FIXING OR REPAIRING A BENT RING

Most people bend their rings or wedding bands and don’t even realize it.

They look down one day and see that their beautiful round ring is no longer round. It’s now oval shaped, or even flat on the bottom.

What causes a ring to bend?

Hard work, heat and everyday life.

As I’m sure you can imagine, your ring warms up as you wear it. This makes the metal more malleable. Apply heavy pressure to a warm ring and you have the perfect recipe for bending.

Gold is a pretty soft metal to begin with. Alloys are added to gold to make it more durable. Like 14kt gold is 14 parts gold and 10 parts alloy.

But just like everything in life, gold tends to wear down. It gets thinner, softer and more fragile as it ages. It just happens.

Physical activity is probably one of the main reasons why gold bends. Anything you do with your hands can cause your rings to misshape.

The thinner the band is, the easier it will be to bend. And if your band (shank) is too thin, it could actually break in two and dig into the flesh of your Finger. That smarts.

How do jewelers fix bent rings?

Fixing a bent ring is pretty easy. Jewelers put the ring on a mandrel (see picture) and push the ring down and around. This reshapes the ring back into a normal roundness.

A couple of hits of a hammer rounds out any bumps. Give it a little polish and your ring is good as new.

If your ring is really thin though, they may need to put on a heavier shank.

I usually advise people to reshape their ring for now and only worry about getting a heavier band if the shank gets too thin or if it starts to bend more often.

Replacing the shank can be costly. It could easily run you a couple of hundred dollars and up depending on how heavy the band is.

If your ring bends and they reshape it, it should last you a while. But…

It will probably bend easier the next time.

Once gold is bent back and forth a couple of times, it gets weaker in those areas (like of a paperclip). If you bend a paperclip it will be okay. But if you bend it repeatedly, it gets weaker and weaker and eventually SNAPS!

All metals are like this.

A jeweler can look at your ring and give you the best advice on what to do.

If it’s paper thin, I’d say buy a new shank.

Diamonds make repairs harder:

If your ring has diamonds or gemstones in the mounting, they can change the entire repair process.

Gems create a whole new problem for jewelers because you can’t bend a gemstone.

Say for example you have a channel set ring with diamonds running down the side (see picture)…

Bending that ring can put a lot of pressure and stress on the channel and the diamonds. It gets pulled, stretched and opened. Channels that get pulled apart can break or crush your beautiful diamonds and even have them POP out of the mounting.

Jewelers have an equally hard time fixing these bent channels. It’s not as easy to just reshape the ring and polish it. They have to be careful that the channels, prongs, baskets and gemstones don’t get harmed or damaged in the process.

Jewelers also have to double check all the stones for tightness, reshape the channel walls, reinforce them, space the diamonds appropriately, and make sure the entire structure of the ring is intact.

Sometimes the gemstones have to be removed from the mounting first in order for them to work on it. If this is the case, the time involved and the price of the repair will go up.

Platinum and other metals:

A bent platinum ring or tungsten or titanium ring can be fixed as well.

Jewelers will use the mandrel to reshape the ring as much as possible. Sometimes they will also have to add torch heat to the ring to put it into a more malleable state.

Often, they will then have to file and smooth the ring out just to remove any hammer marks, scratches or dings in the metal.

Platinum takes twice as long to fix as gold does. Plus, it will probably cost twice as much as well.

One good thing about platinum is the fact that it’s rare to have someone bend a platinum ring. You have to really smash the ring hard (and then I feel sorry for your finger). Platinum is much more durable than gold and can usually last a lifetime with very little maintenance.

Lighter weight platinum rings may not fair so well. They might bend or break just like any gold ring will.

Can bent rings be prevented?

This is a great question. Can you stop your ring from bending?

Sure! Don’t wear it! :)

But, no, you really can’t prevent accidents from happening. If you pick up something heavy or get your ring squished, it’s going to bend.

You could always put on a heavier shank, or buy a new ring, but of course, that costs money.

The heavier the band the better.

Heavier bands, like comfort fit bands (see picture), tend to last a lifetime without bending.

It really just depends on how physical you are and how much abuse you put your rings through.

That’s why comfort fit bands were designed… To be durable, heavy and withstand physical activity.

Men were always bending their wedding bands (they used to make them so thin and frail).

Comfort fit bands changed the entire industry for men. Men could now wear a ring and not worry about bending it (just make sure you order the right size to begin with).

Comfort fit bands do cost more money, depending on the metal, but you also get more ring. The fact is: You get what you pay for.

If you want your ring to last a lifetime… buy a comfort fit band today.

My advice:

If you’re doing physical work (working on your car, lifting weights), don’t wear your ring (or buy a silicone wedding ring).

For normal everyday use, I say wear it. Enjoy it. Rings are meant to be worn.

If it starts to wear down, as all gold does eventually, get it fixed or beefed up.

It’s like maintenance on a car. Every now and then it may need a little tune up. That’s how life is.

So are your rings round?

Or are they oval?

Or as my boss used to call them “Roval“.

Cheers! :)