Ultra Sonics and vintage settings

[surfgirl]

So, I was at Nordstrom's Fine Jewelry the other day and my friend who works there offered to clean and inspect my rings. I usually dont do this but once I've let her clean them and she always inspects them first, as well she should. I was surprised when she told me a few of the melee in my antique wband were loose. So I took a look and actually,several were loose. Naturally I was bummed out and I called SingleStone and Ari said if I came up he could run it over to his benchman and see if it's worth fiddling with but that sometimes it's not worth it to try to fix a vintage eternity ring with tiny melee because if you start fooling with one stone, it can cause a chain reaction of the adjacent stones coming loose. I asked if he could just take all of the stones out and re set them all back into the band and he said that becomes so costly that it's better to buy another band. But this is the band I got married with so I dont want another one!

I then took the ring to my local jeweler and he looked at it and said "I wouldn't touch it right now. Just wear it, enjoy it, and if a stone does come out, I'll replace it." He also said it can cause too much damage to try to futz with such small settings on a vintage piece. Something about repairs over the years sometimes mixing metals (WG & plat) to fix things and it's difficult to know what metal you're working with within the setting, etc. He also asked me how I clean my rings and I said "I dont use an US!" Well, I used on twice on this ring, once when the place I bought it cleaned when I picked it up, and once at Nordies. He told me to NEVER EVER put a ring with small melee in an US, and especially not a vintage piece because it's just shaking the ring at high frequencies and can loosen those tiny stones. I know people here have said that pave of any kind really shouldn't be put in the US, but this is channel set and I was admonished to keep away from US's. It's hand cleaning for me from now on!

Also, I noticed through the scope that the ring has been fixed probably many times over the 70+ years it's been around. In fact, when you look at the top of the ring, it seems like someone had, in the past, put a tiny lip over the top edge so the girdles are covered by a lip of metal and even though about 6-7 stones wiggle when you touch them, they're so close, and the lip is over their edges so I dont think they can actually pop out. Anyone have any thoughts as to what to do, or if you've had a similar situation, what you did? Thanks...!

 

[monarch64]

Aw, Surfgirl, I''m sure this is a tough one for you...no one likes to hear that their precious jewelry is having issues, but you haven''t done anything to purposely cause your sets to become looser, it just happens over time. You say you could see through the scope that there has been a lot of work done previously on this ring...that is a sign that the ring has just flat out been well cared for and that''s great.

I would say try to salvage the gold/platinum in the ring as well as the stones, and have everything totally reset. Start from scratch this time, pay the additional expense, and get it over with. Have those diamonds reset now before you lose any of the original ones and before you know it you''ll have a brand new ring consisting of the same stones you were married with.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

I''ve only recently gotten an ultrasonic so I haven''t had occasion to clean any of my vintage rings. Plus mine usually almost all have something, like enamel work, that would prevent me from ever trying to put them in the ultrasonic.

From your description I think the stones aren''t in immediate danger. I''d just wear the ring, enjoy it, clean it carefully and deal with any issues as they come up. I tend to think if the ring has last 70 years it will probably last another 70.