QuestionMy fiance has noticed that her 18ct yellow and white gold ring has developed cracks and scratches, she is a student during the day so the ring is not in abnormal conditions, when she approached the jeweller who made this for us, she was told that it was due to wear and tear and that "she must have done something wrong". My question is, could this be true or is it poor workmanship. apparently these repairs could be costly to fix so I do not want to be ripped off. Thank you.
AnswerDave, thanks for getting in touch and I am sorry there are problems with your fiancee's ring. Without the ring in hand to examine, I can only speculate and present possibilities. Please take what I might say and see what may fit in your situations.
Dave, where is the white gold? Is this a part of the overall design or limited to stone setting areas? Does any of the "damage" appear in the white gold part or is that part more damaged than the yellow parts of the ring? I ask this because of chemical damage which can happen to gold in exposure to chlorine in pools and to other chemicals such as bromine which may be in hot tubs. Of course, chlorine is present in household bleach and in "sanitizing wipes". Over exposure to chlorine may cause fine cracks and "sudden breaks" in exposed gold. This will happen mostly to gold which has stress in the metal from working the metal and much more often in white gold than in yellow, if the white gold has nickel as the metal added to make the metal white. (Most white gold in the USA has nickel in the alloy. If otherwise, the jeweler would likely tell you.)
If you have magnification, such as a jeweler's loupe, take a good look at what is supposed to be cracks. Are these really cracks or scratches? Scratches are easily explained: Scratches come from abrasion and contact with objects which scratch the metal. 18k is a bit easier to scratch than lower karat gold but is the preferred karat for fine jewelry. Scratches may be removed relatively easily with buffing by the jeweler.
Actual cracks are a different story. If the cracks appear in the body of the ring, I suspect a manufacturing problem. Can extreme chemical exposure be ruled out? If so, that leaves some other reason and the most logical reason is in the manufacturing. If the ring was cast, improper heating of the molten metal during casting or improper cooling or annealing of the metal following casting are two possible reasons for cracks to show up. Or, it could be the metal mix was faulty, meaning gold overused in previous casting work. Many manufacturing events could lead to cracks in the metal and I only mention a few.
Wear and tear does cause scratching. Wear and tear does not cause cracks and does not cause pits or other defects in the surface of the metal.
I suggest you speak to the jeweler again and ask if they can help you understand what may have happened. Ask them to give you any reasons they can think of for cracks in the metal. This situation should be one which is resolved in fairness to both you and the jeweler. "She must have done something wrong" is an unfortunately lame response. I would have expected better. This is not to criticize the jeweler. Still, you need to have better communication going on here and more consideration to what has happened(if truly more than scratches).
Dave, I do hope my sight unseen thoughts have helped in some way. Feel free to use the follow-up option if need be to get back to me on this question.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas. August 13, 2008 7:33pm
