Platinum Band Split with no trauma! Help!

[shanter]

I was standing up in a wedding this weekend and my 3 month old ring gradually became rough at the bottom (where a re-size had occurred) directly at the "6 o'clock" and eventually split. The split occurred at some point in the evening, but I assure you that I was not doing anything to cause impact to my hand. The split was so tight it was cutting off circulation on my finger, and the broken metal was causing severe pain to my hand, while I couldn't even slide it off. I went to a local jeweler the next day, and they were able to slide it off after significant amounts of Windex. The jeweler is refusing to take blame for the split, insisting I dragged it over concrete or inflicted trauma on the ring. There is literally nothing, aside from holding flowers and a microphone, that could have caused an impact on the ring. Have you heard of similar cases? Can a poorly re-sized ring cause a slit? We are just devastated.

 

[MissStepcut]

Does it have engraving? The pic is blurry, but it looks pretty banged up...

 

[LGK]

Yes, a poor sizing job can split with little pressure applied. I have an antique platinum ring, and when I received it I took it to my favorite bench worker to size it down. He said "watch this" and took a pliers and with almost no force he popped out a large chunk out of the bottom. Apparently, when it was sized up, someone used white gold solder and didn't do a very good job. The piece that was soldered in, was barely attached and just... popped out.

So yes. Sizing jobs are absolutely not created equal, and can be done poorly. And fall apart easily.

ETA: the good news is, it's an easy fix. Take your ring to another bench, ask what type of solder they use- make sure it's the same type of metal your ring is.

 

[Amys Bling]

Does it have engraving? The pic is blurry, but it looks pretty banged up...

It does, the bottom looks scratched and scuffed...hmmm, should be an easy fiz though.

 

[centralsquare]

Seems it could be able to be fixed. If you suspect the vendor did a poor job, definitely call them out here so others are informed.

 

[D&T]

unfortunately many many jeweler does a quick solder quick fix to resize a ring. If you want it to withstand splitting, the more appropriate method time consuming and may cost more is laser welding the material to itself. I have seen many of my rings where it was solder (darker in the seam but to hide it, i would use a sunshine cloth and "buff" it out myself) however the one that was welded (not sure if i'm using the correct term) does not show sign of resizing and is very seamless.

Platinum should be resized using a laser welder instead of solder to complete the piece and withstand splitting. Unfortunately again, more costly and time consuming but much better method than soldering.

Anyways, here is the low down on the two methods:

Soldering vs Laser Welding :

There are many different reasons why laser welding is superior to soldering; one application that best describes many of these reasons is the process of ring sizing. To better understand the differences, we must first look closely at the two processes.

Soldering, or more appropriately brazing, is a capillary fill system where solder is heated with a gas oxygen torch, or open flame. The solder then flows across and bridges the noble metals together. Solder is an alloy that is designed to melt at a lower temperature than the noble metal one is soldering; therefore, it is a different alloy than the noble metal. The heat used for this process is very high, and thus often results in a visible seam, discoloration, or fire scale in the solder area.

Laser welding is a process in which light energy is used to weld the noble metals to themselves; this process fuses the noble metal on a molecular level resulting in a finished product that is all one alloy. When adding metal or “filler wire” with the laser welder; we will almost always add the same noble alloy. The heat used in the welding process is so localized that it results in a seamless, undetectable work zone that is not discolored in any way.

When soldering with a torch, the heat is applied to a relatively large area resulting in heat transfer. If the user is not careful, he can burn or destroy heat sensitive stones and other heat sensitive materials that are in close proximity to the flame. The jeweler is forced to either remove these stones or protect these areas with a heat absorbing substance.

The laser has a finely focused beam resulting in a minimal heat-affected zone or “bombardment zone.” During the welding process, the metal adjacent to the bombardment zone does not become molten. This precision heat source allows the user to weld metal in close proximity to heat sensitive stones and materials such as epoxy, enamel, pearls, and stringing thread to name a few, without affecting the stone or material. Because of this pinpoint heat source, the laser will not anneal springs or clips eliminating the need to replace damaged findings.

When soldering, steps must be taken prior to and after the heating process. One step is to thoroughly clean the ring of any dirt or oils from it’s surface. To reduce the amount of fire scale; the user must also coat the ring with a mixture of boric acid and denatured alcohol prior to soldering. This mixture must later be removed by pickling.

When laser welding, the beam is so concentrated, it burns away any impurities during the welding process, thus eliminating the need for prior cleaning, coating and post-pickling processes. Laser welding can be performed on dirty or even tarnished surfaces without leaving discoloration or fire scale.

 

[swingirl]

I was standing up in a wedding this weekend and my 3 month old ring gradually became rough at the bottom (where a re-size had occurred) directly at the "6 o'clock" and eventually split. The split occurred at some point in the evening, but I assure you that I was not doing anything to cause impact to my hand.

How do you think this happened? I've never heard of metal becoming rough on it's own.

 

[PintoBean]

I suspect that the ring became rough as the ring started losing the "fill" that was added to size up - kinda like how a molar gets rough when it starts losing an old filling.