They tried to make me go to (girdle) rehab... Girdle Qs!

[camomof4]

Amy Winehouse jokes aside: Many of the OECs I'm looking at have thin to x thin girdles, and I'm not interested in setting my stone in a bezel. Maybe one day a halo, but for now preferably just a prong setting. As my screen name implies, I also have 4 kids and a busy lifestyle. I will be cautious (no yoga in the ring), but I want to be able to wear the ring every day. So, I'm going to assume that stones with thin to x thin girdles aren't the best choice for me as is.

However I've heard some of you talking about girdle rehab. I'd love to know details: what is this, what exactly does this entail, is it costly, how long does it take, who does it, etc. And most importantly, is this a possible solution to my girdle problem? In other words, if I rehab my (theoretical) stone (it said no, no, no), would the x thin to thin girdle then be safe in a prong setting?

Please chime in, old cut experts!

 

[Bonfire]

Haha! I love the Amy Winehouse reference and the song too! I'm definitely not an expert but have an antique cushion with a very thin to thin girdle. Mine is set in a 4 prong, see avatar (but it's being reset as we speak in the Chloe setting by cvb-lad). I would contact Erica at Lad or Grace at Jbg, this certainly is their area of expertise. It really comes down to how you take care of your ring, how you use your hands and what your preference or stone passion is. Any type of stone can be chipped if you aren't careful. Good luck!

 

[Diamondz1]

Hey camomof4 - I'm not an expert but I did have the girdle on my antique cushion rehabbed so I can tell you about my experience. (I also had a hard time finding info when I was trying to decide whether or not to go for it so, hopefully this helps a little.)

I bought an antique cushion that I definitely wanted to have prong-set but, it had an extremely thin-thin girdle that was already chipped up quite a bit. Rehabbing a girdle basically means the girdle is recut; you will lose some carat weight. The end result is a thicker, hopefully safer girdle.

In my case, I wasn't sure how I felt about the color of the diamond so Adam (at OWD) temp set it so that I could wear it for a few days. (I fell in love after 20 minutes and knew that it was mine - to answer your previous post about how one chooses between a modern vs. an antique cut - that was how it happened for me!). On my second day of wearing it, my neighbor's dog jumped up on me and, in an attempt to steady myself, I swung my hand out and smashed the ring into a metal door frame : ( I freaked out and was convinced that I'd chipped it more (in the end, not so, thankfully) but everything else that I did with the ring on for the next few days made me so nervous, I knew I needed to have the girdle thickened to feel safe wearing it. I wear my ring for everything except the gym/swimming so it needs to be tough.

I returned it to Adam to finalize the purchase and schedule the recut - His cutter did the girdle, it's thicker everywhere except beneath the prongs, and the old chips were polished out, and his bench took care of unmounting, resizing, and resetting the stone in less than two weeks (I live in NYC which probably facilitated a quick turnaround), at no charge. That said, I'm not sure that Adam would offer recutting as a service if you didn't buy your stone from him. I have read that other jewelers do offer it for a few hundred dollars - hopefully some of the lovely and very helpful people here on the forum can assist with those details.

It was scary to send the stone away to lose carat weight, not knowing what the end result would be but, I know my lifestyle (and anxiety levels!) so, for me, it was a no-brainer. It's probably different for everyone though!

 

[camomof4]

Thank you! So helpful. Does the "rehab" cause you to lose diameter as well as carat weight? I'm guessing yes...

 

[Diamondz1]

Yes, bingo. The dimensions will change too. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take more detailed photos in the pre-rehab stage but I only have a few. Here's a before and after view. I *think* the stone was originally set north-south, and is now east-west. It's almost square so it doesn't matter much, but in terms of viewing the difference it's something to consider.

 

[camomof4]

Holy moly - what a gorgeous stone!

Did you notice much of a visual difference before and after? It's probably only the smallest amount smaller I would think. Also, did they tell you it was safe to wear in a prong setting after rehab then? Does that really eliminate much of the risk?

Last one - if an antique diamond has a faceted v thin girdle, is that safer? Perhaps it means it's already been to rehab?

Bonfire: I LOVE the Chloe! Can't wait to see.

 

[Diamondz1]

Thank you! I did not notice a difference with my naked eye after the ring came back. When I revisit the old photos, I can see a difference - it had more of a fat shape before the rehab but, I guess that's unavoidable.

When I banged the stone on the door frame, I emailed Adam in a panic and he told me that diamonds are very hard to chip. I was also concerned that fixing the chipped edge would make the stone lopsided since the preexisting chips were concentrated on one side but again, he said no worries, the chips could be cleaned without changing the shape.

When I handed it in for repairs I just said please make it bullet proof and left it at that. I'm usually more obsessive but I was just like, "Here, you're the expert, please take care of it!" Lol.

I'm pretty sure he would have set it any which way I requested just as he had no problem thickening the girdle for me when I asked for that. I don't know if it was "unsafe" to wear beforehand - I asked about the feathers near the girdle at one point and he said there were no structural problems with the stone - but since I perceived a danger, he did what it took to make me happy.

As for your very thin girdle question, maybe some trades people or PS pros can chime in because I'm not sure on that. Diamonds ARE hard to damage so it may depend on your comfort level with "very thin" more than anything else?

 

[Resonance.Of.Life]

My concern would be would insurance cover the cost of the diamond if something (probably highly unlikely) happened to it while it was getting rehabbed? IE: broke on the polishing wheel for example?

I recall this was a concern for another PSer who rehabbed the girdle on her OEC before sending it to GIA to get certed. If the diamond was destroyed while being polished I believe she said the insurance company would not cover it.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I had a whole stone (mrb) recut, and really, I wouldn't hesitate to do girdle rehab IF a diamond had thinner than thin (I will do it if I ever buy an OEC with that issue). Nothing is wrong with thin. It is very thin or extremely thin that are more in danger of chipping.

 

[camomof4]

I had a whole stone (mrb) recut, and really, I wouldn't hesitate to do girdle rehab IF a diamond had thinner than thin (I will do it if I ever buy an OEC with that issue). Nothing is wrong with thin. It is very thin or extremely thin that are more in danger of chipping.

thanks DS! i had a somewhat off-topic question for you. Is there a way to private message? I know there used to be, but I don't see the feature now.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I have my diamond listed in LoupeTroop (loose stones/diamonds), so you should be able to easily locate me from the picture.

I just saw this and thought of you. It is a smaller weight but excellent spread as it is a transitional instead of an OEC. Even if it is too small, it is a good example of a nice facet pattern. As you can see, there are numerous looks to these old cut stones!

http://loupetroop.com/listings/rings-natural-diamond-center/2-dot-61ct-transitional-slash-early-modern-round-brilliant