Repair Regrets (Opinions?)

[GemView]

 

[GemView]

I had a post all typed up to go with the pictures but after uploading the pictures, the post disappeared, so here's the Cliffs' Notes version.

You're looking at an antique Blue Zircon ring (not to be confused with CZ or blue topaz).

I had the ring sized, polished and the prongs reinforced almost immediately after purchase. The first three pictures are the "before" (one of the images is from the person who sold it to me so disregard the hand changes, LOL). Photos 4-7 are the "after".

Is it just me or do the prongs look off? I expected to see the squared off tips but only one of them is the way it looked originally and the rest look more delicate. In addition, the carat weight went from 5.5 to 5.3 and yet for some reason the "after" looks out of round — more than it did before it was polished. In addition, I could swear when I dropped it off at the jewelers and got a call confirming after it was dismounted what the carat weight was, that the jeweler said there were no chips. (I also don't recall seeing any when I looked at it under a loupe. However, when I zoom in on the face-up picture of the ring in pic #5, I see a chip to the right of the topmost right prong. (Unfortunately, my DH picked up the ring from repair so I'm just now getting a good look at it, but one thing the jeweler did say is that he hid the chip under the prongs — yet it wasn't sold to me as having a chipped girdle nor did I see it before it was worked on so I can't help but wonder if it happened while it was being dismounted, remounted or polished by the lapidarist.)

Beyond the aesthetics, I'm worried that the re-cut and re-set of the stone may have diminished the antique value. Am I being too picky or is this work not up to par?

Thanks for your thoughts in advance.

 

[kgizo]

Did you intend to have the gem, setting, or both polished? In this before pic it looks like there may have been some wear / damage to the gem and perhaps that getting polished out is why it looks out of round to you? Zircons are soft and I think educated buyers would expect some damage or a clean up after decades of wear so I don’t think it significantly affects value. I don’t see what you are seeing in the prongs, but that’s hard to tell from pics because of the light reflections on metal.
It is a beautiful ring (love the high crown) and I’m sorry you have concerns about it.

 

[CaseyLouLou]

I personally don’t see anything wrong with it in its current state and unless you plan to sell it then I wouldn’t worry about the value. And even then it likely didn’t lose value.

If you’re like me and scrutinize everything obsessively then you will always see something not quite perfect. I try not to see it and sometimes I can get past it and realize that it’s really fine and other times I can’t.

I think it looks awesome and I love zircons so I bet the fire is amazing and the polish will only help that.