Engagement ring needs repaired, any idea on the cost?

[calico2222]

I am heart broken!! Last night, I was loading boxes in my back seat, and caught my engagement ring on the door frame. I thought I just scraped up my finger, but when I got home and looked at the ring, one of the prongs that holds the stone in is bent to the side and doesn't even look like it's touching the stone at all! Needless to say, it is in my jewerly box now. I 'm afraid I will lose the stone completely if I wear it, but now I feel naked. I still have my wedding ring on, but it's not the same.

Does anyone have any idea how much that will cost to get fixed? DH didn't get insurance on it when he bought it

but we were on a very tight budget at that time...and still are. If it's just a $25, or $30 fix that is ok, but I'm afraid they're going to want to put it in a whole new setting, which could be expensive and we just can't afford that right now.

 

[sarahp]

Unfortunately it would depend on the amount of damage and how easy it is to repair. Take it to a few different jewelers to get quotes.

 

[mom of 4]

I think you are looking at more of an expense than $25.00
You are very smart to have it put away until it is fixed, though it is hard to be without it.
I agree on getting several estimates.

 

[stacyd1987]

I know that resizing is about $30 so fixing a prong shouldn't be that much.

 

[lunasmom]

Originally Posted by sarahp

Unfortunately it would depend on the amount of damage and how easy it is to repair. Take it to a few different jewelers to get quotes.

I don't know if it will be $30 or if it will be more. If its just the prongs that need to be reshaped, you may be in the clear, but if there turns out to be more damage, you might not be so good.

 

[margecat]

If it's the prongs that need re-bending, I woudl imagine it wouldn't be very expensive. However, gold is at a very high price now, so if the whole setting needs to be replaced, it will be expensive, I think. I've never had a piece of jewelry repaired (I've done my own, so far), so I'm not an expert.

Last March, I had to cut mine off. When I had it sized (made smaller), the clerk talked me into a size I thought was a tad smaller than I liked. It was ok, but since doing home improvements, that finger's joint has become larger; it was hard to get the ring over it; but once there, it fit well on the bottom of my finger. Some days, it was easier to get on. March 17th was one of them! However, when I tried to get it off to go to bed (my finger would swell if I left rings on), it wouldn't budge. I tried, for 2 hours, every remedy I could think of, most of which had worked before. No go. And I was alone all weekend, and knew if I left it on, I'd be in the ER overnight (it was already 2 AM). I hated to do it, but I got DH's wire cutters, and cut the band. Now, I can't afford to get it repaired! Oh well--I hardly wore it anyway--it just got in the way, and I was always taking it off.

 

[sillyjilly]

We have a very reasonable jeweler in our area and it only cost me $12 to get my ring resized so check around. The guy we have EVERYONE goes to cuz he's really good and inexpensive!

 

[eburgess]

Did he get it insured?? It should be covered. It is also going depend on where you got it. To make you feel better I did the same type of thing to my ring. Limerick tripped me going down the stairs with the laundry basket and my ring went in to the wall bending a prong. I felt horrible! but it was covered and didn't cost anything to repair.

 

[starryeyedtiger]

My fiance's SIL's family owns a jewerly store (that's where he got the band for mine from). To reshape a prong shouldn't be too expensive. But - if they need to do more than that (if it's bad they may need to replace the band) it may cost more. What material is your ring made out of? Platinum, gold ???

I'd get different quotes to fix it (in writing -so you can see if some of the shops will match a lower quote if you like their work.) Also- get insurance while they work on your ring and it's in their care incase something happens to it.

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

My fiance's SIL's family owns a jewerly store (that's where he got the band for mine from). To reshape a prong shouldn't be too expensive. But - if they need to do more than that (if it's bad they may need to replace the band) it may cost more. What material is your ring made out of? Platinum, gold ???

I'd get different quotes to fix it (in writing -so you can see if some of the shops will match a lower quote if you like their work.) Also- get insurance while they work on your ring and it's in their care incase something happens to it.

it also depends on what the ring is made from, whether they'll need to add material or can just work with what's there, etc.
i inherited my grandmother's platinum/iridium set. she wore a size 6 - i wear a 7.5 to an 8, depending on the hand i wear the ring on.
total cost, for resizing, cleaning & appraisal, was $300. but they had to add material, since i was enlarging the ring, & platinum/iridium is more expensive than gold. i did not think it was excessive - but i chose the jeweler based on reputation, not price.

 

[gailc]

Last year I got all the prongs (four) replaced/redone on my ring and it was $100.
I currently have my ring at a local small jeweler (she has a website if interested) as I had to have it cut off in April due to smashing the top third of my finger quite severely.
She is soldering on a small piece to the back of the ring and its only costing $19.95!!!!!!!
So I'm thinking its only gonna be $25-$30.
I have insurance on my ring too but guess what no coverage for most incidents like what happened to mine.

 

[natalie_ca]

One thing I learned is that when it comes to sentimental jewellery repairs, do not go based on cheapest price. Because you do get what you pay for.

I have a ring that belonged to my Mother. It was the first ring that my dad ever gave her before they were married. It is a gold ring with a box setting that has a synthetic alexandrite stone in it. On the short side of the box the claws formed a W shape in order to let the light in.

Over the years the claws on top wore off and the stone would not say in the setting anymore and the stone was dull because of scratches.

I was on a tight budget and shopped around and found a place that said they could repair the claws and polish the stone for $150.00.

When I got the ring back I was pleased until I got home and was admiring it. I noticed that the box instead of being straigth up like this | | it was leaning like this \\ \\ and the stone was more purply than it was bluish/green/purple which is the trait of an alexandrite.

It seems that instead of polishing the stone and putting it back in and building up the claws on the 4 corners, they replaced the stone with a fake amythest that was a much smaller cut, and squished the box around the new stone!

I went back and told them what happened. Their idea of repairing was to shave off the buldge on the short side of the box that was leaning this way \\ so that it now looked like it was standing straight up like this |

The result was a box setting that now had this shape when viewed from the long side \\ | and the gold on the side that was now | was also practically transparent because they filed down the gold to give the illusion of it being straight.

I went back again and told them that this was not acceptable and that they have ruined my ring! They also admitted that they replaced the stone because they didn't think the alexandrite was worth polishing! Like who are they to make that determination without consulting me first. Luckily they still had the stone. I suspect they planned on polishing it up and reselling it because you don't see many of those types of stones around, especially a rectangle cut like the one that was in the ring originally.

I consulted my boss (lawyer) about it and he said it wasn't worth fighting in court over it and even though they were wrong, the courts would not make awards based on sentimental value etc.

I ended up going to a Gemologist and I had to try and describe the best I could as to what the setting looked like before that other company got their hands on it. He said polishing the original stone was not a problem.

It cost me a further $350.00 to get my ring rebuilt because they had to completely remake the box setting, and then there was the stone polishing. I now have the ring back and it looks very nice, but it still isn't the same as the box setting that was in there originally. It's close and similar, but not the same.

So please do yourself a favour and take your ring to some place that you know and trust and that has a fine reputation, and not some small jewellery store that is on a side street.

 

[menasmom]

After wearing my engagement ring since 1987 for every single day, just a few months ago I accidentally banged it on the edge of the kitchen counter and the diamond flew off. Thank God I found it on the floor, but had to bring it in to the jewelry. There were 6 prongs he had to replace due to wear and tear, I guess, and it cost me just under $100. But that was SIX prongs--you said only one of yours was bent, so I would think that even if it had to be replaced, the cost would be significantly less. I'd take it into a couple of jewelers and get estimates...

 

[carolpetunia]

As Linda's story illustrates, you have to be very careful with jewelry repairs -- there are people out there who will substitute a lesser stone for the one you gave them, and you'll have no way to prove it was done unless you've had the diamond "mapped," which would probably cost a fortune in itself.

However, I believe there's also some kind of microscopic serial-number on some diamonds... maybe yours has that!

 

[jewelry-fan]

It will probably cost you around $30-40, it really depends on the extent of the damage and the jeweler.

 

[calico2222]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I take it in to the jewler. I'm actually taking it to a long time town jewler that has been around since my parents were engaged, and they have very reasonable prices. The ring actually came from Gordon's, and when I took it in for cleaning, they said that 5 of the 6 prongs are loose...they could send it away to get repaired, would take 2-3 weeks and would cost over $300.

Nothing against Gordon's, but DH got a GREAT deal on the ring (over 50% off) and now I'm thinking that may have been why it was a great deal.

The store I'm taking it to does repairs on site, and has been a staple in town until all the chain stores came in. They do quality work, and honestly, I trust them more than a chain store.

I'll let you know what happens.

 

[AbbysMom]

I used to work for a jewelry manufacturer. If the prong is just bent, it should be a minimal cost. If the prong is damaged and need to be built up, it will cost a bit more, especially now due to the gold prices, but still should be reasonable.

 

[yosemite]

We have a company here in Canada called Birks. They have a reputation for quality products. Fortunately that is where hubby got my diamond. I drop into one of their stores every year around Christmas when I am out shopping and they check out my diamond and setting for any problems, clean my ring and I'm on my way. One year after getting my diamond, when they were checking my setting, they discovered a flaw in one of the claws that held the diamond in. They replace my ring free. Fast forward 10 years. My ring band broke in half between the centre diamond and one of the side diamonds. I called the Fine Jewellery department of Birks and explained the situation. I told the gentleman that my marriage was lasting longer than their ring.

He told me to drop my diamond into the nearest Birks location and ask them to send it to his attention. A week later my diamond was again replaced at no charge so I've had 3 diamonds in 30 years.

Your setting is probably platinum even if your ring is yellow gold. Gold is too soft for the settings so they do those in the platinum.

I can't imagine it costing a lot of money to just repair a claw so will keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

[Jennyko]

I think it depends on the master+the material of your ring. Once I had a problem with a ring with the small diamond on it and no-one wanted to take it