangrrl]

Groovy Chick, I didn't find Garry's comments to be at all impolite - it's merely his sense of the absurd that's coming through. If you're going to stick around, better get used to the Aussie sense of humour, luv.

I imagine that Garry, suitably chastened, will now skulk off to the nearest tavern and drown his sorrows...

 

[aljdewey]

awwwww......that's alright, Garry ......




We get your sense of humor

 

[Groovy Chick]

I just felt that it was a little unnecessary and condescending to write "what a load of rubbish" to goldenringlet's post. His opinion is no more important than hers.

 

[canadiangrrl]

Groovy Chick, my take is that Garry's comments were directed specifically towards the validity of the information Goldenringlets posted, obtained from other websites - not towards her, personally.

And I'd let Garry speak for himself, but I believe he's crying into his Foster's somewhere, and therefore currently unavailable.

 

[Mara]

HaHa....I love Garry's forthrightness and am sure GR knew he was talking not about her but about the foolish person who gave her that information.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Absolutely right folks!

I certainly did not intend to criticise GR - those comments were reported - not stated as her opinion. i can be very direct and use fewer gentle words - but only about an issue, not a person.

I like people

 

[pyramid]

Yes, like Mara I like the direct way that Garry puts things into words. You know there is no BS with him and know what is being used by dealers towards the public in order to scaremonger them into using their services.

 

[Groovy Chick]

That's cool, Cut Nut. BTW, i must say i'm rather impressed by the number of posts you and some of the other 'postees' have to your name. Mara has over 4,000! How many years have you guys been here?




Anyway, back to StarAngel's topic... The more i think about, the more i have to laugh. It's like those people who buy expensive things like leather lounge suites then leave the plastic cover on so it doesn't get marked. Honestly, chicky, leave that ring on 24/7 and enjoy every minute of it, coz it will outlast YOU!