Can my ring be repaired?

[february2003bride]

I picked up my ring this afternoon from my local jeweler who had soldered my wedding band and e-ring together. When I got home I saw that one side of the cathedral was now lower than the other side. I called the jeweler immediately and they told me to bring it back on. Friday. Looking at the photo, can my ring be fixed? Thank you!

 

[SpencerDane]

It looks to me like it could be repaired. They would need to cut where the cathedral is attached and then raise it slightly and solder it back in place. However, it might be more noticeable having that done than wearing it as is. I would have it looked at by more than one professional jeweler before I would let that same jeweler try to repair it.

 

[february2003bride]

Thank you, Spencer! I should have also posted a top photo. It's not a plain platinum cathedral but rather a diamond cathedral. Do you think the ring is still repairable?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I don't see that soldering the two rings together would have anything to do with the cathedral part of the e-ring. It must have been that way from the start? How long have you had it?

 

[february2003bride]

I don't see that soldering the two rings together would have anything to do with the cathedral part of the e-ring. It must have been that way from the start? How long have you had it?

Hi DS! I've only had the ring for two weeks and it was definitely not like that when I dropped it off at the jewelers. Here are a couple of photos I took a few days before I took it to the jewelers to be soldered together. I didn't notice the cathedral arm at the jewelers. When I got home and was showing my DH, maybe an hour after I picked it up?- did I notice the damage. I just got my set back from the jeweler yesterday afternoon.

 

[tyty333]

Is this the same jeweler where you bought the setting or a different jeweler?

 

[february2003bride]

Different jeweler. The e-ring and wedding band are from Blue Nile.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gosh, I can't figure that out. Soldering is usually done at the bottom of the rings so I can't for the life of me see how they managed to do that! But they need to fix it or cover the cost of new ones!

 

[Rockinruby]

I'm not sure how they did that, but hopefully they can repair it Asap. Your rings are lovely!

 

[rockysalamander]

This is not anywhere near normal for a soldering. It looks to me that they overheated the entire ring when soldering (WTF). When the metal was hot, the solder where the shank and gallery meet released (and maybe the hot metal of the shank was shifted out of place (back and down relative to this angle of view). Bad workmanship. Also, it may have caused the pave diamonds to be at risk.

I used a drawing program to add some horizontal and vertical lines on got the ring images similar in size. In spite of the images rotation being a little different, you can really see the problem...they positioned the left cathedral bar too low and maybe a bit too far back (relative to this image). That compressed the V where the cathedral bar and shank meet. I also wonder if the entire prong-head is not shifted a bit left.



I would be unlikely to let the jeweler who made the mistake repair it...

 

[bcavitt]

I asked our in house shop foreman about this he is convinced that too much heat was used to solder the rings at the top and it caused the metal at the top. He also said that due to the apparent distortion (he would have to see it to be 100% sure) of the metal the ring should be remade.

 

[WinkHPD]

I have been hoping that you would take a well lit picture of the ring from both sides, like the quality of the one on your finger. The cathedral is obviously not as it was and it would be nice to see a well lit photo so that we can see if other parts of the ring also display damage.

Wink

 

[Bron357]

Oh my, you poor thing. That work is disgraceful. Have you shown the manager or owner or person in charge the "before and after" photos side by side. I would suggest the ring needs to be remade completely. I might be wrong, but I believe you can only re heat and re work a gold setting "so much" before it loses integrity. It's as if the heating caused one side of the cathedral prongs to "droop", I can't imagine how else one side has managed to drop unless it was "cut and re joined". Even a half blind person could see that the two sides, in profile, aren't even a close match. How the jeweller could even present your ring back to you looking like that thinking it was acceptable? My goodness. I'm sure the ring can be fixed, but it's going to cost money and someone else has to do it. The jeweller responsible for such a botched job should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[distracts]

This is not anywhere near normal for a soldering. It looks to me that they overheated the entire ring when soldering (WTF). When the metal was hot, the solder where the shank and gallery meet released (and maybe the hot metal of the shank was shifted out of place (back and down relative to this angle of view). Bad workmanship. Also, it may have caused the pave diamonds to be at risk.

I used a drawing program to add some horizontal and vertical lines on got the ring images similar in size. In spite of the images rotation being a little different, you can really see the problem...they positioned the left cathedral bar too low and maybe a bit too far back (relative to this image). That compressed the V where the cathedral bar and shank meet. I also wonder if the entire prong-head is not shifted a bit left.



I would be unlikely to let the jeweler who made the mistake repair it...

Yeah, that's the only thing I can think - got everything waaaay too hot and melted it. The very first time I was soldering a ring together I did that and it had a similar squished look. I don't think there's a way to repair it other than having the entire ring remade. I would arrange for the shop to cover the cost of Blue Nile doing it.

 

[Aurora43]

To me it even looks like the right side of the cathedral may be a bit shrunken down too. How could they not notice this when they finished working on the ring? I hope this does not mean they are dishonest and will give you a hassle about paying for the ring to be remade.

 

[february2003bride]

Update: I'm so frustrated. I went back to the jeweler Friday morning. They apologized and said that they could fix it easily while I wait, about 10 minutes. They brought my ring out, and it looked fine but they said that they question the 950PT alloy (it's stamped PT950). I said it was from Blue Nile and that I had never had any problems with their platinum. The jeweler said that my metal was very soft and they wanted me to bring it in every 6 months to be safe. I left and was at a red light down the street and saw that they head was slanted forward! I turned around and showed them the head. The head bench came out and said that they didn't touch the head and it must have been like that since I received the ring from Blue Nile (which I disagreed with vehemently) but they insisted I leave my set with them to fix the head, free of charge. The promised that the set would look new again and would be ready by 12pm today.

I called before I headed over and the head bench person got on the phone with me to list her concerns with the setting. She insisted that none of the damage was done by them but that they were able to get my ring looking perfect again. Their concerns were 1) they question the 950PT alloy 2) that when they were cleaning my ring this morning 3 pave diamonds popped out but they were able to repair them 3) that the PT head was not something they did but they were able to fix it, but they question the quality. They suggested I come back in two weeks for them to look the ring over again. I went in and it seemed to look repaired. Now that I'm home, the diamond still looks a bit off center. And this is with me NOT louping it.

I've already put so much money into this set that I really don't want to go somewhere else (And I'm totally regretting my decision to not go to Quest Jewelers as I'm sure this wouldn't have happened) to pay again for repairs. This jeweler is an established, well rated, highly respected jeweler in my area. Not a chain, quick turn around store. I do have insurance with Perfect Circle/ Jewelers Mutual on the ring but would it apply to this case? I honestly don't know what to do here. I've had the ring since November 11th and week and of that was spent at the jewelers being soldered to my wedding band/repaired due to this fiasco.

I'll try to take new photos of the ring.

Thank you all. I really appreciate your advice.

 

[distracts]

They really just need to pay for a new setting from Blue Nile for you. I don't know whether I'd want to make a claim on insurance, but if you have documented all this jeweler's errors it may be that the insurance will go after them for the money (somebody who knows better how they work may be able to answer this). But yeah. They need to just pay for a whole new setting for you.

 

[february2003bride]

Here are some photos I just took. Am I being unrealistic? Top down it looks fine (to me anyway).

 

[february2003bride]

They really just need to pay for a new setting from Blue Nile for you. I don't know whether I'd want to make a claim on insurance, but if you have documented all this jeweler's errors it may be that the insurance will go after them for the money (somebody who knows better how they work may be able to answer this). But yeah. They need to just pay for a whole new setting for you.

They 100% will fight that. The jeweler has already squarely placed blame on Blue Nile and quality of the setting and head.

 

[pyramid]

The rings will probably have to go back to Blue Nile for testing.

 

[february2003bride]

Here are some additional photos I just took.

 

[distracts]

They really just need to pay for a new setting from Blue Nile for you. I don't know whether I'd want to make a claim on insurance, but if you have documented all this jeweler's errors it may be that the insurance will go after them for the money (somebody who knows better how they work may be able to answer this). But yeah. They need to just pay for a whole new setting for you.

They 100% will fight that. The jeweler has already squarely placed blame on Blue Nile and quality of the setting and head.

Of course they will fight that - they stand to lose a lot of money while doing it. But you need to hold firm because THEY messed your ring up and have not repaired it back to where it was. You have the photographic evidence. You shouldn't take the financial hit or the insurance hit because of their incompetence.

 

[pyramid]

If the platinum is too soft the rings will bend with wearing them.

 

[distracts]

If the platinum is too soft the rings will bend with wearing them.

Yeah but her jeweler didn't seem to be questioning if there was porosity or anything but rather the 950 plat alloy itself, which we all know is a perfectly acceptable platinum alloy.

However you could take it to an independent appraiser for an opinion.

 

[pyramid]

It may depend on what the platinum is alloyed with and the quantities e.g was it 950 parts or less? Maybe to do with the annealing process. Only one of the experts here would know and don't know if they can comment - probably not now that Blue Nile has been mentioned as they cannot comment online on another named jeweller's product.

 

[Tourmaline]

The cathedral appears to be fixed, and the head seems straight (thank goodness), but in both your first post, and your after repairs post, the rings seem to be soldered together crookedly, with a larger gap on one side than the other. It's possible that one of the rings became slightly curved during their first soldering operation (when they damaged the cathedral).

 

[february2003bride]

The cathedral appears to be fixed, and the head seems straight (thank goodness), but in both your first post, and your after repairs post, the rings seem to be soldered together crookedly, with a larger gap on one side than the other. It's possible that one of the rings became slightly curved during their first soldering operation (when they damaged the cathedral).

Yup, one side has a thin gap whereas the other side has no gap. I just don't see how a simple solder job went so wrong.

 

[Tourmaline]

The cathedral appears to be fixed, and the head seems straight (thank goodness), but in both your first post, and your after repairs post, the rings seem to be soldered together crookedly, with a larger gap on one side than the other. It's possible that one of the rings became slightly curved during their first soldering operation (when they damaged the cathedral).

Yup, one side has a thin gap whereas the other side has no gap. I just don't see how a simple solder job went so wrong.

Sorry, you've gone through this. How frustrating!

 

[pyramid]

I would check with blue nile about their platinum mix and it's softness whilst you have newly bought the rings.

 

[february2003bride]

I spoke with BN and the platinum mix is a standard PT950. I am going to mail my set back to them and they are going to unsolder the set and assess the cathedral setting. If the cathedral structural integrity appears to be weak due to the jewelers mistake, then my diamond will be reset into a new setting (the exact same one). They will also change out the 6 prong head for a new one since the jeweler notched it to allow the band to sit flush. I'm just going to keep them unsoldered. I am calling Jeweler's Mutual tomorrow for their opinion on if this is a claim or not. Ugh.