Concerns about halo rings and melee safety...experts?

[belle]

i think the picture may be a bit skewed here. in reality, there have been just as many examples of rings that have ''stood the test of time'' as there have stories of melee falling out. when you think about how many rings are produced with melee, ESPECIALLY here on ps, compared to the number of instances where a melee has fallen out it is quite small.

 

[belle]

keep buying melee! leave the big stones to me!

 

[Mara]

I totally agree Belle. In reality the # of items produced with no problems is 99.999% compared to the .0001% that are a problem.

But my point is really this. I have been here on PS for 3 years. In that time I can count on ONE hand the number of times someone has said they lost a melee. Regardless of vendors. ESPECIALLY on new rings or fairly new (aka 1-2 months or less) rings.

But suddenly in the last 2-3 weeks...there have been 4-5 instances that I can outright recall. And maybe others that I can''t. That''s a whole other hand! And in less than a month? Important to note, I am not trying to point fingers or anything..it''s more along the lines of me being VERY curious as to what is happening or why now or any of the above. And I feel like people can benefit from knownig ''more'' about melee and micropave and how that functions in todays world as opposed to the old days.

I don''t think it''s a big deal for someone to say ''yeah things were made better in the old days'' because maybe they were. But I can see how a vendor might go ''well that''s not true at all''...it''s just interesting all around for me to see all these opinions and comments, ESPECIALLY from the experts.

Batman likes the intrigue!

 

[MissAva]

How many of the ones that have not have issues are stock pieces such as Micheal B, vs custom creations?

 

[mrssalvo]

i don''t think michael b is a stock piece. his peices are all custom and made to order. Maybe there is a difference in a ring that''s cast then set verses an entirely handmade piece??? I find this thread very interesting. I am going back and forth between settings. Pave, no pave etc. I want to be able to wear my rings without worry so I must decided between a simple setting or one that can withstand a lot of wear and tear vs. one that is more delicate but much more ornate. Roc Doc sait it''s not a good idea to wear pave in the pool, gardening etc..so do i sacrifice wearing my ring 24/7 for the payoff of some sparkling bling??

 

[belle]

maybe another way to look at it would be like this....
every ring has a chance of prongs coming loose and a stone falling out. we have seen at least a couple of hazards recently where the center stone has fallen out (a statistic neglected thus far). this has always been a concern and let's face it, jewelers recommend having prongs checked every 6mos or so. now, if we are to take the risk associated with one stone falling out, i think it is safe to assume that the risk is multiplied by (insert number of stones in any particular piece of pave) several times with this increased number and the risk is much greater. if, say 1 out of 100 stones is likely to fall out at any given time and you have a pave ring, you are wearing all of those risks on your finger at the same time.

 

[Mara]

haha what about that guy who had 188 melee in his ring from MWM??? yikes!

 

[MissAva]

I guess MrsS what I meant was how many of the issues have been with brand name rings such as Ritani, Micheal B, Vatche and the like and how many of them have been with the "custom" rings.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 10/3/2005 5:57:37 PM
Author: Matatora
I guess MrsS what I meant was how many of the issues have been with brand name rings such as Ritani, Micheal B, Vatche and the like and how many of them have been with the ''custom'' rings.

I understand what you mean now. Good question. We''ve heard stories here of Ritani mishaps, Vatche mishaps, Leon and michael b along with the "custom" guys. I think it''s just the nature of the style and what can happen after wear and tear and the beads wear down. Maybe some more of the experts will chime in??

 

[FireGoddess]

I think everyone has brought up a lot of good points. I was kinda waiting on more ''experts'' to chime in, because I was curious as to what they had to say. The only thing I have to add to the convo is personal experience. I haven''t lost any melee that have just ''popped'' out of the halo. The only stone I lost was when I knocked my ring, HARD, and one of the shared prong stones popped out. That''s how hard I hit my ring. But none of the halo melee came off then, or in the ultrasonic. Perhaps that will happen in the future, it seems like the nature of the beast.

BUT - I used to wear my solitaire ring and channel set wedding band all the time - in the shower, during sleep, everywhere. I never took them off. These rings - I take them off when I cook, when I shower, when I sleep - I don''t wear them any time I''m going to do anything remotely physical with my hands. To me it''s not worth the risk. I know my rings are delicate - I designed them that way. And so I treat them very differently than I would say, my original set. I don''t wear them continuously as I would the first set. That''s my 2 cents!