Diamonds falling out?

[pad3006]

Hi everyone
I had purchased a band ring for my girlfriend a year and a half ago. We went to a local jeweler that she had dealt with a lot. He didn’t seem that great to me, he seemed to appeal to rapper wanna be’s. About 6 months after the purchase, a stone fell out of the ring and I took it to get it fixed, I found it strange but i didn’t think much of it. She doesn’t wear the ring that much so I did find it strange. Then 3 or 4 months later another stone fell out. At that point I contacted the guy and told him I wasn’t pleased with the work etc. he basically said bring it in I’ll fix it and I’ll charge you and said it’s not his fault stones fell out etc. So my girlfriend took the ring to another jeweler and he said the stones fell out Bc It wasn’t a well made ring.

I want to get more serious with her and I want to get her something to show my commitment to her. I would never go back to that jeweler again. But still I need to ask the community, is it common for stones to fall out of a ring? Also, are there any details to look for to make sure a piece is well made? Thanks a lot

 

[kb1gra]

Depends on the style of ring, what metal it was made from, and how it is worn.

Not really a simple question to answer but the more stones a ring has, the more likely you will lose one of them at some point.

 

[MMtwo]

When I had my Ritani ER appraised, the jeweler/appraiser remarked that it was nice to see a well made ring. She felt sorry for people who bought from a mall store. The rings did not have enough metal to support the stones. It was common to see those stones fall out.

 

[pad3006]

This is the ring, she didn’t wear it often, maybe once a week

 

[MeowMeow]

Yup. I do have a well made ring and I still lost a stone wearing it while putting on some pre pregnancy pants and the prong on a halo stone got caught on the waistband and came out. I baby the ring but only slightly so I figure if I only lose a stone every few years that's not too bad considering I wear it for everything except heavy cleaning or the gym. It was only 50 dollars or so to replace.
That said if I was losing a stone every 6 months I would be much more concerned and get an entirely new setting because clearly so many small stones getting lost means the style might be inappropriate for my lifestyle. With my ring they made sure each stone has 4 prongs to hold it in place, which i think helps keep things safer for people like me who generally don't remember to take off the jewellery for cooking, sleeping, showering, and light cleaning. I make sure I get an extra inspection or two every year as well to make up for the extra abuse my rings go through so we can hopefully catch anything loosening before it falls out.

 

[JPie]

If gems repeatedly fall out of a ring, I would assume that either it’s poorly made, there’s a design flaw that makes it structurally unsound, or the person wearing it is doing some crazy stuff with his or her hands.

Since your girlfriend only wears the ring weekly, then I’m inclined to think it was poorly made.

 

[stonehunter20]

i think next time when you buy a new ring, find a reputable vendor, which will save you lots of trouble down the road!

 

[123ducklings]

The daintier and fewer the prongs, the greater the risk that one will fail and you’ll lose a stone. If you think it might be a lifestyle thing you can opt for a more secure style of setting, like bezel or channel setting. That said, from your description it sounds like the ring was not well made to begin with so finding a new jeweler for the next project might help!

 

[ls430FL]

The photo is a little blurry on my end but it appears it looks like a double row shared prong eternity band? If done correctly stones really should not be falling out regularly. I could understand if it was more of a pave ring with a lot of small stones it could happen, but not that sort of ring. Sure it could happen but this often is suspect. My mother has been wearing an eternity band for more than 30 years 24/7. *knock on wood* never lost a stone.

 

[headlight]

I think you, unfortunately, had a bad experience. This shouldn’t be happening like this. Get recommendations from people you respect as to who they get their jewelry from and then investigate.

 

[evergreen]

If the ring was resized smaller, that could explain it (and I still wouldn't go back to that jeweler because they should know better!). I had a mall jeweler resize a ring with tiny stones from a 7 to a 6, and you can imagine that bending it to accomplish that moves all the prongs slightly further apart. After it lost 3 stones in 4 months, they remade it in the correct size, instead of sizing it down from stock, and I haven't lost another stone since despite wearing it daily for a couple of years.

The jeweler who resized my ring was not high-quality, though they did come through with a solution, so that's why I'd suggest you find someone else even if resizing is the explanation. Like I said, the jeweler should know better.

 

[Bron357]

Hmm, I’d say it’s the ring design, shared prongs and only 4.
Ideally 4 prongs should be at 90 degrees to each other ie 12, 3, 6 and 9 o clock position. Shared prongs at 2, 4, 8 and 10 o clock as per your ring is not good.
Prongs, if bumped, can shift slightly. With balanced prong placement and not sharing, this doesn’t usually result in the loss of a stone.
Setting a gemstone requires that the prongs/ claw metal that holds the gem is cut away to provide a lip for the gem girdle to sit in, then the prong end is gently pressed over. Shared prongs means both sides are going to be “Cut” this is going to make the prong less solid and much more prone to shifting if bumped.
So a combination of a less robust shared prong and prong positioning for aesthetic reasons rather than structural integrity can and does lead to losing gemstones.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I feel so sad this has happened to your thoughtful pretty gift to your GF
Do not be put off buying her jewlery in the future
it does seem the issue could be its poorly made but there are every day daily wear rings and then there are occasional rings and i beleave a salesperson has a moral obligation to sell something that is fit for purpose

Not every ring is poorly made at the mall, but it is likely to be over priced

Im sure where you live you will be able to find a jewler who stocks well made rings but also within what ever budget you deside

20 plus years together and ive never had a ring and i would be devastated if a ring he gave me lost stones

We would love to see this next ring when you are ready to start shopping for one

Its hopefully been a learning curve for your GF also