Why Did My Platinum Ring Deform? Causes & Repair

Question

Deformed ring   Hi. This evening when my wife came home for the evening she was shocked to notice her ring had been flattened on one side.  There was no trauma and just hours before she put it on and it was round.  

Any idea? I can not bend it back at all and will bring it to a jeweler for repair but we are are wondering how in the world this can happen?!?!

Thanks.  

Bruce and Sugano

Answer
Dear Bruce,

I have had a few questions like this before but you are the first to send a photo of the flattened ring shank.  As would be expected, the bend is in the bottom of the finger area.  Bruse, From what you report there was no trauma.  Quite honestly, there had to have been a force on the ring to cause the deformation and again, quite honestly from my experience the wearer of the ring rarely knows what caused the bending.  As best I can say in a general sense, bending like this and unknown at the time to the wearer occurs from gripping and pressure from the hand on a steering wheel, door handle, golf club, or similar item.  The bending is slight at first and not noticed.  Later, the bend progressed to where one firm grip will finish the distortion and give the result your photo illustrated.

You do not know what caused it and I certainly cannot know that. I do know this sort of bend is not as uncommon and one might think.  A dutiful experiment might be to record all the gripping done by the ring finger hand during a normal day.  If the major distortion happened on an unusual day with events out of the ordinary, a mental effort to review the day is in order.  You may not find the answer but you might definitely have suspected events.

Bending in the ring is remarkably uniform, at least partially because of the wider sides of the metal from the top of the band to about half way around. If the ring fits well enough not to turn on the finger, that keeps the same area subject to forces which may cause bending.

The jeweler should check the edges of the bend for any cracking or special weakness in the metal.  Platinum jewelry alloys are quite malleable and likely the band maybe straightened with little problem. However, any crack or overt damage will need to be repaired. The jeweler should also check around the ring to the top and the diamond setting.  Any crinkles or waves in the sides show stress there, also. The gemstone must checked for security and tightness after the ring is returned to round. If the top area needs any rounding, this could pull metal away from the stone setting and the jeweler needs to check to be sure all is ok.

I do hope my thoughts help at least a little with this mystery. God Bless ans Peace.  Thomas.