Repairing platinum prongs

[Andelain]

Hello, I have a question for you experts...

I've broken a prong off the platimun setting holding my 1.57ct Eightstar and need to know if it's possible to get the prong fixed without pulling the diamond from the mount? It's a Vatche RC. Under a 10x loupe I can't see any damage to the diamond.

Thanks.

 

[yssie]

Yikes!


I don't know, but I hope you can get it fixed easily Ande! And that the diamond is in fact unharmed, it's such a pretty thing

 

[stone-cold11]

Send it back to Vatche.

 

[Mike R]

It is hard to know for sure without seeing the damage, is the whole ring platinum? What's the clarity grade on the diamond? It might be able to be fixed without moving the stone,but you would need a very experienced jeweler.

I myself have never used a laser welder but this might be a safer option.

 

[Andelain]

Yikes!


I don't know, but I hope you can get it fixed easily Ande! And that the diamond is in fact unharmed, it's such a pretty thing

Thanks, Yssie. I'm real relieved too that the stone is OK. This right here is why I'll never buy a 4-prong ring unless it's secondhand. then it's getting reset! I'm also glad I loupe my rings almost daily!


Mike R, the stone is I-VVS1, and the entire ring is 950 platinum. I've never even heard of a laser welder. I took a pic, you can see the broken prong at 6 oclock in the picture.

 

[yssie]

wow...clean break


goes to show, even the much-hailed bendy platinum isn't infallible

 

[Mike R]

Sorry you broke a claw, a skilled jeweller would be able to repair that without having to remove your diamond with very little risk of dammage.

Like I said I am no expert with a laser welder (I do all my work using traditional techniques) but Laser welding is very common in the US, my understanding is that the work is done under a microscope and can be pin pionted. The laser can target a very small area and with very little to no heat transfered to surrounding areas.

Just make sure the jeweler knows what they are doing, it might be best to send it back to the original jeweler that made it if thats an option.

Good luck!

 

[Andelain]

wow...clean break


goes to show, even the much-hailed bendy platinum isn't infallible

And the bad part is I didn't hit my hand on anything in the past day hard enough to notice. And I'd notice, that finger has a still healing break of the middle joint! Damn, I'm kind of bummed that I can't wear it now, but glad I know about the prong.

 

[Mike R]

Looking again at the photo the claws they are all looking very thin, might be best to replace all the claws. They look fine on the top but thin at the girdle? how old is the ring?

 

[Andelain]

Looking again at the photo the claws they are all looking very thin, might be best to replace all the claws. They look fine on the top but thin at the girdle? how old is the ring?

I’ll look into getting it laser welded, thanks.

I bought the ring used from JbEG, but do know a bit of it’s history. It used to belong to a PS’er named Tessa that no longer posts here. She got it remounted just within the last couple years, but I don’t know who did it and I don’t have a way to contact her. It used to be in a 4-prong setting. In spite of the setting being almost new I’m not opposed to having all the prongs redone to strengthen them. I never want to lose this stone.

 

[Mike R]

I thought the piece looked almost new, but the claws a very thin in that one place on the claws I can see.
If you look at the photo, the outside claw on the left looks very thin on the side by the girdle but fine on top, this whold make them very prone to lifting and breaking off.

This usually happens with wear, but this shold be on all of the claw, or if the diamond was to large for the setting.
It probably would be best to replace them all.

 

[stone-cold11]

Yap, prongs looks too thin at the break, from what I understand, the cut into the prong should not be more than half the width.

 

[Andelain]

Well, I got a bit of good news on this. I contacted Whiteflash and told Vera what happened, and she offered to help even though tey didn't sell either the stone or the setting in this case, but I am a repeat customer and they're a Vatche dealer. I'm going to ship the ring to them and they'll send it to Vatche on my behalf. (of course I'll pay all the shipping) She thinks they'll fix the broken prong under warranty, but isn't sure if they'll retip it at no charge.

Even if they charge I'll still have it done if it needs it because there's no way I want to risk losing that stone. I just think it's really nice of Vera and WF to step up like this for me. The only bad part is I'll be missing my ring for a while. But at least I can send it through someone I trust.

 

[denverappraiser]

The reason it broke is because the seat was overcut when it was set in the first place. Did Vatche set this or someone else?

Either way, it's not that hard to fix but you should address it and the other 5 prongs probably have a similar problem. Get it fixed before you wear the ring more.

 

[Andelain]

The reason it broke is because the seat was overcut when it was set in the first place. Did Vatche set this or someone else?

Either way, it's not that hard to fix but you should address it and the other 5 prongs probably have a similar problem. Get it fixed before you wear the ring more.

Thanks for your input, it seems several of you more experienced eyes saw that. Probably the setting meant for a 1 1/2 carat stone was a hair small for this one. I really don't know who set it, since the previous owner got it done shortly before she consigned it at JbEG. I really doubt it was Vatche that set it, but that would be nice if they did and have a record of it.

I completely agree with you, I'm going to get all the prongs redone.

 

[vbnet]

Whew! I'm glad you are having ALL the claws redone, Bravo!

 

[luvmysparklies]

Hi There-
I have been a member here for quite a while although I have not been on the boards in a great while. I have a platinum ring that I believe needs some prong work and when I saw your post's title, I just thought I'd take a peek to see what your prong problem was. I do know more details about the ring stone and setting. If you're all set with sending it to WF, I understand and they will do a fab job and you do have a relationship with them. (I have bought many things from them and dealt with Lesley.) I just thought I would offer more information about this ring, if you felt like you wanted it and it may impact who you send it to. Please let me know if you're definitely all set or if you'd like the info, because I definitely do not mean to intrude....

 

[Andelain]

Hi There-
I have been a member here for quite a while although I have not been on the boards in a great while. I have a platinum ring that I believe needs some prong work and when I saw your post's title, I just thought I'd take a peek to see what your prong problem was. I do know more details about the ring stone and setting. If you're all set with sending it to WF, I understand and they will do a fab job and you do have a relationship with them. (I have bought many things from them and dealt with Lesley.) I just thought I would offer more information about this ring, if you felt like you wanted it and it may impact who you send it to. Please let me know if you're definitely all set or if you'd like the info, because I definitely do not mean to intrude....

Hi there,

Nothing is set in stone yet, (pun intended) and I'd love more info about it. I have a little, but not near as much as I'd need to know where else to go.

Thank you

 

[luvmysparklies]

Hi Andelain-

As I recall, your beautiful stone started out life a little "fatter" weighing in at a few points above 2.00 carats and a sparkly, but non-ideal diamond. The owner wanted to change the setting and sent it in to a wonderful jeweler to help her through the process. Upon thorough examination, the jeweler was pained to discover that the stone had a chip under one of the prongs. Turned out that the chip was so severe that it threatened the stability of the entire stone and that one wrong hit and it could have crumbled (yeah, real technical terminology here ). Anyway, the jeweler told the owner that it would need recutting and there was an estimated loss that was significant (I believe the estimated loss put the final weight at around 1.30 or so--little bit fuzzy on the exact details, but I know I'm in the neighborhood). It was the eightstar owner that was the one doing the estimating and potential re-cut, and he usually gave himself some wiggleroom and overestimated. Even though the diamond owner was devastated at that amount of loss, she went ahead with it.

Well, upon some "liposuction" shall we say, the stone is a sexy, blingy 1.57 diamond. After this transformation, and being blown away by the beauty, the owner shopped around for different new settings and decided on the Vatche 4-prong setting. The jeweler coordinated with Vatche and got it set and it stayed in this setting for about a year. Around the time of all this, everyone was absolutely loving the Vatche 4-prong setting as well as the Vatche Royal Crown 6-prong setting. I believe the owner bought the Royal Crown second-hand and had it re-set.

I don't know for sure, but I do believe that she sent it back to the same jeweler for this re-set of the stone into the secondhand Royal Crown. Since it was second hand, I don't think Vatche was willing to set it. They had very strict rules about their settings and were only offering platinum and 18k yellow gold at the time, and even if you wanted your local jeweler to size their rings, they put their stamp dead in the center and invalidated your warranty.

This part is my experience, but I think lends itself to your situation:
I know for a fact that the jeweler was having problems with the quality of his bench at the time, because I bought 4 diamonds from whiteflash and worked with this jeweler to set them in rings for my sisters and at the same time, sent him another setting that my local jeweler cut out the center head and replaced it without permission from me. The priority was my four rings and when the jeweler got my rings back, the prongs were crooked and not filed down, etc. So, I can believe that this might have been the same person who overly cut the seats in your ring, and it might have gone this way because Vatche would not touch any of their rings not bought through one of their authorized sellers. The jeweler had had enough and fired that bench and had access to another bench that also did laser welding. I got all the rings back perfect and there are no problems even today.

Back to you:
The jeweler that helped me and helped with your stone is Wink Jones. Aside from the lightheartedness in telling you the info about your stone, I must say in all seriousness that the former owner is an extremely nice person that I have bought things from, and I know it pained her to even have to sell it. I saw this on JBEG and knew it was hers, I just didn't have the funds to buy it. But I am so glad to see that it went to someone who really loves the stone and cares about its integrity and protection in a setting. Sorry this is kind of long I hope this helps you.

 

[Andelain]

Hi Andelain-

As I recall, your beautiful stone started out life ......... I hope this helps you.

OK, this changes things.. First of all, thank you for all this info, LuvmySparklies. There’s some of it that I knew and some critical stuff that I didn’t know. I had seen Tessa’s posts about the chip and the stone going on a diet, coming back as an I instead of an H as before. I’m assuming you were familiar with her other Eightstar, a 1.10ct F-I2 in a Tiffany replica? I don’t know if you saw, but I bought that one too. Here’s a couple of my threads if you want to see when I bought it and what’s happening now.
Doing Business With Jewels by Erica Grace and I Finally finished the Sketches for my New Pendant!!!

Do you know if she got the 1.10 reset at the same time as the 1.57? The reason I ask is when I sent the 1.10 to Whiteflash recently they described the poor job setting and showed me pictures that are much like your rings the first time around. Uneven, overly cut seats, metal flashing not polished off. They were reluctant to reuse the setting even for the moissanite I sent them until I explained that it was just going to be something I leave out in case my house ever gets broken into so the thief think he got my good ring. The overly cut seats look much like the prongs on my 1.57. That prong broke with no noticeable impact.

WF was going to send it to Vatche for me, but it sounds like they might turn it away again. I think the thing to do is see if I can get Wink to weigh in here with his suggestion. It may well be that I should hire his current bench to do the repair. I’ve never bought anything from him, but have talked to him before. (He’s got a CBI that I’ve had my eyes on for a few weeks now and he send me an awesome video of it)

I had a good impression of Tessa from her posts too. I did find it rather ironic that she mentioned being anal about keeping her rings clean and they both ended up in Iraq, which it the dustiest country I’ve ever seen. I do keep it as clean as I can though, and you’re right I do love that stone. In fact I won’t wear that one any day when I’m doing more than going back and forth to my office on base. I don’t even give it chopper rides. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me this.

 

[WinkHPD]

Hi Andelain-

As I recall, your beautiful stone started out life ......... I hope this helps you.

OK, this changes things.. First of all, thank you for all this info, LuvmySparklies. There’s some of it that I knew and some critical stuff that I didn’t know. I had seen Tessa’s posts about the chip and the stone going on a diet, coming back as an I instead of an H as before. I’m assuming you were familiar with her other Eightstar, a 1.10ct F-I2 in a Tiffany replica? I don’t know if you saw, but I bought that one too. Here’s a couple of my threads if you want to see when I bought it and what’s happening now.
Doing Business With Jewels by Erica Grace and I Finally finished the Sketches for my New Pendant!!!

Do you know if she got the 1.10 reset at the same time as the 1.57? The reason I ask is when I sent the 1.10 to Whiteflash recently they described the poor job setting and showed me pictures that are much like your rings the first time around. Uneven, overly cut seats, metal flashing not polished off. They were reluctant to reuse the setting even for the moissanite I sent them until I explained that it was just going to be something I leave out in case my house ever gets broken into so the thief think he got my good ring. The overly cut seats look much like the prongs on my 1.57. That prong broke with no noticeable impact.

WF was going to send it to Vatche for me, but it sounds like they might turn it away again. I think the thing to do is see if I can get Wink to weigh in here with his suggestion. It may well be that I should hire his current bench to do the repair. I’ve never bought anything from him, but have talked to him before. (He’s got a CBI that I’ve had my eyes on for a few weeks now and he send me an awesome video of it)

I had a good impression of Tessa from her posts too. I did find it rather ironic that she mentioned being anal about keeping her rings clean and they both ended up in Iraq, which it the dustiest country I’ve ever seen. I do keep it as clean as I can though, and you’re right I do love that stone. In fact I won’t wear that one any day when I’m doing more than going back and forth to my office on base. I don’t even give it chopper rides. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me this.

I am happy to weigh in here. I would do the same thing that WhiteFlash will do, send it to Vatche to let them work on the ring. Since it is a previously owned ring they will not do it under warranty, but they will be happy to fix the ring for you for a fee. While it is there they will check all of the prongs for you to make sure that there are no other visible problems.

Wink

 

[Andelain]

I am happy to weigh in here. I would do the same thing that WhiteFlash will do, send it to Vatche to let them work on the ring. Since it is a previously owned ring they will not do it under warranty, but they will be happy to fix the ring for you for a fee. While it is there they will check all of the prongs for you to make sure that there are no other visible problems.

Wink

OK, I was under the impression from what LuvmySparklies said that they would refuse to work on it at all.

 

[WinkHPD]

I am happy to weigh in here. I would do the same thing that WhiteFlash will do, send it to Vatche to let them work on the ring. Since it is a previously owned ring they will not do it under warranty, but they will be happy to fix the ring for you for a fee. While it is there they will check all of the prongs for you to make sure that there are no other visible problems.

Wink

OK, I was under the impression from what LuvmySparklies said that they would refuse to work on it at all.

We just sent in a ring a few weeks ago that was purchased from one of our clients and the new owner wanted it sized and a new diamond set in it.

They gave us a quote, our new client approved it and the work was done.

Wink

 

[Andelain]

I am happy to weigh in here. I would do the same thing that WhiteFlash will do, send it to Vatche to let them work on the ring. Since it is a previously owned ring they will not do it under warranty, but they will be happy to fix the ring for you for a fee. While it is there they will check all of the prongs for you to make sure that there are no other visible problems.

Wink

OK, I was under the impression from what LuvmySparklies said that they would refuse to work on it at all.

We just sent in a ring a few weeks ago that was purchased from one of our clients and the new owner wanted it sized and a new diamond set in it.

They gave us a quote, our new client approved it and the work was done.

Wink

OK, then that shouldn't be too painful. Are they halfway reasonable with thier prices?

 

[luvmysparklies]

Andelain-

During the timeframe (back in 2003, I believe) I was told by a different jeweler (who was also a member here, but doesn't post anymore) that "Vatche won't touch rings they didn't sell through an authorized seller." So that is where I got that information. I had PM'ed him about this and that was his response.

I am sorry that I left you with the impression that Vatche wouldn't work on it, it was the last impression that I had. I am glad to learn that that is not true--heh, clearly never was and the guy just didn't want to be bothered with a re-size .

I don't remember about the other ring though...I seem to remember that carat weight and clarity, but I thought it was associated with someone else on a different board, but I really could be wrong about that. Your eightstar stood out in my mind because of how it came to be-- being a very emotional process for her, I followed the story and wound up connecting with, and buying things from her.

When someone mentioned a laser welder and all that stuff, my experience with Wink came to mind, so I just wanted to let you know that he has resources with that capability--if that is what you were relegated to doing. It does not sound that way now.

I am off to look at your other postings!

 

[WinkHPD]

Heck, back then that might even have been their policy. I just asked and they did it, so I do not know what they did several years ago. I find them an agreeable company to work with, and I think their charge was reasonable.

I know WhiteFlash works with them now too, so they can help you as well.

Lots of good people here on Pricescope!

Wink

 

[Andelain]

Andelain-

During the timeframe (back in 2003, I believe) I was told by a different jeweler (who was also a member here, but doesn't post anymore) that "Vatche won't touch rings they didn't sell through an authorized seller." So that is where I got that information. I had PM'ed him about this and that was his response.

I am sorry that I left you with the impression that Vatche wouldn't work on it, it was the last impression that I had. I am glad to learn that that is not true--heh, clearly never was and the guy just didn't want to be bothered with a re-size .

I don't remember about the other ring though...I seem to remember that carat weight and clarity, but I thought it was associated with someone else on a different board, but I really could be wrong about that. Your eightstar stood out in my mind because of how it came to be-- being a very emotional process for her, I followed the story and wound up connecting with, and buying things from her.

When someone mentioned a laser welder and all that stuff, my experience with Wink came to mind, so I just wanted to let you know that he has resources with that capability--if that is what you were relegated to doing. It does not sound that way now.

I am off to look at your other postings!

No problem, I can see why you thought that. I guess there's not much money to be made on a resize. But then I don't think WF is going to make anything on this one since they're just acting as a go-between for me. Great customer service, seeing as how they've never had anything to do with any part of the ring.

I say the story of the recut just this year, and doubt I saw all of it, but do remember part of it including the stone coming back an I instead of an H. It's hard for me to feel bad about the recut, since I've only ever seen it as the beautiful stone it is now, but I can imagine that was no fun. I do know that the 1.10 was hers also, I found that out when I was buying them. The 1.10 used to be in a 4 prong setting also. I hope she comes back here some time and sees that her stones went to a loving master.