AboutThomas Expertise Have a question about jewelry repair or working with precious metal jewelry and gemstones? I am a working professional bench jeweler, involved everyday with setting stones in mountings, designing and making jewelry, repairing and limited custom manufacture. Over 30 years experience. If you work with jewelry as a hobby or as a profession, I might be able to help. I deal with the retail business, not mass production. Ask privately if you wish. See the box for that: It keeps your question between us. Please DO NOT ask MAKER'S MARKS, but metal quality marks are fine to ask. Please DO NOT ask diamond prices. See a gemologist for that.
Experience I have near 35 years experience at the sort of jewelry work I do.
Education/Credentials Education is English/Physics! Started in human resources, to advertising, to jewelry...wow, what a road. Now a jeweler for many years. I have had formal training in jewelry work and many shared experiences with top grade jewelers. We just never know were we will go or be. Follow your best, your dreams, with some discretion! Don't let the work tear up your body along the way.
Question Dear Thomas,
I had my white gold and diamond ring resized recently. This is a very simple, plain ring with a little round diamond. When I bought this ring it was absolutely perfect and smooth. After the resizing process the bond is not quite round and it is thiner in one point and thicker in the other. There are different scratches and dents on its surface too. Also the diamond is slightly askew, what I could not notice before.Is it a normal damage for a brand new ring during the resizing process? If so, shouldn't I be warned about it in advance?
PS: I like this site very much. This is the only one in fact I could find where I could ask a specific question to a professional.
Answer Dear Edith, thanks for the question. I hope what I say here will help. Also, thanks for telling me you like the site. We are totally volunteers doing this and to help someone is the reward for me...besides that, I enjoy sharing some of my profession. Below is the answer.
There should be no need to “warn you” about a ring sizing like you have described. The uneven surface and scratches should not be there. I will tell a little from the jeweler's point of view on ring sizing in a moment. First, let's look at your ring. When a ring is resized, either up or down, the final look of the ring should be that nothing has changed except the finger size. That is the sign of top quality professional work: No sign of the work is apparent. You see, there should be no need to warn you with a simple sizing job if the job is done correctly in the first place.
Once in a while jewelry repairs will definitely show. This happens most often with necklaces and bracelets which are broken and are made of hollow links. Repair is difficult and some of the solder joints may show, even when polished to match the chain. In this case, we always tell the customer that the repair may show a little and then it is the customer's choice to do the job or not. In a basic ring sizing like yours appears to be, the job should come in, be done and be done right with no evidence that the work was done except that the size now fits your finger.
That is essentially your answer.
SORTS OF JEWELRY REPAIR. Judging from the jewelry brought into the store where I work, there are many very competent bench jewelers(bench jewelers are the ones working on the jewelry at their “bench”) and unfortunately just as many or more who simply are not doing good work in the first place. The store has a lot to do with the quality of repair work, which includes resizing rings. Is the store offering special low prices on the work? Does the store offer extra fast service or even “while you wait” work? Too often the stores offering the lowest price and quickest service do not provide the best quality work. I have seen rings with sanding or file marks inside the rings and rings with prongs(holding stones) repaired with what looks like little blobs of metal on the tip of the prong. This is simply not acceptable work from my view but unfortunately is accepted by the public who does not know better quality is possible or is unwilling to pay a little more. I am not making a general bad mark on the few stores who do fine work, do it quickly and charge less than the full jewelry store. Some repair stores specialize in repair work and make more income from this than in selling jewelry. Some do work which is fine and acceptable. Again, many do not do good work and prey on the lack of knowledge of the public as to what should be expected: The work should not be obvious except in certain cases and then the customer should be told that and why.
SIZING FROM THE JEWELER'S POINT OF VIEW. Almost all of the rings we resize will leave the store with absolutely no sign of any work having been done. That is how it should be. Once in a while, we will get the odd ring made of some odd gold mix and no matter what we do, there might be a slight line at the solder points. This is generally because the gold in the ring is an old sort of white gold, very brittle, antique style ring and our solders are slightly “pulled out” of the place the metal is soldered during buffing. There is little to do in these cases but 99% of the time, even if we see the very fine line with magnified view, the customer will never notice. And the sizing is strong and durable.
Once in a while a lady will say her ring looks thinner than when she brought it in. We do all we can to preserve the original contour of the ring band. But, if the ring was a size 6 and is resized to perhaps a size 10 ½(not so unusual nowadays!) the proportions of the ring band are the same and the band simply “looks” thinner since the circle is so much larger! : ) Little we can do about those chubby fingers and the ones that swell up now and then. Sometimes the customer simply remembers the ring as it was and is surprised when the new larger size looks thinner overall when if fact the band is just as before.
Contour and Scratches, Dents. A new ring which has be made into another finger size should not show any scratches or dents. The contour of the band should be consistent and uniform, like the ring was before sizing. That is the bottom line on it.
Unfortunately, there is a good chance the jewelers who did the resize on your ring did not take the time to refinish the ring to a like new look and did not take the time at the bench to gently sand the area where the ring was cut(or a piece was added) to match the original curve and form. I am sorry this happened. Your story is not unusual judging from the many rings I see each day which were repaired or resized by a less than competent jeweler. Unfortunately, even if the jeweler is very, very good, some store owners will push the jeweler for more production and force the work to go out less than perfect, knowing the general public will not often notice the difference or will believe “that is how it is supposed to look”.
You might check with the place where the ring was worked on and see what they will do to rectify the situation. This could be a fluke in their work quality or could be like they do everyday, I certainly can not comment on that.
As for the stone askew, check if the ring is actually round. Could be it is not and that makes the stone a little off. There is little done in resizing which would make the stone and setting off balance. That part I cannot answer, not having seen the ring and the actual work involved.
I do hope this answer helps a little. I have to shoot at directly and honestly as I can and call the answers based on the information given me to work with. I do not mean to be rough on professional jewelers, since being one I know we can and do mess up a bit once in a while. If we mess up, we should be willing to make it right.
Thanks again for the question. Yours is likely the last question until the holidays are done. I will be shutting down my answer site from tomorrow through about the 27th of December. Please have a wonderful and peaceful holiday, free of stress and full of joy~
