How can I get a little stone out of a setting?

[beaujolais]

OK, so I have a four stone, very no-big-deal-really-inexpensive, four stone green sapphire, silver set ring that was from Overstock. Well, one stone fell out and it''s now a three stone with a hole. It would look silly to wear, so I want to pop out the other stones and toss them into a gem box and then - well, is silver worth putting in the sell pile?

I tried to pull the prongs out with needle nose pliers (house pliers, not jewelers) and I couldn''t get the prongs to budge. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[beaujolais]

No one? Darn.

Please.

 

[neatfreak]

Why don''t you just ask your jeweler to pop them out for you?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

The "usual" method would be to slip a graver under the prong and lift it up. If you are not worried about the setting, I would recommend using wire scissors to cut the prong off or a small jeweller''s saw (I used to have one for doing scroll work on wood).

 

[Michael_E]

Date: 11/17/2009 5:38:04 AM
Author: Lady_Disdain
The ''usual'' method would be to slip a graver under the prong and lift it up.

Not trying to be cranky about this idea, but this is not something that I''d recommend to anyone who is not experienced with jewelry work. If you get the tip of the graver too close to the edge of the stone you will stand a good chance of chipping the stone. A better method is to grab the top of the prong and bend it back using either a "prong lifter" as is shown here, or a pair of wire cutters using one edge to grab the prong and the other edge against the bottom outside of the prong to bend it without placing any stress on the stone.

 

[Michael_E]

Here''s a shot of the wire cutter removing some small diamonds. Notice that the diamond will have no force exerted on it and so will not be in danger of chipping. This is particularly important for colored stones like emerald, peridot and others which chip if you LOOK at them in the wrong way, (they''re very sensitive after all).

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks all.

Um, Neat, thanks- what was I thinking (or not thinking)? I'm at my local benchman a few times year, so I'll just hold it till then. (Sonoma buries head under covers - duh !)

Thanks LD.

Totally true Mike. I do believe in leaving things to the experts! (And thanks for the informative/educational photos - great! I think at the moment I was mad that the silly little stone fell out of this few month old $32 ring and wanted to just get the others out, store them and be done with it. The stones are no big deal, (probably worth 62 cents each but then again are a cute light green color). I figured they'd come out very easily since the one fell out but no.

Here's a link to the ring, anyway.

Thanks again

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Silver-Genuine-Green-Sapphire-and-Diamond-Ring/3483837/product.html