How do jewelers "shrink" rings so quickly"?

[heart prongs]

Someone asked me this question recently...and since I''ve been wondering the same since we had my husband''s ring resized a bit smaller last winter...I thought it was finally time to ask! We were literally out of the store within 10 minutes...they didn''t cut it and it''s a Scott Kay brushed plat. band with no stones...

Is it lasers? Someone please explain this to me in simple terms...thanks...

klr

prongs

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Only for wedders that are the same all around - you press them into a connical hole

Then buff it up
http://www.jewelrysupply.com/noframes/ringstretcher.htm
the top bit is for stretching up

 

[laney]

I got to see what they did to my platinum band.

They put it into this really cool laser welder.

They did cut it - but you couldn''t tell at all when it was done. The laser welder just did a "pop" and a "flash" and it was done. 2 seconds.. and about 30 seconds for the machine to get up to the setting..

Then he polished it on a standard polisher and that was about 5 minutes.. and it looked like it had never been split on the bottom at all.

The laser welder was awesome.. you can put your bare hands right in there.. the beam comes down and it heats the plat up right in the exact spot. So heat doesn''t have to be used on the rest of the setting. The setter Bill told me that it''s good also for setting things like CZ - where the whole thing doesn''t have to get hot.

Ok - don''t know why I was excited about the laser welder - but I was..!

 

[WinkHPD]

We have Harry Potter in the back room and he casts a spell.

No?

Well okay, true story.

For sizing a ring up a size (say 7 to 7.5, often called a half size but it is actually a size as a 7 to an 8 would be up 2 sizes) we can put the ring on a ring stretcher which expands by hand so that you can "bump" the ring up without cutting. This is most often done only on bands and other rings without channel sets or pave as to try to do so with such a ring is to invite disasster.

To size a band down (must be a round ring without stones) you can put the ring into a tapered hole and carefully "smoosh" it down first on one side, then the other. Then repolish the ring, and "VOILA" it is magically reduced a size.

It works for some rings and not for others. That is what it sounds like was done.

Wink

 

[Maxine]

Laney, i can''t believe you watched!!! I would have been a nervous wreck!!!!!

 

[laney]

Maxine -

I was really facinated. Actually - the laser welder wasn''t the hard part to watch - it was actually putting the stone into the setting that was hard.... "ahh... oh... that doesn''t hurt it does it?"... that WAS hard! lol!

 

[heart prongs]

Thanks all!

Harry Potter...that''s funny...! My husband calls me a muggle as I''ve never read the books...is that mean??

!!

klr

prongs

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 8/29/2005 5:23:33 PM
Author: heart prongs
Thanks all!

Harry Potter...that''s funny...! My husband calls me a muggle as I''ve never read the books...is that mean??

!!

klr

prongs

LOL, a muggle is a non-magical person

 

[denverappraiser]

On the day after Christmas one year I did 82 ring sizings. Almost all of them were cut and welded. It takes a bit of practice but it's not usually all that hard to size a ring in 10 minutes.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[DoubleB]

klrprongs

As long as he doesn''t call you a "mugblood", you''re ok. That''s a derogatory term for a muggle!

DoubleB

 

[AndyRosse]

You mean "mudblood"

It''s very sad that I know all this at my age

.

And it means a witch/wizard that is a half-blood, meaning one of their parents is a muggle.

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Bragging
Is this a new Neil?

I dare say, they were all perfect too!

Many can be done easily, but if you are talking about large size increases/decreases especially where stones are concerned. You are changing the shape of the ring, and altering the size a large amount affects the stones settings. Prongs may beed to be tightened and stones set back in where the size is reduced a few sizes. There is also more work adding a few sizes.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 8/29/2005 7:21:09 PM
Author: Platinumsmith
Bragging
Is this a new Neil?

I dare say, they were all perfect too!

Nah, this is evidence of a mispent youth. I was working in a tradeshop sizing pieces that had been sold at a big chain store for the Christmas season. People converged on the stores to return the things that didn''t fit properly and everyone just HAD to have it tomorrow. These were not what you would describe as high end stores stocked with premium merchandise although I did get pretty good at it. Surely you will concede that sizing down a brand new yellow gold solitaire by half a size is a pretty straightforward job, even to do it well. Fortunately for me, all of the hard jobs were filtered out by the take-in lady and assigned a more sensible due date.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[Maxine]

I think Neil is blushing

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Yes Neil you can get really fast at re-sizing. Nice to have a box full od bits of scrap from downsized rings to add. Quick emery, bang bang, lick of polish... next.

Still coming to grips with my new picture of you as a sweat shop worker

Phil

 

[denverappraiser]

Everyone has to start somewhere. I''m sure there are excellent chef''s who got their first job at McDonalds.

Unfortunately, Garry''s comment about stuffing the jeweler into a little hole is a bit too close to home. Oh, wait, he meant stuffing the ring into a hole.

I''m certainly glad to be out of that piece of the business but I did learn quite a bit there. I don''t regret it.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Yep, you learn which short cuts you can make and which ones don''t pay.

 

[heart prongs]

non-magical? me? I don''t think so!!!!Just wait til he gets home from work!!!

klr

prongs

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Don''t give away the plot. I am softening a Tolstoy with a Harry Potter. I reakon they are they are great page turners. I want to be Harry Potter.

 

[phoenixgirl]

My X-prong had to be smaller, and the jeweler tried to retain the stamp, but ended up cutting off the e. So now it says "Vatch." I joke that it''s my designer imposter ring.

 

[ksomerville]

Where is everyone finding these jewelers that will resize the ring so quickly and while you are waiting? I''m in Portland, OR and nobody here has been able to recommend a jeweler in the area other than Carl Greve''s. When I talked to them, it takes 3 days to resize the ring and they don''t do it in-house. I would like the jeweler doing the work to look at the ring on me and let me know what resizing technique would be best. I did have my finger sized before ordering the ring so obviously a little more care needs to be made in determining the correct size for me. Is this too much to ask of a jeweler?

 

[louisesam]

Date: 8/31/2005 1:36:55 PM
Author: kfs
Where is everyone finding these jewelers that will resize the ring so quickly and while you are waiting? I''m in Portland, OR and nobody here has been able to recommend a jeweler in the area other than Carl Greve''s. When I talked to them, it takes 3 days to resize the ring and they don''t do it in-house. I would like the jeweler doing the work to look at the ring on me and let me know what resizing technique would be best. I did have my finger sized before ordering the ring so obviously a little more care needs to be made in determining the correct size for me. Is this too much to ask of a jeweler?

my sentiments exactly. i''m in NH and i have to wait a week for barmkians to resize a ring. i thought that was a bit much because when i lived in NJ my jeweler could resize it for me (with me even watching) in a few minutes. i was also reading other threads wherein one had her bracelet & ring rhodium plated and she had to wait about 30 minutes. where are you finding these fantastic jewelers? wish i had one near me.

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 8/30/2005 12:35:57 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
My X-prong had to be smaller, and the jeweler tried to retain the stamp, but ended up cutting off the e. So now it says ''Vatch.'' I joke that it''s my designer imposter ring.

LOL! That is cute.

You could send it back in to Vatche if you wished and they could restamp it for you...

Contact your vendor and ask him/her about it...

Wink

 

[AChiOAlumna]

Date: 8/31/2005 2:33:59 PM
Author: louisesam
my sentiments exactly. i''m in NH and i have to wait a week for barmkians to resize a ring. i thought that was a bit much because when i lived in NJ my jeweler could resize it for me (with me even watching) in a few minutes. i was also reading other threads wherein one had her bracelet & ring rhodium plated and she had to wait about 30 minutes. where are you finding these fantastic jewelers? wish i had one near me.

My jeweler will replate my rings for me with me waiting. It''ll take about 30 to 45 minutes, so he''ll usually engage me with his newest stock and allows me to try them on while his jeweler is checking my prongs and doing the replating. However, I usually will email him a few days in advance to ask when the best day is for me to come in, so he knows of my arrival and I''m cognizant of their time schedules.

It''s worked out for us so far!!!

 

[louisesam]

Date: 8/31/2005 7:00:39 PM
Author: AChiOAlumna

Date: 8/31/2005 2:33:59 PM
Author: louisesam
my sentiments exactly. i''m in NH and i have to wait a week for barmkians to resize a ring. i thought that was a bit much because when i lived in NJ my jeweler could resize it for me (with me even watching) in a few minutes. i was also reading other threads wherein one had her bracelet & ring rhodium plated and she had to wait about 30 minutes. where are you finding these fantastic jewelers? wish i had one near me.

My jeweler will replate my rings for me with me waiting. It''ll take about 30 to 45 minutes, so he''ll usually engage me with his newest stock and allows me to try them on while his jeweler is checking my prongs and doing the replating. However, I usually will email him a few days in advance to ask when the best day is for me to come in, so he knows of my arrival and I''m cognizant of their time schedules.

It''s worked out for us so far!!!

your jeweler is smart. it''s a great marketing strategy actually. i''d be willing to wait instore, ogle his eyecandy and make a shopping/ wish list. *sighs* but try as i might, i have to wait a week for anything to be done.

 

[perry]

Sorry folks, there is only one Harry Potter - and I have it on good authority that he is not helping resize rings for Wink.

So, no one else can be Harry Potter. However, that does not mean that you could not attend Hogwarts - or one of the other schools if you have the right abilities - however faint (there are afterall hundreds of students every year at Hogwarts alone). There are such schools arround the world. However, it seems that secrets get out to the muggles easier in Europe than elsewhere; which is why there is a Harry Potter series of books.

I must warn you though. Not everyone passes their classes and some barely progress in their skills at all. Also, the vast majority of students are not up to the level of ability that are written about in most books that get out to the muggle press. Some have difficulty in just lighting a candle - or some other very simple task. There is not much money or employment for those; unfortunately. But a lifelong of study and practice can improve things if you work at it...

Now if I could just get that candle to light... I've been working on it for years.

Perry