Questions re: Polishing Platinum-- Nicks and Patina

[lapelirroja]

Hello all,

I have had my Platinum Vatche Swan solitaire (From WF) for about a month now and am seeing some signs of wear (patina) that don't really bother me much. I keep up with cleaning the ring every few days which brings back YUMMY diamond shine! I have to Purell every few minutes at work so I like to keep it clean and de-gunk it every so often.

Anyways, at work the other day I was rubbing my fingers over the prongs and noticed a rough patch. I must have dinged the ring on something and seem to have displaced a bit of platinum on one of the prongs. I took a look at the diamond under my H&A viewer from WF (also double as a handy magnifier!) and everything seems secure, just some aesthetic damage. As this is DEFINITELY not mind clean, or "finger clean" as I can feel the rough patch, I was hoping this is something that can be polished out?

PICS (and check out my cool PJs in the background ):



I do not know much about polishing precious metals and as my jeweler is all the way in Houston, I was wondering how best to go about having this touched up. Is polishing pretty benign, and thus can be trusted to any fine jeweler in my area (Boston- any recs)? It makes me a bit more nervous that the ding is on one of the prongs very close to the diamond. Does this make it a bit trickier? I would prefer getting it done near home.

Other things I was considering include: a) sending it to whiteflash for a touchup (not desirable at all given the long distance/time required), b) visiting Vatche in NYC (planning a trip in a few weeks anyways) and asking for them to polish it?? I know they are not really a "store" and only deal with vendors so not sure this is even feasible.

Appreciate any advice!

 

[plummiecat]

It's my understanding that Vatche has to do any type of repairs themselves, or it will void their lifetime warranty. I have a similar situation with my setting and I just sent it back to the jeweler that I purchased the ring from, who will then send it to Vatche. I recommend that you contact the jeweler who sold you the ring.

 

[lapelirroja]

So this would qualify as a "repair", or is this normal wear and tear that "polishing" can remove? I guess that would be the initial question.

 

[Mike R]

It's really difficult to tell how deep the little dent is from the pictures, it may need some platinum adding to that area or it might be able to be repaired with a light burnish and a polish.

I can't see why a simple polish would void any warranty but you should call and check first.

Polishing itself is very simple but because of the location of the dent should only be done by an experienced/skilled bench jeweller, I can imagine this job trusted to the wrong hands resulting in a thin spot on the prong. This will cause both a weakness in the prong and give it an uneven look to the others.

I would recommend first calling WF to check out the warranty issue and then take it to a great local jeweler for their opinion on how to fix it, you could even take it to a couple of places to get a few different opinions.
I would let the stores know that you are fussy about your ring (even if your not) just to make sure they will deliver the best work possible.

Good luck.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Mike always has great adviice!

In addition, I would see who sells Vatche in Boston and consider taking the ring to the nicest quality jewelry store that sells it.

 

[Mike R]

Mike always has great adviice!

In addition, I would see who sells Vatche in Boston and consider taking the ring to the nicest quality jewelry store that sells it.

Oh thanks DS, great advice also.

 

[lapelirroja]

Thanks everyone! I put an email out to whiteflash (my vendor) and today am actually going to wedding band weekend at longs jewelers for fun so will pick some brains there. Also will probably go to EB Horn in Boston who apparently is one of the only Vatche dealers in the area. Probably won't get any work done til I hear from WF.

Hopefully my prong will be shiny soon, I'm so in love otherwise!