Resetting my mom''s Tsav

[CBL]

Well, I am at home visiting my parents for Mother''s Day and she tells me she''s thinking of resetting her tsavorite engagement ring. The reason is that she had a stroke in January, and her left hand became very swollen and edematous and they basically had to cut her rings off--in the process, they were kind of ruined. The tsavorite came from Kenya almost 20 years ago and, of course, it''s very sentimental to my mother. Her hand has finally become less swollen and when she told me she wanted to reset the stone, I almost died of excitement because I have obviously become addicted to Pricescope and all of the projects always going on here, and I felt like I could be of help to her in this process.

The stone is pear shaped, maybe 1.5 carats, and it needs a bit of work. My mom was very active before her stroke and NEVER took off her rings, so it''s kind of scratched. But the stone is a gorgeous color, and I love the shape. I tried to post a pic but kept getting an error message--I will try again after I post this. She decided a pear halo would be absolutely gorgeous. The thing is, like me, she doesn''t like things to be TOO gaudy, so she wants a plain shank--and one that''s not too dainty because as you can tell, her jewelry gets some wear. Plus, she has all this yellow gold (from the ring in the picture and from her thick gold wedding band, which was also cut off) that she would like to use for the reset.

I need some ideas! My parents aren''t made of money but I think my dad''s keen on getting this done, and it would absolutely thrill my mother to be able to wear her engagement ring again. I''m going to talk to Whiteflash about a custom quote, but I don''t know if Whiteflash will reuse her gold, etc. Anyway, other ideas would be SO appreciated!

Happy Mother''s Day everyone!!

 

[CBL]

Ok, think I figured this out!

 

[Pandora II]

I would contact Wink at www.winkjones.com and see what he can do - he did the custom setting for mine and he has links with cutters like Richard Homer who might have ideas on 'tidying' up the stone a bit.

Looks like a gorgeous colour - more pics please.

On the reusing the gold, it isn't that simple always as it involves melting down a substance that isn't pure due to the alloys in gold jewellery. Normally it would be sent to a refiner and for a fee the jeweller will get back the gold weight that he has sent - but not necessarily the 'actual' gold that he sent. It is also melted down in bulk - often kilos at a time (a company I worked with used to do around 35 kilos a day just for their own factories). It's worth asking if it can be reused, but it may well not be feasible.

 

[chrono]

Re-using gold actually costs more and is more problematic because it is difficult to determine the actual alloy composition (to add more gold or to solder, etc) which could compromise the ring itself. It is safer to stick with "new" gold than to try to reuse old gold. Are you planning to reuse the diamonds as well?

 

[CBL]

Hmmm, good to know about the gold. My mom says she wants to reuse the old diamonds but if it would compromise the look of the halo I think that wouldn''t be so great. So maybe we will just start from scratch!

Pandora, I will definitely contact Wink tomorrow--have heard much of him on this forum so I will be interested what he has to say. I am so excited to get going on this! It might be quite a project but my mom deserves it.

 

[Stone Hunter]

The stone is lovely. I wasn''t expecting it to look so nice from the wear and tear you say it''s gotten! How about re using the diamond stones in a pendant? Yeah I did just suggest another project.

 

[CBL]

Stone hunter, thanks--it is a lovely stone. I did, however, strategically pick the picture that doesn''t show the facet that''s been majorly scratched up .

At any rate...I''m kind of at a standstill here. WF said they won''t set a tsavorite because it''s too soft. And even if they would I have not yet located someone to ''clean up'' the stone....I need help! I sent Wink an email a few days ago but haven''t heard back. I am only here at my parents'' home for three more days and I want to make some progress here. Any other creative ideas? Apparently San Diego is not the best place to look for gemstone specialists...I called two places today and no one picked up at either number! This might have to be a ''long distance'' project.

 

[Selkie]

If you''re in San Diego, you might want to call The Collector, in Fallbrook. Link. They specialize in colored gemstones, and also do custom jewelry. I was just in there the other day, drooling over their stock. I don''t know if they will recut your stone, but I''d definitely give them a call to find out! Love that tsavorite!

 

[CBL]

Thanks Selkie!

Funny thing, an hour after I posted earlier Wink emailed me...perhaps this will work after all. Will definitely check out the Fallbrook place, too. Yay!

 

[Pandora II]

CBL - sometimes Wink will take a couple of days to get back (don''t panic!).

My tsav had to have a minor ''haircut'' to sort out a couple of chips and scratches. I think Wink got Richard Homer to do it - not only did I lose almost nothing in weight, but the stone looked way better afterwards and not a chip or scratch to be seen - so it can definitely be sorted.

Wink''s bench will also definitely set tsavorites - they set mine and also another tsavorite e-ring that I helped a friend do for his FI. Wink is a definite expert on coloured gemstones and so you can rest easy that they will be handled properly.

Heck, he set my sphene for me and they are heart-attack inducingly fragile!

 

[Stone Hunter]

Ah, I''m glad you heard back from him. Looks like this may work out more easily than you thought.

 

[CBL]

Pandora, good to know! I am so excited to talk to him!

 

[chrono]

With Wink, you''ll be in good hands.