Secure settings

[gemnut]

I was wondering if there are some settings better than others in holding gemstones in place in rings. I have had 3 or 4 gemstones drop right out of my rings lately and I''m quite irritated! Luckily, I haven''t lost any stones yet - well, I did lose a little ruby and the store replaced it without charging me - but the stress of suddenly seeing your ring empty is something I just can''t take any more!

The thing is, most of these rings were relatively new and they were not bought from one place but from several. They were all prong set in various manners.

All this has got me wondering if there is something I don''t know about ring settings that I should be looking for. I''ve heard that bezels are better but I recall having lost a stone from a bezel setting in the past. So what is the answer? Don''t wear the rings?? Get the settings tightened once a week?? Geez, the last fallen stone was from a ring less than 2 weeks old and it felt secure right before I almost lost it!

Gemstones are not exactly cheap things you can stand to lose at every turn. As a matter of fact I just bought two new stones I want to set sometime (I will be asking for your suggestions after my vacation) and I have no idea how to protect these glittering eye candies from being lost forever!
Any ideas?

 

[neatfreak]

Sounds like the quality of the settings you''re buying isn''t great and/or the person you''re having set them is NOT doing a good job. Are you buying them at cheaper places? Or are they possibly estate pieces that might have damage already?

 

[eac]

Another question is: what are you doing with your hands? If you are very active (cooking, wrangling children and animals, doing home improvements, playing hockey...) all these things put more stress on rings. I''ve even been warned against wearing prong-setting jewelry while sewing or while sleeping, because rubbing up against fabric can wear down the settings.

I''m active (I tend to forget I have a ring on until I''m halfway done with a project) so I always go for bezel settings, or even "channel" settings - set directly into gold, as in a gypsy ring. I save my prong setting rings for special occasions.

On another thread, somebody recommended having the settings of jewelry you wear often checked by a jeweler every 6 months or year. With worn down prongs for larger stones, the prongs can be built up again.

Halo/pave ring wearers, do you find yourself losing small stones from the settings? With the popularity of these rings lately, I''ve been wondering!

 

[Catmom]

Wow, I have many gemstone rings of varying sorts and have never had that happen with the exception of one cheap setting. Since it''s happening with several different settings maybe it is something you are doing with your hand, like hitting it against something, etc? I don''t have any other ideas but just wanted to say that I hope you get it straightened out and don''t actually lose any of your stones!

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 7/3/2007 6:24:18 PM
Author:gemnut
I was wondering if there are some settings better than others in holding gemstones in place in rings. I have had 3 or 4 gemstones drop right out of my rings lately and I''m quite irritated!

Are all the rings the same kind of metal? If so (or even if they''re not) what kind, color, etc.? If gold specify the karat. Do you use a swimming pool or spa often?

Richard M.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 7/3/2007 7:25:56 PM
Author: eac
Another question is: what are you doing with your hands? If you are very active (cooking, wrangling children and animals, doing home improvements, playing hockey...) all these things put more stress on rings. I''ve even been warned against wearing prong-setting jewelry while sewing or while sleeping, because rubbing up against fabric can wear down the settings.


I''m active (I tend to forget I have a ring on until I''m halfway done with a project) so I always go for bezel settings, or even ''channel'' settings - set directly into gold, as in a gypsy ring. I save my prong setting rings for special occasions.


On another thread, somebody recommended having the settings of jewelry you wear often checked by a jeweler every 6 months or year. With worn down prongs for larger stones, the prongs can be built up again.


Halo/pave ring wearers, do you find yourself losing small stones from the settings? With the popularity of these rings lately, I''ve been wondering!

I lost a stone last week actually, in my US cleaner. But my ring is handmade, and it was a stone that we noticed when we got it wasn''t perfectly set, but didn''t want to send it back, so it was inevitable. My jeweler here fixed it here for me very easily, and said that the others are all very well set and that I shouldn''t lose more ever as long as I check it often. This one wasn''t seated properly in the first place, so that''s why it fell out.

BUT she also said that because the quality of my pave work is very good. There are MAJOR differences in durability between good pave and bad.

 

[gemnut]

Thank you for all your responses and advice.

neatfreak: Like everyone, I suppose, I do try to get the best price for what I buy, but I don''t shop in cheap-o places. Most of my settings are handmade, 18K gold.
Also, strangely enough, I have never lost a stone from a pave.

eac: I''m not that active any more, so that excuse is out. The point you make about wearing the rings when sleeping is very interesting, however. Yes, I can go for days or weeks wearing a ring I like day and night. Very interesting...

Catmom: you are lucky that you never had that problem. The thing is, it''s not just me. My mom keeps losing stones too and so does my sister. Mom was so scared that she would lose the topaz from the ring I recently gave her that she went to two different jewelers and had it retightened! Sis wears rings only on her right hand (she is left handed) for the same reason.

Richard: I think you hit the nail on the head. Most of my settings are 18K gold and I seem to have more problems with yellow gold than with white gold (although my latest "drop off" was WG). They are all hand-made, therefore, tightened by man, not machine. Also (and I just thought of it), all of my rings are resized to a larger size.
I know that 18K gold is softer and perhaps the resizing stretches the setting somewhat, possibly distorting the shape? Am I on the right track here?

At any rate, I''ll have to check all of my rings again and take all the ones that don''t seem solidly held in place to be tightened. Also, I think I''ll stay away from prong settings in the future, prefering bezel or channel set as eac recomended.

I think having 4 small prongs holding up a large valuable (or not so valuable) stone is a little crazy anyway!

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 7/4/2007 9:28:05 AM
Author: gemnut

Richard: I think you hit the nail on the head. Most of my settings are 18K gold and I seem to have more problems with yellow gold than with white gold (although my latest ''drop off'' was WG). They are all hand-made, therefore, tightened by man, not machine. Also (and I just thought of it), all of my rings are resized to a larger size.

I know that 18K gold is softer and perhaps the resizing stretches the setting somewhat, possibly distorting the shape? Am I on the right track here?

It''s hard to say without actually seeing them, but it''s likely. 18K is a little less stiff than 14K or platinum. While upsizing would tend to close the prongs, not spread them, it''s possible the stones were removed for sizing then re-set but not expertly -- setting is quite a distinct bench specialty. It''s possible there was also some distortion of the setting during sizing, as you say.

Don''t wear gold, especially white gold, into pools, spas or while using any household product containing chlorine. Even the small amount of chlorine in pool/spa disinfectants can interact with some of the metals used to alloy the gold, weakening them.

If you can find a jeweler who specializes in gem-setting have your rings evaluated. Prong settings can be very secure even in 18K if they''re properly designed and closed. There''s more of an art to it than many think. But for really valuable stones think 6 prongs, not 4.

Richard M.

 

[Pandora II]

EAC, can you fill us in on that gorgeous ring in your avatar.

Is it a tourmaline or a tsavorite? Yummy and I love the setting.

Please start a thread for all our curiosity!