QuestionQUESTION: I put my mother's diamonds on wide 14 gold band in June of 2010 and Now I have a jagged break in the band. Could this be faulty workmanship
ANSWER: \
KJ, this is not your answer. Please use a follow-up to let me know these things prior to my writing an answer, fair enough?
Are the stones set into the actual metal of the band, without added metal settings for the stones?
Has the ring been worn while swimming or in a hot tub or other area where chlorine might be present?
Do any of the stones stick through the back?
Is the band white gold?
Does the break run from where a diamond is set?
Is the break away from the stones, perhaps nearer the bottom of the ring? And, was the ring size changed and do you know how that might have been done?
Sorry to ask so many questions back at you. Unless I can hone in closer to what the ring is like there is little hope of saying much about workmanship. Only a few things cause breaks in gold like that and I should be able to help.
When you follow-up, copy and paste the questions if you like and simply add yes or no. KJ, if you can't get back to me in a day or two, I will send a more generalized answer to you.
Please have a fine day. God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I have been swimming the past two months in a pool at a local hotel and I do not use a hot tub. The break is away from the setting. The break is along the side and there is a crack on the other side not next to the setting. I took it to the jewelry who did the work and he says where he has tofix it, it it will be weaker. It is not white gold .
Thanks so much by getting back to me so soon. I am suppose to pick it up at 10:00 AM tomorrow.
kj
AnswerDear KJ, I am back.
Your answers do help clarify the picture. I sense and urgency on your part to know if workmanship is possibly to blame, considering the ring is in for repair and is to be picked up tomorrow. Getting directly to that point, the sort of break you describe is not generally seen from faulty workmanship. Had the ring been soldered to add to the band or to do similar work, the seam would be a straight line and the break would be a faulty solder joint. A jagged break is not evidence of something gone awry in craftsmanship.
TWO POSSIBLE REASONS FOR BREAKS
As a first reason, a jagged break is most often evidence of stress in the metal and the metal reacting to that stress. What stress you might ask but the point is any working on the ring which could affect the bend of the band or even heating and cooling can affect the internal tension of the metal. This is normal and expected and only metal worked beyond its capacity will break from faulty technique, much like a coat hanger wire bent back and forth again and again which eventually breaks. The stress created by working on a ring is just as often relieved and vanquished when a ring is heated for installing stone settings, etc. The culprit is residual stress which is there and unrecognized until something comes along to cause it to show.
The exposure to chlorine is often tragic with white gold rings but yellow is also affected, even if to a much less extent. What happens is chlorine works on the metals mixed with the gold to make it suitable for jewelry, the alloy metals. Some metal shows corrosion in a microscopic way from the action of chlorine on the alloy. This can affect the entire ring but where the evidence shows is where stress is applied or previously exists. The weakened metal will break or crack and that is not an even straight line break. Under a microscope of a break that goes all the way through and can be viewed, the break has a typical almost crystalline structure. The cure is to repair the break or remove that section and replace it, taking care in the end to gently heat and cool the entire ring to anneal the metal. Annealing is a process in which heat allows the metal to relax and return to an unstressed state. Microscopic corrosion is still present but the stress to cause a break is diminished. It is possible this is what has happened to your ring.
A second possibility is the band had internal defects initially from the manufacturing stage. This would fall under the heading of "craftsmanship" but would not be attributed to a local jeweler adding stones to the band. A miss mix of the metals, a die strike of improper manner and extent, a porous casting...each can cause weak areas in a ring band. The ring may not show any defects in its lifetime of wear or basic working the ring to size, for instance. Then again, a weak area may show simply from the affects of normal daily wear, that is, if a sufficient defect was there in the first place.
KJ, I could be totally wrong on this, not really having your ring to examine. However, what you describe does not appear to be a result of workmanship but of other reasons, possibly those mentioned above. The jeweler who is repairing the ring may be able to shed more light on what was actually seen in the breaks.
I wish you well with the ring. I am sure it means something special to you. God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
