QuestionQUESTION: My diamond ring and wedding band are about 15 years old. Six years ago the local jeweler told me I needed a new head and replaced it. Last week, I saw one of the prongs sticking up. the same jeweler told me I needed a new head. When I told them they replaced it a few years ago, they said they would check and call me. They called later and said they did not replace the head, just straightened it in 2005, but now my ring needed a new one, plus it was cracked and needed some "braces" for a cost of $500. I said I was SURE they replaced the head so I would check my records. The checked again and then said that indeed they had replaced the head in 2005 (so what was this about straightening?) and that was "a long time ago." But they could sell me a new set of rings if I would like. I am going to get another opinion. My question is, should I expect to have to replace the head every five or six years? (They said that is typical, but my first set, also 15 years old when I put it away, and cheap, never needed a new head.) By the way, I am a stay at home mom and don't engage in heavy manual labor. Thank you for your answer.
ANSWER: Dear Jean,
It is peculiar how they first thought "straighten" then agreed to having replaced the head. It seems that someone spoke too soon.
Normally, there should not be a need to replace the head after 6 years in normal circumstances. If the head was too thin when finished in the first place or if the ring has been damaged by chemical exposure and has lost a prong end, then replacement is possibly needed. You know whether or not the ring has been exposed to chlorine or pool chemicals which can damage gold jewelry, white or yellow. The damage is not shown as wear or being too thin but of actually broken off and cracked places.
A second opinion is certainly warranted, regarding the head and also the cracked places. If replacement so often is typical of their service experience, it was not of mine and is not of many other jewelers. In that case, if the head indeed needs to be replaced, ask the second opinion jeweler what is wrong with the head. Is it too thin? If it needs to be replaces, why is that?
If so, it might have been too lightweight or over polished in the first place. Have someone besides the first jeweler do the work this time if it really needs to be replaced.
Thanks for the question. If you need more on this subject, feel free to get back with me using a follow-up. Also, rate the answer if you want to do that so I will know how I am doing out there. : )
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
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QUESTION: Thanks for such a quick and very helpful response! I was curious about the reference to pool chemicals. We do have a pool, but I am not the one to handle the chemicals. And we live in a northern climate so it is only open 3 months of the year. On a typical year I swim once or twice a week. Would this amount of exposure to "chlorine or pool chemicals" cause damage? My first ring was probably exposed to much more and didn't have such damage.
AnswerJean, it is difficult to say how much time in the pool would be needed for jewelry to be damaged. The chemical generally responsible is chlorine. As far as I know, pools using salt methods and not chlorine do not present a risk to jewelry metals. Much depends on the actual metal of the jewelry and the stress internally in the metal. Stress in jewelry metal generally is around the prong areas where the metal has been bend and forced in the stone setting process and in areas which might have become work hardened or stressed during sizing.
Gold is 24k in pure form. In jewelry gold, other metal is added to provide color such as white, rose or different shades of yellow. The other metal is also needed to make the metal durable enough for jewelry use. Some white gold uses nickel, most commonly, while less often palladium is used and the white has a slightly darker white tone. The added metals are the alloy metals.
What happens is that chlorine attacks the metal where the alloy metals meet, more commonly with white gold containing nickel. Other gold may be damaged but not so commonly as nickel white gold. The nickel does not fully bind with other metal in the karat gold and it at these areas the chlorine is able to corrode away some of the metal. If there is stress in the metal, the corrosion can lead to a crack or even the tip of a prong breaking off.
Exposure to chlorine may fairly quickly damage a white gold ring with nickel and lots of stress in the metal. Other rings may not show cracking. With all the conditions just right for damage, yes, your time in the pool would be enough. Yet,I have see a set of rings and one has been damaged and the other has not. Hard science tells us it does happen but does not tell us yet how to precisely predict if an when damage will happen.
Rings made of palladium or platinum will not be damaged. Silver rings are generally not damaged but certainly may be tarnished from exposure. Higher karat gold is less likely to be damaged.
Damage from chlorine exposure is often easily recognized by an experienced jeweler with a microscope to examining the form of metal with in breaks. Unfortunately, damage from manufacturing processes may be mistaken for chlorine damage. If damage has happened, repairs may be made and even with microscopic corrosion future breaks are often alleviated by removing stress from the ring by gentle annealing of the metal. This means heating the metal to cause the metal to relax and stress to be eased.
My advice if your pool uses chlorine is to take jewelry off when in the pool and protect jewelry when using household chlorine bleach.
Whew..there you are! Again, best wishes and God Bless. Thomas.
