New ring, claw prongs security concern

[adler9]

Hello eveyone,
I just had a new ring custome made for a trillion stone, with double prongs. In the pictures I got before receiving the ring, I noticed that one corner of the stone is seemingly held only by the very tip of those thin prongs. As in, there is a significant gap between the stone and the base of the prong. I thought that may just be due to the viewing angle. When I recieved the ring, I realized that the gap really exists and the girdle of the stone is not held by the prong, it is only the very small bit of the crown that is in contact with the prong. It seemed like the base of the prong is too far from the stone so the prong was precariously reaching over to meet the stone. I examined all my other rings, and none of my other rings seem to have this type of thing going on. I am wondering if this is normal, and if it poses any security risk? I am scared of losing the stone as the stone is really held only by three prongs (I don't think the split double prongs count as two individual prongs). Thanks for looking.

See the space


Different angle



Other sides have prongs that are more flush - this is what I am used to seeing

 

[adler9]

Oh jeez, it's so hard to photograph the ring, but I am concerned about the amound of the "grip" the prong has in this area. Should I be worried or no?

 

[theredspinel]

To be honest yes, I would be worried about that. Also.... proper ring pictures please!

I for one, want to see that beauty properly! What stone is it?

 

[adler9]

Sorry I don't have a proper camera, and it is impossible to focus on the ring with my Ipad to take a picture. It is a spinel. Here's a vendor pic. You can see one tipe of the stone is being held by the very tip of the prong. Isn't that stone gonna rotate and slip out. To be honest I don't even take it out of the case now because I noticed every time I take it out of the case, more fuzz and lint are trapped under the other prongs which seemed more flush/secure and one of claws looks like it has peeled or lifted a tiny tiny bit compared to when I first started scrutinizing the ring. So yeah, I have not tried wearing the ring, don't wanna try at all unless it is confirmed the stone is securely set.

 

[chrono]

I believe I can understand why the jeweller did that. If I squint hard though it looks like the issues lies in the stone itself. I can see that the girdle does not lie on a flat plane. Instead, it slopes upwards quite dramatically. Since the girdle has to seat in the seat of the prong, with the girdle coming up so high, there is no room for the jeweller to notch the prong and seat the girdle in there, therefore, his only solution is to have the prong press down on the stone.

There is an alternative but it requires the crown of the stone to no longer lie straight (level) if viewed from the side. The jeweller has to slope the stone in the setting so that the girdle of the stone is now level and all the prongs will have a secure seat to hold the girdle. The downside is that the stone will look obviously slopping downwards in the setting, but the stone will be very safe.

 

[adler9]

I believe I can understand why the jeweller did that. If I squint hard though it looks like the issues lies in the stone itself. I can see that the girdle does not lie on a flat plane. Instead, it slopes upwards almost to the end of the stone (almost to the crown). Since the girdle has to seat in the seat of the prong, with the girdle coming up so high, there is no room for the jeweller to notch the prong and seat the girdle in there, therefore, his only solution is to have the prong press down on the stone. Other than that, I see no other way to hold the stone.

Ah thanks for the response! My main concern is, is that going to allow the stone to loosen easily? I am not really concerned about the look of it, or the fact the space exists, just wondering if the ring is ok to be worn pretty regularly as is. It just looks precarius to me. I was starting to think maybe I should change the prongs to a differt type like chevron V prongs?

 

[chrono]

I would talk to your jeweller about this to come to an agreement.

I edited my earlier comment that you quoted after I looked closely at your pictures again. Please note the additional paragraph and edited comment in the first paragraph.

 

[minousbijoux]

Nice catch, Chrono!

 

[adler9]

Jewller said it should be fine as is, and that he will fix it if te stone loosens. I am getting a lot of lint and fuzz trapped under prongs though which is so annoyng. Every time I check the ring there is some fuzz under prongs and as soon as I remove them more fuzz appear the next time I check. Ugh

 

[Seaglow]

Jewller said it should be fine as is, and that he will fix it if te stone loosens. I am getting a lot of lint and fuzz trapped under prongs though which is so annoyng. Every time I check the ring there is some fuzz under prongs and as soon as I remove them more fuzz appear the next time I check. Ugh

Let your jeweler's know that you get lints out of it and have it repaired. That, he could probably do even with the gap on it. A prong that can be caught on thread may easily loosen up the stone from the setting and mess up your clothes at the same time.

The best jewelers can make rings wherein the prongs and pave settings will slide smoothly on a cloth without getting caught in threads.

 

[adler9]

Yeah..l might do that. I went shopping for clothes after I heard back from the jeweller and wore the ring. Lint got caught under the prongs like there is no tomorrow so I stopped taking out the lint after a while lol. It doesn't actually get caught in hair or threads...I haven't noticed that....yet!

 

[lilmosun]

I am not an expert but speaking from my personal experience, I would not be comfortable wearing this.

I had two trillion stones that I bought stock settings for at a gem show. I also made the mistake of having the vendor size and set the stones. Hours later, we were still waiting at the end of the show for the stones to be set so it was a rushed job. I put the rings on and to my horror, realized that one of the stones had fallen out when I got home. I assumed I must've done something but did carefully inspect the other ring. The stone seemed firmly set but one of the prongs seemed barely hold the stone over the edge - similar to yours. I put it back in the box to have it looked at closer when I got back to town. Much to my surprise, when I took the other ring out of the box days later, I found that stone had also fallen out. At least this one wasn't lost. The original vendor first agreed to make me whole but later backed out of any responsibility (another story in itself). So I took the stone I still had and setting to my local jeweler who showed me how the prongs were cut too short and not notched properly to hold the stone.

Given the setting was custom made for the stone, I would see how the concern could be addressed. At a minimum, I would get a second opinion from a good bench. It's a beautiful ring.

 

[Arcadian]

I would go back to the jeweler on this one. I would not wear it in this condition. you may not like v prongs but, depending on how skilled the bench is, a v prong may be the most secure choice.

 

[adler9]

Does anybody know how much it would cost to remake the prongs completely in this case by another jeweller? I want to get V prongs made as the current prongs are unacceptable. Even the ones without the gap are catching lint all the time. The jewller that made the ring is ignoring me so I may need to pay somebody else to do the job. Very disappointed overall.

 

[Arcadian]

Does anybody know how much it would cost to remake the prongs completely in this case by another jeweller? I want to get V prongs made as the current prongs are unacceptable. Even the ones without the gap are catching lint all the time. The jewller that made the ring is ignoring me so I may need to pay somebody else to do the job. Very disappointed overall.

Unfortunately each jeweler will be different, so what may hold true where I am won't hold true where you are. But based on my experience you might be looking at a min, of 200 dollars for not only labor but materials.

If you don't mind, can I ask who made this for you?

 

[Tourmaline]

If this ring was custom made for your stone, he didn't do an adequate job. The prongs are too far away from the stone in that spot. This is not a safe setting, and the jeweler should not be ignoring you!

 

[chrono]

I am not satisfied with the customer service as shown by the current jeweller. As a custom job, I agree with Tourmaline that he should be working with you to remake your ring to your satisfaction (and some additional cost might be involved, or might not). You should not have to bring it elsewhere to make it wearable and if nothing else, that actually increases your risk of something going wrong and nobody taking responsibility for it.

 

[adler9]

Unfortunately each jeweler will be different, so what may hold true where I am won't hold true where you are. But based on my experience you might be looking at a min, of 200 dollars for not only labor but materials.

If you don't mind, can I ask who made this for you?

It was by The Gemstone Project and David Klass. David Klass said the stone is held securely as is. Silent treatment after that when I inquired twice, if it was possible to make V prongs. I am so annoyed becuase not only did this ring take a long time to get made, it was supposedly made in the wrong metal first time and they remade it in the right metal. Then it took a long time before it got shipped out to me. All this while nobody noticed those prongs except for me. I knew it looked not right in that picture I posted, even pointed it out that the prongs look funny and crooked due to that space, but it got shipped to me in this condition. Mind you, I am not in the US so it will be a massive hassle to ship this finished ring to them and get it back somehow without getting dinged by customs.

 

[adler9]

If this ring was custom made for your stone, he didn't do an adequate job. The prongs are too far away from the stone in that spot. This is not a safe setting, and the jeweler should not be ignoring you!

Yeah I don't know why it was made like that. There were CADs and stuff, it isnt like this is some stock setting for calibrated stones.

 

[chrono]

Call David; he rarely responds to emails.

 

[Tourmaline]

Wow, I have seen him totally remake a ring for someone just because she changed her mind about what kind of setting she wanted. This is surprising. I hope he makes this right for you.

 

[adler9]

Another week went by, without any response or progress. I kind of lost all faith, don't know if I want to send the ring back for repair even if they offer that. Like I don't know if this kind of customer service is worth the hassle and risk of internayional shipping.

 

[Acinom]

Keep trying! David usually has great customer service. This is so disappointing...

 

[MollyMalone]

Another week went by, without any response or progress. I kind of lost all faith, don't know if I want to send the ring back for repair even if they offer that. Like I don't know if this kind of customer service is worth the hassle and risk of internayional shipping.

As a FYI (not that it explains the previous poor communication): his Instagram account shows he was at JCK Las Vegas -- a huge event for those in the trade -- this past week.

I hope you're able to resolve this soon!

 

[Rfisher]

OP, beautiful stone and ring. I'm sorry that you are having the issues and such frustration.
On top of the prior, good suggestions on reaching out to DK,
I also want to suggest, possibly, if you did not pay him directly for his work, that you might get better satisfaction going thru TGP, if indeed that is the case.
What feedback have you received from TGP on the issues?
Best wishes.

 

[Arcadian]

So I'm just gonna say it because maybe someone should. But this is really really bad customer service. Thats not me saying he's not busy but its bad customer service to have a customer who has a problem "hanging on" and waiting for an answer and waiting to get an issue resolved. Generally PS vendors are better than that but sometimes.....

OP thank you for being very up front as to who is was. Yes I like them both and have contemplated the one ring project I will be doing this year with David. I'm always curious how issues get resolved because it says more about a company than when everything is perfect. You should get some sort of closure for this even if they tell you it will cost you to fix. That won't be ideal but at least you'd know what other steps you can take and not just be in limbo.

 

[adler9]

Well right now I am not sure how to proceed. No point in writing a new email obviously and I won't play international phone tag for this. I am going to get a second opinion from a jeweller which I used to use before. Only issue is, he is about 3 hr drive away so I won't be able to take it in to be examined anytime soon. On the last two pics I posted you can really see that the prong is too far from the stone. And you cannot tell me that the way the stone is being held is adequate. I am so annoyed that this was not caught before, it is so obvious and I don't know why I would have to pay to get this corrected. Like I didn't ask for it to be made like this?

I mainly want to find out from the old jeweller whether the setting is the right size for the stone and whether acceptable prongs can be remade to replace the current ones. My main concern is whether the current "basket" will allow for the stone to be set without gaps. I don't want somebody to try to close this gap by simply moving the stone towards that particular prong, resulting new gap(s) elsewhere. If the ring cannot be fixed by remaking prongs, well I guess I need to take out the stone and hope to find a diff stone that will fit in the setting.

 

[Squizabel]

I would post on his social media. Photo of the the problem and polite request for a resolution. That might end up being a partial refund to cover the cost of a local fix, if sending it internationally and dealing with customs is not feasible.

 

[adler9]

OP, beautiful stone and ring. I'm sorry that you are having the issues and such frustration.
On top of the prior, good suggestions on reaching out to DK,
I also want to suggest, possibly, if you did not pay him directly for his work, that you might get better satisfaction going thru TGP, if indeed that is the case.
What feedback have you received from TGP on the issues?
Best wishes.

So actually I wanted to deal w David directly first bc it is a technical issue and the project already took a while to move along, so I emailed him directly for a faster resolution. He replied back and said the prongs are fine as they are now. Then I emailed him twice bc I noticed the whole lint trapping issue and still don't agree with him that the stone is held adequately . No response so I waited for a week and contacted TGP last week and she said it is a bad time unfortunately bc of JCK. So yeah that's what's been going on.

 

[Rfisher]

Ok- so technically you are not DK's customer. Ultimately he should make this right- yes him being out of town might be a reason for tardy replies but not an excuse for none.
My next question- did TGP inspect the ring personally before it shipped to you? If so- besides her confirming the trade show- what's her evaluation on the prongs and seating of the stone? Were you ever made aware of a wavy gravy girdle if it does indeed exist?
I understand wanting to get the prongs done locally but really depending on the local jewelers willingness and skill level- you may be throwing good money after bad.
Hope this resolves well for all involved.
Please keep up updated.