Designer/Platinum marking gone after sizing beads

[jonnyc]

My fiance wanted to put sizing beads in her ring, so we had some platinum beads laser welded in. When we received the ring back, all the engravings in the shank are no longer there. This includes the Ritani, PT950 and the registry # (which thankfully is on my appraisal). Is this the norm to happen when sizing beads are put in the ring, or was it just poor workmanship/laziness on the goldsmith's part. Shouldn't jewelers give a heads up that this would happen when you drop off your ring?

Just a little extra information. We brought it to a jeweler who said they would be able to laser weld platinum beads while we waited. They appeared to have good reiews and were in a well off location. We did that, and they torch welded white gold beads on. Very upsetting! The ritani marking was still there, but the registry and Platinum marking were gone. When we brought it to the 2nd jeweler to remove the white gold beads and laser weld platinum beads in (took 2 weeks at our best jeweler in the area - which is why we brought it elsewhere first!), we received it back with the Ritani marking removed. They told us it's because the solder fills in the engravings. Is there really that much solder used when laser welding sizing beads? I was upset, but the markings were all there for the appraisal and are noted, as well as I have all the documentation to prove authenticty, but I'm not certain why they had to be removed. I would assume the same would have happen if we did the traditional re-sizing as well.

 

[oldminer]

Had you spent the same time and energy to send the rings back to Ritani, all of this would not have happened. Once you go out into the world of jewelry repair and alteration, you often will end up ina messed-up situation. It is not worth the time for most people to now get the set back to the maker for remarking, but probably you could arrange it if it holds some importance for you. It has no added value to any dealer to have the marking, but we can't know how much it means to an individual owner and their circle of friends.

It does sound like you have been told the truth. The white gold beads would have been every bit as useful as platinum beads. How they are attached shopuld not have mattered either. Clean work with soldering ends up perfect, just as clean work with welding. Sloppy work ends up flooded with melted material or uneven surfaces, pits, bubbles, etc.

 

[jonnyc]

Thanks for the response. I didn't realize Ritani would have put in sizing beads. I thought they only did resizing of their rings. That's a Huge "opps" on my part if that's the case, especially after I did months and months of research on the ring and diamond.

The ring is an eternity style ring, which is why I looked for a laser welder to put in the platinum sizing beads. The craftsmanship of the first set of white gold beads put in was sub-par. The jeweler who put the platinum beads in, is an authorized Ritani dealer who has my ring in stock. The ring looks great now, and fits well after we received it back with the platinum beads in. My only critiscm was that the markings are gone, and after the initial shock I'm more impartial to them being there. She's going to have the ring forever and I don't ever plan on selling it, so all that matters is that it looks great and she's happy. Didn't know if this was a sign of poor workmanship or the norm though.

 

[oldminer]

Had the authorized jeweler who did the good laser welding informed you about the possibility of saving the markings, or had you known to ask about it, I am sure this could have been avoided. Likely as not, those markings were ruined by the first jeweler and there was nothing left to mention to you. The first jeweler should have asked you or had you known, you could have told him to save those markings. There is a ton of space inside an eternity ring to place little sizing beads that would have missed the stampings that were lost. Sounds like neither place mentioned it, but that the first place may have ruined the markings and there was nothing left for the second jeweler to do, but use the location of the first set of beads. Sure glad it looks great now. Every detail in the jewelry business has importance to someone. Very few industries deal with such a high number of little things which have the potential to mean a lot to owners.

 

[jonnyc]

The first jeweler actually left the "Ritani: marking, but went over the registry # and platinum marking. I'm not sure if the 2nd jeweler ended up filling in the Ritani marking when they removed the white gold beads. I just realized that without the Ritani marking, my warranty becomes void as well. It's odd that the Authorized Ritani dealer would knowingly fill it in, if they understood the importance of the marking related to the warranty. The appraiser gave my ring's workmanship excellent, so here's hoping I would have never needed to use it anyway. I don't think (hope) placing sizing beads in would affect the structural integrity of the ring.

Thanks for all your information.