PSA - Wedding Rings

Great reminder. Thanks.

That's crazy. The store should have made that right - rings should not fall apart in 2.5 years.  I have a life time warranty on my rings.  I had to have a prong replaced a few years ago and there was no charge.

What a bummer  I'm overdue to take mine in.  We don't live in the same state anymore, but luckily visit fairly often to see family.  I'll have to remember to pop in during the holidays when we're in town.  

Yes! I always go on January 1st as we are usually out and about exchanging Christmas gifts!

I have a warranty on mine too. As long as I get it inspected 2x per year then repairs are free

I had mine resized a few weeks ago. When I went to pick it up they told me the prongs needed redone. It's been 17 years so I'm sure they do. I think they should've called me and let me know before I picked it up. Now I'm afraid to wear it until I get them redone.

Thanks for the reminder! 

The different settings and materials used do make a difference in how sturdy the ring will be. Also how often you wear it and under what circumstances--dishwashing, gardening, etc. 

Platinum setting prongs last the longest--the best quality rings use platinum to set the stones. It doesn't matter what kind of metal the band is made of--gold, palladium, platinum--the parts that contact the stone(s) and are soldered onto the band should be platinum. 

Tension mounted stones are the exception. You'd not think that tension mounting is the strongest setting, but it is. this is what my ring looks like  Mine is 18k white gold with a comfort fit band (the inside is curved which makes it more comfortable to wear. We got our new rings at Diamonds Direct. I thought I wanted a bezel mount, but they talked me into the tension setting because it was more secure and gave me the look I wanted without covering up the diamond so it couldn't sparkle. I really love it. 

Chanel set bands are also very secure--the prongs can wear down from being rubbed on stuff. When my husband and I "upgraded" our rings a few years ago, he bought me two of these sapphire and diamond white gold bands from Pompeii 3--their diamonds are conflict free and their jewellery is also very inexpensive. We got both bands for less than the price of one locally.

My engagement ring was originally in a yellow gold cathedral setting--it was vintage. We had to swap out the band soon after because it was so thin it couldn't be resized. We got the new setting at Jared's but could only afford a yellow gold--I loved the original setting, but it was north south instead of the east west. Dh asked if they could switch it to east west. The prong setting was platinum. Jared's is really great and does a lot of repairs on site in an hour or two. Their settings also have a lifetime warranty.

My fingers kept getting larger, so my ring didn't fit for a long time. Dh also became allergic to gold, so we got him a cool palladium comfort fit tube band. The band could also be photo engraved, so his band has my handwriting inside of it. I secretly had his first band engraved, and dh loved it so much he wanted that done again. Then when he heard that this one designer could replicate my handwriting, he wanted that, too. --I took calligraphy in college and did a lot of handmade cards, etc. before my stroke. So dh really missed all the handwritten cards and notes I used to slip into his laptop or lunch. I still do that, but my writing isn't the same. Although now that my MS symptoms are under control, I've been reteaching myself calligraphy and doing more cards, etc. 

For those of you with PEARLS--the strands need to be restrung every so often--depending on how often you wear yours. Perfumes and hand lotions also wear on the silk knots. Good quality strands are knotted between each pearl so if the strand does break, all the pearls won't scatter everywhere. Even fresh water pearls should be hand knotted. You can tell by looking at them. I have a long strand of black baroque freshwater pearls I found at TJ Maxx for $50. Even they are hand knotted.

Call around in your area to see which stores offer pearl restringing. If you're in the Raleigh area, Bailey's is wonderful. They've been around forever and have the best customer service. I'm taking the pearls my parents gave me for high school graduation there to be restrung. They really need it. I had actually had my strand shortened because chokers were much popular in the 90s. But now I want the more classic length, so I'm having the extra pearls put back on. I'm also taking my black set in just to have them check it. 

There's different instructions for how to clean pearls. I prefer to ask my jeweller what they suggest after they look at mine. Also, body oils can make pearls more lustrous. When I first got mine, our jeweller told us that wearing them to bed every so often would make them look better with age--as long as sleeping isn't a full contact sport for you like it is me. He told me that I could just put them on while sitting up in bed reading after showering so the pearls didn't get too much perfume, lotions, cosmetics, etc. on them. Dh didn't mind at all. I just took them off before lying down and put them in their little silk bag. If you don't have silk bags for your pearls, you need them. They're not expensive. You do need one for every necklace so they don't scratch each other. I even do that for my tin cup style pearl necklace.