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antique earring - prong repair help pls!

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
217
Hi PSrs. I need help and advice. I bought a pair of earrings that just arrived. Bought from a reputable source that gets mentioned here a bit. Upon closer inspection the prongs look like they are barely there on one earring. And generally looks like they need to be retipped. I've never retipped before.

I like the patina on the earring, will retipping affect this? can they match the 10k gold colour?

Will I loose the setting?
I wish the seller was able to tell me this in the online description and offer to help tip it ( I would have paid for it before it got here)

Sorry, I have shaky hands for the photos.

Should I return these earrings? if I'll loose the setting? would be a bother as I live in Canada and this is from the US (shipping/customs not cheap!) 20210120_234140.jpg
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
217
Hi PSrs. I need help and advice. I bought a pair of earrings that just arrived. Bought from a reputable source that gets mentioned here a bit. Upon closer inspection the prongs look like they are barely there on one earring. And generally looks like they need to be retipped. I've never retipped before.

I like the patina on the earring, will retipping affect this? can they match the 10k gold colour?

Will I loose the setting?
I wish the seller was able to tell me this in the online description and offer to help tip it ( I would have paid for it before it got here)

Sorry, I have shaky hands for the photos.

Should I return these earrings? if I'll loose the setting? would be a bother as I live in Canada and this is from the US (shipping/customs not cheap!) 20210120_234140.jpg


Oo and is it safe to wear like this? doesnt seem like the diamond is loose (yet).
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
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Jul 2, 2020
Messages
217
bump! can any one shed some light?
 
Joined
Sep 11, 2013
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2,496
Would you be able to get a couple of price quotes from local vendors to see: 1) what repair/restoration work may be needed, and 2) how much it'd cost? Or at least get 1 quote before the return period ends?
 

lovedogs

Super_Ideal_Rock
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18,029
Would you be able to get a couple of price quotes from local vendors to see: 1) what repair/restoration work may be needed, and 2) how much it'd cost? Or at least get 1 quote before the return period ends?

That's what I would suggest
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
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Jul 2, 2020
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217
thanks @AnastasiaBeaverhausen (love your name by the way lol), with COVID here in my province (in Canada) we are on a lock down, so nothing is open.

That's why I was wondering if this repair could be done. Have you had retipping done before?
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
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Does any one know if its hard to retip a buttercup setting?
 

VRBeauty

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I’ve paid anywhere from $10 to $40 per tip fo re-tipping. $10 was quite a while ago, $40 was fairly recent. But the jewelers I’ve worked with have used their per-tip price as a guide, then charged somewhat less than what that works out to to re-service the entire ring.

I’m a stickler for checking the rings I wear frequently, and having them professionally cleaned from time to time, to check for bad prongs. Years ago when my grandmother passed her to plus carat diamond onto my mother, she’d had it reset in a poor 4-prong Tiffany-style setting. My mother lost the stone out of that ring twice; fortunately, she was lucky enough to find it both times. She didn’t have it set in a more secure setting!
 
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Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
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I’ve paid anywhere from $10 to $40 per tip fo re-tipping. $10 was quite a while ago, $40 was fairly recent.

Thanks! Was yours an antique piece? did the finishing/patina get affected?
 
Joined
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thanks @AnastasiaBeaverhausen (love your name by the way lol), with COVID here in my province (in Canada) we are on a lock down, so nothing is open.

That's why I was wondering if this repair could be done. Have you had retipping done before?

I had a couple prongs retipped like, 3-4 years ago in California. I think I was charged about $40USD per prong for "normal" prongs. But it may have been in platinum...
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
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I had a couple prongs retipped like, 3-4 years ago in California. I think I was charged about $40USD per prong for "normal" prongs. But it may have been in platinum...

Thanks for your reply! Seems like retipping should be fairly easy, and doesnt seem like any cautions yet from the responses :)
 

Rfisher

Ideal_Rock
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are the diamonds actually loose In the settings?
if not - and the prongs needing to look true antique is important to you - i wouldn’t retip and just wear with caution and infrequently.
if you do have loose stones, and if the prongs needing to look antique (and 10k with patina) is important to you - ask to see previous work of the bench that is similar, before you proceed, and make your wishes well known.
I don’t seem to think what you are asking for will be in the $ range of retipping with modern looking prongs would be. If it’s even possible.

I too, wanted authentic looking -but safe and secure- tab like prongs on a retipping project. it didn’t happen. They are modern looking claws. not for my lack of asking nor providing pictures, though. I’m not quite sure if it was ever possible, at any cost.

hope you do find someone near you that can do this.
 
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Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
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are the diamonds actually loose In the settings?
if not - and the prongs needing to look true antique is important to you - i wouldn’t retip and just wear with caution and infrequently.
if you do have loose stones, and if the prongs needing to look antique (and 10k with patina) is important to you - ask to see previous work of the bench that is similar, before you proceed, and make your wishes well known.
I don’t seem to think what you are asking for will be in the $ range of retipping with modern looking prongs would be. If it’s even possible.

I too, wanted authentic looking -but safe and secure- tab like prongs on a retipping project. it didn’t happen. They are modern looking claws. not for my lack of asking nor providing pictures, though. I’m not quite sure if it was ever possible, at any cost.

hope you do find someone near you that can do this.

@Rfisher Thank you!! I really appreciate your response, and knowing your experience with retipping an antique piece- and end up with a modern tip.

So far, they don't seem loose, but I'm a bit scared to wear them. If it was a ring, I wouldn't wear it for sure, as its more dangerous to knock it loose. On the ears, seems like might be more safe.

Asking to see work from the bench isn't even something I thought about. I only thought about getting quotes.
Thanks again for this response! It really helps!
 

PreRaphaelite

Ideal_Rock
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I’m happy to have been tagged in this thread!

Have you cleaned them by soaking? The reason I ask is that sometimes there is debris resting between the prongs and stone, in older jewellery. Sometimes it is the only thing holding stones in place, and before you decide whether to keep or return, it’s good to know the full extent. I hope that makes sense.

If you decide to keep, one alternative to retipping a prong would be to have the stones set lower in their buttercup mounts. It would likely cost more, though.
 

VRBeauty

Super_Ideal_Rock
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are the diamonds actually loose In the settings?
if not - and the prongs needing to look true antique is important to you - i wouldn’t retip and just wear with caution and infrequently.

A great perspective. There’s a world of difference between how much abuse earrings take versus rings. (Although that does beg the question of how these prongs got so beat up in the first place!)

Also, your earrings have six prongs each, so they’re not as vulnerable to losing a stone as a 4-prong setting would be - as long as adjacent prongs aren’t damaged, of course!
 

LightBright

Brilliant_Rock
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Hmmm so that’s $500 minimum for the retpiping. Was the price of the settings plus diamonds reasonable? I’m wondering if you should ask the vendor for a rebate. If you got the settings essentially “free” then maybe you can pay to refurbish them. But I wouldn’t accept a pair of earrings that you can’t wear without risk, and that you have to make secure on your own dime. Unless they are incredibly unique and special and impossible to replace...
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
217
I’m happy to have been tagged in this thread!

Have you cleaned them by soaking? The reason I ask is that sometimes there is debris resting between the prongs and stone, in older jewellery. Sometimes it is the only thing holding stones in place, and before you decide whether to keep or return, it’s good to know the full extent. I hope that makes sense.

If you decide to keep, one alternative to retipping a prong would be to have the stones set lower in their buttercup mounts. It would likely cost more, though.

@PreRaphaelite omgosh. thanks for the tip. I didn't even think of cleaning it. Horrifying it could be held in but dust and grime! Thanks for letting me know!

And what a great idea to set it lower in the cup setting. I'll keep that in mind! Great suggestions!
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
217
Hmmm so that’s $500 minimum for the retpiping. Was the price of the settings plus diamonds reasonable? I’m wondering if you should ask the vendor for a rebate. If you got the settings essentially “free” then maybe you can pay to refurbish them. But I wouldn’t accept a pair of earrings that you can’t wear without risk, and that you have to make secure on your own dime. Unless they are incredibly unique and special and impossible to replace...

@LightBright yah getting it all retipped to match would be $$$
I'm not sure if it was a good price. but is a 1 ctw for h colour vs1/si1 old mine cut.
I'm not sure what the going rate should be. but it's a bit under 2k usd.

is that decent?

I wish the vendor disclosed too. :( but the stones are shiny and pretty. I guess I could get them to be just studs if all fails. but is that paying too much for a pair of diamonds?
 

PreRaphaelite

Ideal_Rock
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3,564
Resetting the stones should range from 50-100 depending on your jeweller, and while it would change the look of the earrings to a slightly more low-profile look than they were originally designed to look, if you love them, it could work.

Please add more photos if you can, especially close-ups of the prongs after soaking. Good luck!
 
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LightBright

Brilliant_Rock
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@LightBright yah getting it all retipped to match would be $$$
I'm not sure if it was a good price. but is a 1 ctw for h colour vs1/si1 old mine cut.
I'm not sure what the going rate should be. but it's a bit under 2k usd.

is that decent?

I wish the vendor disclosed too. :( but the stones are shiny and pretty. I guess I could get them to be just studs if all fails. but is that paying too much for a pair of diamonds?

I honestly haven‘t priced out antique diamonds recently. Your’s look like pretty antique cushions, and at H color 0.5 carat VS1 each, it sounds like a reasonable price to me. But if one is actually I1, that could change price. Maybe someone else can chime in.
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
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@PreRaphaelite Thanks! I'll try to clean it tonite to see. Finger crossed, hope it's not hanging by a thread!

@LightBright thanks! I'm new to old diamonds and the value. They are very sparkly and love the stone. looks Si1 to me. But I'm not a pro at this!
 

Polyhex

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Messages
550
I zoomed in on the photo, I think as earrings they are OK to wear as-is. IMO you are not going to lose a diamond without something smashing into your head with enough force to push a prong loose. In which case you would probably also be quite injured! :eek2: Just store them in a protected location like a box.

Adding - 10k gold is quite strong.
 

Cina_s

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
217
I zoomed in on the photo, I think as earrings they are OK to wear as-is. IMO you are not going to lose a diamond without something smashing into your head with enough force to push a prong loose. In which case you would probably also be quite injured! :eek2: Just store them in a protected location like a box.

Adding - 10k gold is quite strong.

@Polyhex Thanks for your reply! :) I actually Laughed out Loud when you said smashing my head. yes. I would be worried about my head more than the earrings should that happen.

Thank you for zooming in to check for me! I appreciate it! You are right 10k is pretty strong, I was only thinking of the 10K from a repair/colour match aspect, not the strenght. Hopefully Covid goes away soon enough, and I can still ask a few places for a quote on repair.

@PreRaphaelite I gave it a quick little scrub with an old tooth brush and tapped it lightly, seems like its not moving. but I was kinda late this morning to a meeting, so I will try again tonite.
 
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