prong lifter and setter

[brainhackr]

how difficult is it for a novice to use it? I watched some videos, seems easy enough. I am a dental technician btw (make crowns, inlays n onlays, etc).

i have a ring with a 1.5c rb diamond set in a 6 prong setting, but I'd like to re-set it to hide an inclusion. I feel like it's a hassle to take it to a jeweler ($ and possible fraud).

my plan is to lift a couple of prongs (how many do I have to lift btw) and rotate the stone and re-set it.

Is it really easy for me to chip the diamond? I have access to polishing wheel and rouge just in case I scratch the prong.

 

[Michael_E]

The problem with doing this yourself is in not having the experience to know when you are messing things up and how to fix them if you do mess them up. Prongs are work hardened when bending them over in setting a stone initially. In bending them back you have a good chance of cracking or breaking them off, especially if they are white gold or you go just a little too far. In "lifting a prong" to move the stone, you only need a very slight lift on several prongs to get the stone loose. Once it's loose you can rotate it and re-tighten it bit by bit making sue the stone stays in position and the table stays flat. You'll need binocular magnification, a prong lifter like this:
http://www.stuller.com/products/53-1442/?groupId=22972

After the initial tightening you should tighten them by "vectoring" the prongs like this: http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/metal-memory-in-prongs.htm

Diamonds are very hard to damage unless they have a thin girdle, you press on the prong in the wrong way, or slip with your pliers and whack the stone against an edge, (then you get the same effect as when flaking an arrowhead).

The tools to do this will cost you more than having a jeweler do it and the risk is much greater when doing this the first time and without any guidance. Make sure that you really find the risk worth the reward and if you're doing it for a wife or girlfriend think three times before doing this.