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Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosity

plummiecat

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
324
I recently purchased the Vatche platinum U113 setting. My husband immediately noticed a popped bubble in the metal when using a 10x loupe when we first opened the box. To the naked eye the defect looks like a tiny, tiny speck of dust about the size of a pin point. The spot is at the base of a prong. I contacted the jeweler I purchased the ring from who then contacted Vatche. I asked for a new setting but was told Vatche could fix the spot with a laser. My question is will this laser be able to fix the spot and have the ring look "perfect"? I remember reading recent posts by a PSer who stated Vatche made the issue with her ring worse with each repair. I can't decide if I should leave the ring alone or send it to Vatche. I'm disappointed the ring isn't perfect, especially since it is the most expensive item we have ever purchased, next to our home, but the flaw is very tiny. I would greatly appreciate everyone's opinions. Thanks.
 

aviastar

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
1,190
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Porosity is part and parcel with casting- it happens. Let them fix it and see if it passes your standards before demanding a new casting- a laser should be able to take care of it completely.

Best of luck!
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
40,225
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

NO LASER! That only fixes the cosmetic! It doesn't fix the structural problems. If you can see it on the outside, the inside is likely riddled with holes like swiss cheese! That makes the setting extremely fragile at the areas where it exists.

The RIGHT solution (and the ONLY one I'd accept) is a complete re-cast.

Also, you didn't PAY for a damaged ring. You paid for a ring that was made correctly. This is a manufacturer defect that they should recast without quibble (at least any reputable place would) and lasing is NOT a fix. NO, no, no.
 

oldminer

Ideal_Rock
Trade
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6,691
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

All anyone sees in a finished jewelry item is the OUTSIDE. All cast items have internal potential for some porosity. If you only have one tiny speck you can certainly allow a skilled operator mask it with a laser. If you then no longer see it, and the rest of the ring is also eye-clean, then you have a suitable repair. It would be incorrect to make assumptions about what the integrity of an entire ring is based on one tiny surface visible defect. If it bugs you, give the original seller the opportunity to make you happy. When carefully performed a laser repair of such a defect can be invisible and make you think the entire product is perfect. In truth, visibly perfect on the outside is the best any of us can discern. What's going on inside? Very few people have much concern below the surface. I have never been asked about invisible structural integrity except by one engineer who wanted to have the ring assayed by x-ray "just to be sure". I was impressed by his thorough approach, but he ended up very happy. Hope you do end up happy, too.
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
10,869
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

I am the aforementioned poster who had issues with repairs, and my rings--ALL OF THEM--had porosity issues, usually at the join area where the shank met the wire head. We did address that, but they were never really dealt with, and we never pressed the issues since the issues we had were almost always prong/seat related.

Having owned quite a few with porosity issues in the past, a lot of it depends where it's located and if it will rub against anything else. If they can fix it with a laser and make it undetectable, great. But like Dave says, you can't see the inside, so no matter how amazing the outside finish is, you never really know.

The only true way to manufacture platinum rings without porosity that I am aware of is through Die-Struck work. And that's I assume not even guaranteed. But most handmade settings that are truely hand wrought are wirework. I know that vatche casts some parts, depending on the setting, the shank for example. The wirework I thought was all hand-done. If Chris from ERD is on, he can confirm or deny that, bec he used to work for Vatche.
 

oldminer

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Die struck items are pressed into shape by large forces and just don't end up porous because they are more dense than cast items. Cast items, cast in a proper vacuum chamber with clean, correctly alloyed, and properly heated metals are not generally porous either, but stuff happens! Not every casting is problem free. Hand made items are dense, much like die struck. Hand made items often show some evidence where parts are joined together and sometimes those joints do show porosity or bubbling of the solder or welded joints. Hand made almost always impies something is made that "might" have some artisitic or slight mechanical irregularity. Every hand made items is an individual with the possibility of nuances in the perfection of the product. Items that are massed produced tend to have totally worked over original models and can often come out cookie cutter perfect except for the variations in surface finish and, of course, porosity visibility.
 

denverappraiser

Ideal_Rock
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Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

'Zap and burnish' to address pits is a standard part of the manufacturing process with platinum castings. A visible pit at the end is more a matter of an incomplete manufacturing job than a 'repair'. There is a point at which it's better to start over but the presence of a visible pit in a cast piece is more of question of quality control than a defect and fixing it is part of the original job. Done properly the finished result is not inferior to any other 'new' item that they make.
 

plummiecat

Shiny_Rock
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Nov 16, 2011
Messages
324
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Thanks so much for all who responded. I'm going to send it back for repair and hope for the best. I'm very disappointed that the flaw was not caught by Vatche's quality control. The jeweler who sold me the ring is not happy about having to pay for the return shipping. I feel bad for them but I wish they had noticed the flaw before sending the ring to me and this whole process could have been avoided.
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
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40,225
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Learn something new everyday. This runs counter to what I was told by my bench jeweler. But okay, you all have more experience than I do.
 

Mike R

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
242
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Gypsy|1331855243|3149629 said:
Learn something new everyday. This runs counter to what I was told by my bench jeweler. But okay, you all have more experience than I do.

I don't think you have to learn anything new Gypsy, I actually share your first opinion, it's just a difference in what's acceptable to people.

Yes you will never know what's going on inside any casting, but I have never seen a casting in my life with just one porosity bubble.
Seeing any surface porosity would greatly increase the odds of having interior porosity. Like you said I don't view porosity as a cosmetic issue either.

The other flaws that were bought up that could be found in a hand forged ring would also be just as unexceptable to me.
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
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Messages
40,225
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Mike R|1331856146|3149639 said:
Gypsy|1331855243|3149629 said:
Learn something new everyday. This runs counter to what I was told by my bench jeweler. But okay, you all have more experience than I do.

I don't think you have to learn anything new Gypsy, I actually share your first opinion, it's just a difference in what's acceptable to people.

Yes you will never know what's going on inside any casting, but I have never seen a casting in my life with just one porosity bubble.
Seeing any surface porosity would greatly increase the odds of having interior porosity. Like you said I don't view porosity as a cosmetic issue either.

The other flaws that were bought up that could be found in a hand forged ring would also be just as unexceptable to me.


Okay. Whew. You pretty much summed up both what I've been told by my (excellent) bench jeweler and what my own personal feelings are.

There are differences in what people are willing to accept, and that makes sense. But for me personally, porosity is a not a cosmetic issue.

Thanks for posting Mike.

Also, I really like your posts (not just the one's were you agree with me) and hope you continue to stick around. :wavey:
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
10,869
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

plummiecat|1331853611|3149602 said:
Thanks so much for all who responded. I'm going to send it back for repair and hope for the best. I'm very disappointed that the flaw was not caught by Vatche's quality control. The jeweler who sold me the ring is not happy about having to pay for the return shipping. I feel bad for them but I wish they had noticed the flaw before sending the ring to me and this whole process could have been avoided.
Sadly, there's an awful lot that they don't catch.
 

Mike R

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
242
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Gypsy|1331857223|3149644 said:
Mike R|1331856146|3149639 said:
Gypsy|1331855243|3149629 said:
Learn something new everyday. This runs counter to what I was told by my bench jeweler. But okay, you all have more experience than I do.

I don't think you have to learn anything new Gypsy, I actually share your first opinion, it's just a difference in what's acceptable to people.

Yes you will never know what's going on inside any casting, but I have never seen a casting in my life with just one porosity bubble.
Seeing any surface porosity would greatly increase the odds of having interior porosity. Like you said I don't view porosity as a cosmetic issue either.

The other flaws that were bought up that could be found in a hand forged ring would also be just as unexceptable to me.


Okay. Whew. You pretty much summed up both what I've been told by my (excellent) bench jeweler and what my own personal feelings are.

There are differences in what people are willing to accept, and that makes sense. But for me personally, porosity is a not a cosmetic issue.

Thanks for posting Mike.

Also, I really like your posts (not just the one's were you agree with me) and hope you continue to stick around. :wavey:

Thanks for the feedback Gypsy :wavey: back at ya.
 

plummiecat

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
324
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Can the laser work be done without removing the stone from the setting?
 

ame

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Messages
10,869
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

plummiecat|1331896565|3149912 said:
Can the laser work be done without removing the stone from the setting?
Usually yes. Depends on the location.
 

Karl_K

Super_Ideal_Rock
Trade
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
14,634
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Gypsy|1331857223|3149644 said:
Mike R|1331856146|3149639 said:
Gypsy|1331855243|3149629 said:
Learn something new everyday. This runs counter to what I was told by my bench jeweler. But okay, you all have more experience than I do.

I don't think you have to learn anything new Gypsy, I actually share your first opinion, it's just a difference in what's acceptable to people.

Yes you will never know what's going on inside any casting, but I have never seen a casting in my life with just one porosity bubble.
Seeing any surface porosity would greatly increase the odds of having interior porosity. Like you said I don't view porosity as a cosmetic issue either.

The other flaws that were bought up that could be found in a hand forged ring would also be just as unexceptable to me.


Okay. Whew. You pretty much summed up both what I've been told by my (excellent) bench jeweler and what my own personal feelings are.

There are differences in what people are willing to accept, and that makes sense. But for me personally, porosity is a not a cosmetic issue.

Thanks for posting Mike.

Also, I really like your posts (not just the one's were you agree with me) and hope you continue to stick around. :wavey:
I am a little late to this thread but I agree with you also Gypsy.
Just because they can hide the surface indicators that does not make it a good thing to do!
 

plummiecat

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
324
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

I would definitely prefer a new setting but Vatche wants to do a repair. I will have a talk with the jeweler I purchased the ring from and tell him what I've learned. Even if I demand a new setting, I wouldn't be surprised if Vatche just repaired my old one anyway and hoped I didn't notice.
 

Mike R

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
242
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

There's a really good article on porosity I'm sure you will find helpful, if you google "porosity the jewelers nightmare"
it's on the profitional jeweler website.

I'm sorry your having these problems.
 

plummiecat

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
324
Re: Bench Jewelers Please Help Re: Repairing Platinum Porosi

Thanks!
 
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