Do these prongs look right to you? New sapphire gets loose in setting...

[anemone]

So less than 24 hours after I present the lucky recipient with this sapphire ring, the stone is audibly rattling around in the setting. The setting is 18K, so I know it is soft, but still. If this ring is going to last for years, it had better stay solid over 24 hours or I have to pick another setting.

I have a couple of questions and will post some new photos.
Is this basically how you file the prongs and bend them over? None of the tips of the prongs are actually touching the stone, and ANY thread or hair or anything could catch the tip of the prong and peel it back. I was always under the impression that the prong notches were just to clearance the prong tip so it could be bent over the girdle and secure the stone with downward pressure. This stone is definitely just secured with "sideways" pressure so the notch is presumably applying tension to the stone.

Upon examination I notice there is one prong tip that is not touching the stone at all. It's bent up a hair...
I've attached a pic.

*oops, pic is huge, gotta resize*

 

[anemone]

Hopefully this is a smaller pic. I resized to 640x480. You can see the the notch in the prong was very deeply cut and the head of the prong isn''t even touching the stone. This loose prong is what causes the stone to rattle around.

 

[anemone]

Here''s another prong, which looks to be tight enough, as in it''s contacting the stone. See how the tip of the prong looks ready to catch anything? Is that standard operating procedure?

one more pic next post...

 

[anemone]

Here is the third of 4 prongs. Basically the tips of none of the 4 prongs are touching the stone, and the poor girl can''t even put her jacket on without catching a prong on a thread.

I didn''t anticipate this complication.

So for the questions:

What might the jeweler say if I went back and said I''d like the prongs flush on the stone so it wouldn''t catch everything?
What if the jeweler says "That''s what you get with a 4 prong setting and I can''t make them flush."?

Is it possible to swap out those 4 prongs for 8 prongs that are shaped like claws and will actually hold this thing in place? Is soldering on a new set of prongs a complex operation or relatively routine?

The setting wasn''t exactly cheap but I would really like this ring to be done and not have to worry about losing the stone.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

That sucks....I thought that was such the perfect setting for that stone. I am not an expert, but I will try my best to help. A stone should not come loose from its setting, expecially less than a week after being set. The gold should not be the issue. My grandmother's engagement diamond is set in an 18 kt gold pendant. It is so tiny that the the jeweler was not sure he had anything that would hold it, we found something and despite it's tiny tiny size it has held for almost 2 years despite my "not so gentle" treatment. The only education I have seen on settings is on the Tiffany and Co website. I am going to try to put a link because it does so some nice pictures that are similar to yours. I would say that was a poor setting job, just my humble opinion.

Tiffany info

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Just saw this, must have posted at the same time, here is my best shot....hopefully someone who has been through this will chime in.



What might the jeweler say if I went back and said I''d like the prongs flush on the stone so it wouldn''t catch everything?
What if the jeweler says "That''s what you get with a 4 prong setting and I can''t make them flush."?

I have had pronged rings that don''t catch and I am sure other people have to, so that is not true.
Is it possible to swap out those 4 prongs for 8 prongs that are shaped like claws and will actually hold this thing in place? Is soldering on a new set of prongs a complex operation or relatively routine?

I would think you would need a new head, I don''t think the issue is the prongs but how the stone was set, to me the prongs look pretty thick and it appears they would do the job, but I am not sure about that one. I have several friends with large stones with 4 prongs that do not have a problem with the stone staying in place or it catching things.
The setting wasn''t exactly cheap but I would really like this ring to be done and not have to worry about losing the stone.

I hear you, I am looking at settings right now it is driving me crazy that this is so hard. Is the setting a stock setting or was the head made custom for the sapphire? Another possible issue is that you may be putting a custum cut sapphire into a ring that was made for standard cut diamonds. I don''t know. I just droped my stone off and the benchman refuses to set it until he sees the stone and the ring together. If there is any kind of issue, he will pretty much refuse and I will have to start over. I know it is the best in the end, but it is painfully long. If this jeweler gives you a hard time, consider getting an outside opinion.

 

[anemone]

Thanks for the reply. I bent the errant prong back down with a credit card and it seems to be holding...But wait, the stone still rattles around a bit.

Another thing that annoys me is the that the stone used to have an almost PERFECT polish. I mean even under magnification, there were only a couple of facets out of 97 that weren''t perfect.

Now it looks to me like the whole table is scratched up from polishing the prongs and there is some minor facet wear.

 

[anemone]

The setting was just a stock setting the jeweler had. It seemed perfect to me: It had 4 prongs, a basket for security, and it was the clean style I was going for in 18K. Done.

I''ll take it back to the jeweler tomorrow and see if he can have a benchman tighten it up, but if it gets loose again, either by catching things or by not being done right, I''ll have to have it reset into an 8 prong setting, almost certainly at my considerable expense.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

No, that is definitely NOT how the prongs should be. They should be touching the stone, which is probably what is the problem. Those prongs could catch on something, pull back, and bye bye sapphire

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Taking it back and either finding the problem and fixing it, or if unfixable, getting a new setting is the best course of action to take. I hate to see that pretty stone get hurt by it's setting. The jeweler may also be able to so something to round out the tips of the prongs so that they don't catch onto things. Good luck tomorrow and keep us up to date.

 

[icekid]

Oh no... how disappointing! The prongs should absolutely not be like that. And I can''t believe they mucked the stone up too while doing the poor setting job. You have every right to be upset

 

[Catmom]

OH NO, I''m so sorry. I can''t believe what they did to your poor stone! It would be going back pronto if it were me. The prongs should not stick up like that and the sapphire should not rattle in the setting. Your pictures are very clear as to what is wrong. I would take them with for reference.

 

[Dreamer_D]

That is the sign of a poor setting job and a poor benchamn. I can''t believe they scratched your stone.

I''m sorry to say, if it were me, I would not work with that jeweler again, nor would I trust them to fix it. If they were able to do it properly, and cared to do so, they would have done it in the first place. I had a similar experience with my three-stone ring, and I am no longer taking my business to that jeweler. I''m going to have Whiteflash set my stone because their work on my dimaond setting was impeccable.

See what they say. I worry they might scratch the stone more when they try to fix it????

 

[anemone]

Thanks for all your replies.

Well they tightened the prongs and we''ll see what happens. If it gets loose again they''ll have to change the head to something different. I''ll keep y''all posted. I don''t know what to do about the screwed up polish on the table. It''s not like I can whip out the microscope and show him. I''m definitely not going to have them "repolish" the stone. The damage is invisible to the eye and hardly visible through a loupe.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

When I see prongs like that, I always wonder why in the world doesn''t the benchman look at the thing with a loupe before sending it out to the customer?! That is not very good practice, in my opinion.

 

[marcy]

Sorry you are having trouble with your new ring. I hope the prongs hold now. Maybe ask them to polish the table for you since it wasn''t scratched before they mounted it for you. I really like your ring - pretty sapphire.

 

[innerkitten]

What a total bummer! The stone is beautiful and it looks great in that setting. I hope it stays this time.