Hi @callico2222 I’m sorry to hear about your ring. I was in antique and also high end diamonds for many years, and I went to school at GIA. I don’t claim to be an expert in fabrication, as I wasn’t a bench jeweler, but I have some knowledge about settings and metallurgy. Can you post a picture? I know how hard jewelry is to photograph. Most “sale” jewelry does come at a cost, and prongs and heads wear out quickly. Instead of using a process to make a solid and strong setting, they will “fluff up” the gold, allowing microscopic air pockets in the metal. This means I can let you hold two settings that look identical to the naked eye, but one ring will be significantly heavier, and also stronger. If you look at a broken prong from one of these “fluff” settings under a microscope, it will look like Swiss cheese, with tiny air holes throughout. Also, the metals used to mix in the gold to make it stronger, are not immune to chemicals like the noble metals are (gold, platinum etc) The mixing metals are eaten away over time if they are exposed to say, bleach- (A GIANT NO NO!!!) Swimming or cleaning allows the chlorine to eat away at your setting and cause it to become weak and prongs to bend or snap. Platinum doesn’t have this problem as it (shouldn’t) need or be mixed with fillers. Look at the stamp inside your ring, what does it say? Is it 14k or 18k? (Or 750 etc for Europe) Is the head the same metal as the band? It also depends if you need a prong or the head replaced, and what karat gold it is effects the cost also. Do see a good jeweler, as they will tell you not to spend money fixing a prong if you’ll need to back to replace the head in a year anyway. I can’t really give an estimate without knowing more info, but I hope this helps and I’d be happy to help you further if you need it! Best of luck on your very special piece!I am heart broken!! Last night, I was loading boxes in my back seat, and caught my engagement ring on the door frame. I thought I just scraped up my finger, but when I got home and looked at the ring, one of the prongs that holds the stone in is bent to the side and doesn't even look like it's touching the stone at all! Needless to say, it is in my jewerly box now. I 'm afraid I will lose the stone completely if I wear it, but now I feel naked. I still have my wedding ring on, but it's not the same.
Does anyone have any idea how much that will cost to get fixed? DH didn't get insurance on it when he bought itbut we were on a very tight budget at that time...and still are. If it's just a $25, or $30 fix that is ok, but I'm afraid they're going to want to put it in a whole new setting, which could be expensive and we just can't afford that right now.
