Jewelry repair

[quietdusk]

My grandmother gave me her old set of wedding rings, which I am stoked about. It is white gold with a .29ct diamond that is encircled by 10 melee diamonds (appx .02ct each) when the rings are together. It is missing one of the small diamonds and, long story short, was told there''s no use just putting in that one stone b/c most of the prongs need to be re-tipped. One of the stones is only being held in by 3 prongs and some dirt. The man that gave me the most info told me I need to have 10 prongs done, solder the rings together b/c they are rubbing together and wearing away the gold, and replate it b/c it is worn and has some discoloration. He said he would do it all for $400. Does that sound like a fair price for that amount of work?
I''m pretty clueless about all this. I do believe he is correct about the prongs b/c two are obviously broken and you cannot feel most of them over the tops of the stones. There is no way I can afford anything close to that right now, so I''m bummed.
Would it make more sense to try to sell the ring and buy another? He told me it''s worth "a couple grand," I have great quality stones, they don''t cut them like this anymore (he said something about them being 18 point or 18 cut, I don''t know), blah, blah. Anyway, I took it all with a grain of salt. I''m so confused...

BTW, PS totally rocks (no pun intended)! All of you experts and mods are wonderful to educate the uneducated. And pls forgive any questions that have been answered previously.

 

[Diamond Explorer]

Hi Quietdusk,

From what you said, the quote for the work sounds pretty fair, assuming its of high quality it will make the ring last for a great many years. $400 actually sounds pretty reasonable as the job would be many hours of work, a significant amount of precious metal, and liability for damage and loss. In its current condition the ring would hardly be worth much in cash, so I dont recommend selling your beautiful family heirloom. If funds are tight now I would suggest you put the ring away in a safe place so you dont lose any more diamonds. Bring it back out when it is possible for you to have it restored. In the mean time, find a pretty inexpensive ring to wear. Good luck with everything!

 

[White Orchid]

I don''t know a thing about jewelry repair, but I wanted to urge you not to sell your grandmother''s ring. Repairing it might be outside your budget right now, but if you sell it you will regret it down the road. If the ring is really in such rough shape, put it somewhere safe until you have the funds to repair it. It would be a shame to lose such a priceless heirloom because it''s a little banged up.

 

[jewelerman]

Here is a great oppertunity to learn about jewelry,your heirloom ring and the the jewelry trade and its repair...KEEP THE RING...Shop other repair shops for estimates,ask to see examples of their work after you learn how to use a loupe and shown how to determine a worn prong....what are costs in your area for basic prong work,solder jobs,and rhrodium work...what is the true value of your ring and what cut and quality diamonds are in the ring(you need an appraisal)Take time and research...$400 is a lot to invest in repair...arm yourself with experiance and knowledge BEFORE the work is done...the quote seems hign for my area...the cost of each prong should go down when as many as 10 prongs are worked on at the same time....soulder job should be $20-$30tops...$30-$50tops for rhodium plating...leaving $320 to divide among 10 prongs...$32.00 for eack prong is high for what you discribed...get 2 or more estimates($12-20 each prong is where it should be in my area)also...is the job being sent out or done in the store by the man you talked to?....The job should be less expensive if done in house....GOOD LUCK!