Advice please, I''m freaking out!

[Rowan]

My diamond solitaire is loose. It will actually spin around! A few months ago I had a bent prong but the stone was not loose at the time. Got it fixed, it''s been fine for a few months. Now this. None of the prongs even looks bent. Okay, so the ring is platinum and I always thought platinum was stronger than gold, only to learn it''s relatively soft. My question is, will this problem persist? Also, how many times can you have platinum prongs fixed before they give out on you? I''m just so worried and now I have to go without my ring again until it''s fixed.

 

[Mara]

I had a new stone set into an old head previously and found that my prongs kept loosening around the diamond. I had to get them tightened every few months (took all of 2 minutes at my local jeweler...they did it while I waited)...I think it was because the new diamond was a TINY bit smaller than the old one and sometimes metals have something called metal memory...when they may remember the way they were before and try to move back to that position? Did you used to have another stone in this head or was a modification made to the prongs recently?

Good luck....it may persist but I suggest finding someone to check the prongs every few months locally--really it only takes a minute or two. And it will help prevent anything big from happening where you would need to be without your ring.

Oh and don't freak out.

 

[bluedawg]

Ack, Rowan, I''m sorry to hear of your trouble. At least you noticed it before it was too late!

I''m a bit perplexed as to the reason since I wore a 6-prong platinum Tiffany-style seting for 11 years and only once did I ever have a "very slightly loose" prong. I think I''m pretty rough on my rings, too (3 kids and a "hands-on" occupation to boot) and never took them off except for mowing the grass.

What type of setting do you have? And do you find that you bang the ring around at all?

 

[Rowan]

Mara, that''s interesting. Hmm.. No, this is a new ring, original stone, I''ve had it not quite a year.

Bluedawg, it''s a four prong cathedral setting. It does sit a bit high, but I am not hard on my jewelry. I take it off whenever I do anything where I think it might get dinged. Not that I don''t hit it once in awhile, I''ve got three kids too.

But I always check the stone.

Thanks, I hope my jeweler can fix me right up tomorrow.

 

[headlight]

I like Mara''s theory, but since you said that everything is original it wouldn''t explain it in this case.
As to prongs coming loose, that is so strange to me because in all FIVE settings I''ve had over the past almost 16 years, I''ve never had this happen!
If you have had this ring less than a year with two problems already, I would seriously speak to the jeweler that sold it to you about getting things changed out.

 

[WinkHPD]

Discuss your concerns with your jeweler, I do not think you have anything to worry about and your platinum prongs should last for a LONG time, much longer than gold prongs would. It would not be necessary for you to bang your hand hard enough to notice to loosen a prong should it be struck just right. It would take a lot of force to bend it enough to release the stone or break the prong.

If you are nervous however, you might consider having them put it in a six prong head, that is always more secure, requiring that you break or bend at least two prongs to loose the stone. (I am assuming you have a round stone.)

Wink

 

[allan creates]

There are three reasons why this is happening.

1-A well set stone should only be 1/3 into the prong, half way and beyond tends to weaken the prongs and could never be tightened to last , some cover up a poor setting job by leaving a blob of metal over the stone to make it look strong but the strength is in what is left on the outside of the prong not over the stone.

If number 1 is your case and it is set high enough you might have them reset the stone lower down and not cut so much metal away for the seat of the stone.
Otherwise have new prongs done and have it properly set as the way it is now it will always give you trouble.

2- The prongs are too thin for the length they are.
( Diamond set too high)

3- They could be the right proportions but if they were cast as opposed to hand made compressed and hand drawn wire, they could be too soft, (When not heated enough during the casting process), some even crumble if the platinum is a bad casting, that is why prongs sometimes fall off there are some platinum castings that are no good yet the same metal reworked by hand in the rollers compressed to squeeze all the molecules together is good to use. Casting is too widely used and can give lots of grief.

Allan Creates
ringlock.com

 

[Rowan]

Thank you all so much! I am taking it in today to see what''s what. I feel better just having some advice here at ps.

I only spun the stone once, accidently when I discovered it was loose and it freaked me out, so I didn''t do that again.

Thank you!

 

[Rowan]

I went to the jeweler and he tightened my prongs but told me they will probably keep coming loose because of the flexibility of the platinum and the way the head of the ring is made. He recommended having a new head put on with more stable prongs so I think that''s what I''ll do.