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new guy ring resizing question

pmbspyder

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 25, 2011
Messages
45
Hello all, this is my second thread and I want to thank you all for the warm welcome. I've been pulling my hair out recently with all the different issues that have been coming up in this process. The newest one is that the setting (18k wg) i bought is a split shank, micro pavve melee? setting with diamonds on all 3 sides of the bands that go halfway down the ring. There is miligrain, so the diamonds are more recessed and it looks a bit more antique. I can't take pics of it right now, but my questions are the following:

1) I got this at a booth in the DD in NYC, and had it independently appraised. The appraiser said that it was very high quality and I basically got it as a steal. He said the 100+ diamonds would not go anywhere and were very well set. If I need to size this from a 6.5 to a 5.25, am I in a world of trouble?

2) The original vendor told me they could resize it for free, but I'm wary becasue i know it's an intricate setting and threads here have warned me about anyone saying "absolutely" when you walk in to have a ring like this resized...

3) I reached out to Greg Jezarian, and have an appointment to meet with him on Monday to see what he can do. I am open to all options. In a worst case scenario, would it be possible for a jeweler to melt everything down, then replicate the original setting using the metal and diamonds in a smaller size of it?

4) if option # 3 was considered, traditionally how pricey might that be?

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the vendor offers no returns but lifetime trade up policy. It's also a one off ring, so it's not like i can go in and swap it for a smaller size of the same thing

5) Thoughts on what i should do? Go with the original vendor and risk a sub par job and loose stones, or go with someone who is highly recommended and see what my options are?

Any advice would be much appreciated, I'm starting to get reaaaally disenchanted with all these speed bumps I keep hitting in this process.

Oh, and time is not a concern, I don't plan on propsing for many months...

Thanks!!!!
 
To answer your question about resizing...I think you said that the diamonds don't go all the way around, right? It should be able to be resized. I would have the original vendor do it because, if something does go wrong, they may be better positioned to make it right.
 
Thanks for the response! I keep waffling becasue I know that the original seller should resize it as a matter of liability, but I really just have trepidations in the quality and attention to detail that would be put into the process. Should I take the chance? The problem is, I don't think they would give me an honest assessment about how difficult it would be and what the impact to the stone security would be. They're more the "oh yes, absolutely, no problem, of course" type of sellers. I got incredibly lucky on my "blind buy" (according ot the appraiser), and the last thing I want to do is take it back and have the things structural integrity blasted. That's why I lean to you guys, the experts! =)
 
Get it insured before re-sizing and make sure the policy would cover any damage that would occur during the process. But with diamonds only half-way down the shank, it doesn't sound like it would be impossible to re-size.
 
Thanks for the reply Rubybeth! I don't have a stone set in it yet, so I should insure just the setting? Would I still need to do that if I brought it to the original vendor who sold it to me? Do you recommend I get it done by the seller as well? Thanks!
 
does the seller cover any damage during resizing?
 
good question..I will find out. Though the actual resizing isn't my worry, it would be the prongs loosening on some of the stones and having them fall out after the fact. I think the best course of action would be to have the seller resize it, then take it back to my appraiser and have him say as to whether or not the stones are all still very well set. Does that sound like a good idea? Thanks!
 
I have an 18 kt. white gold three stone ring with milgrained bead set pave on three sides of the shank. It has a sizing bar on the bottom. I had it sized down a half size six years ago and I've never had a stone fall out. My jeweler did tell me though that it is a more delicate process because of the pave so make sure you have someone who knows what they are doing and who will cover any lost stones.
 
Sundial|1314373249|3000290 said:
I have an 18 kt. white gold three stone ring with milgrained bead set pave on three sides of the shank. It has a sizing bar on the bottom. I had it sized down a half size six years ago and I've never had a stone fall out. My jeweler did tell me though that it is a more delicate process because of the pave so make sure you have someone who knows what they are doing and who will cover any lost stones.

can you see the sizing bar (sorry if it's a dumb question, i always just assumed almost any ring could be resized...)? it's probably best to take it to the seller to do, becasue I can't imagine a seperate jeweler covering me for any future lost stones if all he did was a $50 resizing job...
 
pmbspyder|1314374109|3000313 said:
Sundial|1314373249|3000290 said:
I have an 18 kt. white gold three stone ring with milgrained bead set pave on three sides of the shank. It has a sizing bar on the bottom. I had it sized down a half size six years ago and I've never had a stone fall out. My jeweler did tell me though that it is a more delicate process because of the pave so make sure you have someone who knows what they are doing and who will cover any lost stones.

can you see the sizing bar (sorry if it's a dumb question, i always just assumed almost any ring could be resized...)? it's probably best to take it to the seller to do, becasue I can't imagine a seperate jeweler covering me for any future lost stones if all he did was a $50 resizing job...

In my case what I am calling a sizing bar is just an area of plain metal on the bottom of the ring. Most rings can be resized without any problems, but if there are channel set stones or pave on the shank that can cause the possibility of stones falling out when the ring is resized. Eternity rings where the stones go all the way around are very difficult to resize so that is why my ring has the plain metal left at the bottom. I didn't know any of this either until I received my ring. I used the seller of my ring to do the resizing.
 
Has your girl tried it on yet? It sounds like it might be a bit wider than the average sizing band, so make sure you have her size correct before getting it done and possibly being too small. I would take it back to the vendor you bought it from, then if they mess it up they would be in the best position to "fix" the situation.
 
Maybe wait to do anything about the re-sizing until you've purchased the center stone? Perhaps you'll want the diamond vendor to set the stone and they could also re-size for you... or possibly you'll find it difficult to find a princess with the exact dimensions required for the setting you've already purchased - I hope this last isn't the case but still if it were me I wouldn't worry about re-sizing until I had the center stone in hand for the setting.
 
As wonderful as it would be to wear the ring right away, I second (or third) waiting until she's tried on the ring to have it resized so that the pave isn't touched more than it has to.
 
she has tried it on and it was too big for her...(i went back the next week to buy it without her there...she has no idea). We've also gotten ehr finger measured numerous times, and it always comes out as a 5, or 5.25. I was thinking of getting it resized, so that when the stone comes in I can just have that set (probably by a different jeweler - i'm not too high on the vendor I bought the setting from, as they were originally pushing an egl stone which they were blatantly lying about). So you're all saying I should get the center stone, have it set, propose, then have it resized? I guess that would make sense, but I don't really see the point if she's already tried it on and I know her size...

Thanks everyone for the help, I think my heart rate is starting to come down a bit...

Oh, and finding a proper sized stone isn't going to be an issue at all...
 
Deep breath! It's gonna be OK :bigsmile: A bit more than a size down shouldn't be that difficult *if* you find a good bench to work with, especially if the setting is fairly well made. If it is hard to resize, have sizing beads put in; I had an antique setting that was... two, three?... sizes too big, and impossible to size, and I had some larger sizing beads put in the shank and wore it like that. (Sizing beads are two bumps of metal put inside the shank- they are great for keeping a ring from spinning if you have larger knuckles. Most people can't feel them after they get used to them. They're also easy to remove if necessary.)

I'd probably shop around for someone who does good work in the area and have them do it. A sizing job, even with some side stones, isn't that difficult a request. You just want someone who will do a decent job of it.
 
rubybeth|1314368533|3000182 said:
Get it insured before re-sizing and make sure the policy would cover any damage that would occur during the process. But with diamonds only half-way down the shank, it doesn't sound like it would be impossible to re-size.

I 2nd this.
 
LGK|1314412496|3001110 said:
Deep breath! It's gonna be OK :bigsmile: A bit more than a size down shouldn't be that difficult *if* you find a good bench to work with, especially if the setting is fairly well made. If it is hard to resize, have sizing beads put in; I had an antique setting that was... two, three?... sizes too big, and impossible to size, and I had some larger sizing beads put in the shank and wore it like that. (Sizing beads are two bumps of metal put inside the shank- they are great for keeping a ring from spinning if you have larger knuckles. Most people can't feel them after they get used to them. They're also easy to remove if necessary.)

I'd probably shop around for someone who does good work in the area and have them do it. A sizing job, even with some side stones, isn't that difficult a request. You just want someone who will do a decent job of it.

Haha thanks for the advice, much needed! So you don't think I should have it done by the jeweler who I bought it from then? I guess the real issue is do I find a very reputable jeweler and have them do it, or just go to the suspect counter I bought the setting at because they will be responsible for it? I'm pretty stuck on that question, and the responses here are pretty divided...
 
pmbspyder|1314414961|3001152 said:
LGK|1314412496|3001110 said:
Deep breath! It's gonna be OK :bigsmile: A bit more than a size down shouldn't be that difficult *if* you find a good bench to work with, especially if the setting is fairly well made. If it is hard to resize, have sizing beads put in; I had an antique setting that was... two, three?... sizes too big, and impossible to size, and I had some larger sizing beads put in the shank and wore it like that. (Sizing beads are two bumps of metal put inside the shank- they are great for keeping a ring from spinning if you have larger knuckles. Most people can't feel them after they get used to them. They're also easy to remove if necessary.)

I'd probably shop around for someone who does good work in the area and have them do it. A sizing job, even with some side stones, isn't that difficult a request. You just want someone who will do a decent job of it.

Haha thanks for the advice, much needed! So you don't think I should have it done by the jeweler who I bought it from then? I guess the real issue is do I find a very reputable jeweler and have them do it, or just go to the suspect counter I bought the setting at because they will be responsible for it? I'm pretty stuck on that question, and the responses here are pretty divided...

make sure that you understand what is covered before the setting is worked on. It is probably safest to start an independent insurance policy before it is sized.
 
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