Stop what you're doing. Look down at your Rings.
Take a good long look at them.
Are you missing a Diamond?
You would be surprised by the amount of people that have Diamonds missing from their mountings and don't even know it.
Customers come in all the time to get their Jewelry Cleaned (because they haven't cleaned them in years). I look at the items and lo and behold there's a stone missing. I ask the customers if they knew it was gone.
The response is generally "No".
Shocking!
A lot of times their Diamond Rings are so dirty, that dirt fills in the voids and hides the fact that there's a stone missing.
That's NOT a Diamond, it's DIRT!
Why does this happen?
Accidents and Wear and Tear!
Let's face it, Gold is not the most durable Metal there is. Things do happen.
Accidents
Rings take a lot of abuse. We're always bumping them and hitting them without even knowing.
How many times have you looked down at your fingers and seen they were bleeding? You may not remember hitting your hands, but you did.
Rings take the same abuse, if not more. That's because Rings sit up higher off your fingers and get smacked around pretty hard. It doesn't take much to hit a stone and Chip it, Crack it or Shatter it.
A chipped stone can easily fall out of the mounting or slide free and get lost in the carpet.
Prongs are always getting caught as well. They get snagged on clothing, gloves, your hair. Prongs get pulled up (lifted), bent back or snapped off in a heart beat.
It's just the life of a prong!
Prongs wear down just like everything does.
Wear & Tear
Gold must wear down. It's only a 2.5 - 3 on the Moh's Scale. Anything stronger than Gold that scrapes up against it or comes in contact with it can wear it down. Look at how many times your Ring gets Scratched, Dinged or Dented... It's bound to happen.
Gold erodes, thins out, and can get so weak it can bend and snap like a paperclip.
What can you expect? We put our rings on 24/7. We wear them daily and forget about them. All the while they whittle down and get thinner and weaker.
Prongs get fragile. Diamonds loosen up. It doesn't take much to pop a Diamond out of the Channel Wall or Pave Set Mounting. And don't even get me started on Invisible Set Mountings... They are notorious for losing Diamonds!
Watch out!
And then we have Cleaners...
Jewelry Cleaners
Jewelry Cleaners (and also Steam Cleaners) can loosen stones and can make them come out of the mounting.
Granted, this is usually because the only thing holding in your stones was dirt, but it happens.
This is why it's important to check your Diamonds for tightness BEFORE and AFTER you clean them.
Make sure your stones are snug.
Do note, that if your rings are insured, a lot of times your Insurance Company will cover the cost of having your stones or Diamonds replaced. It may be worth checking out.
Preventive Medicine
The best advice I can give you is to clean and check your Jewelry often.
Check the Diamonds with tweezers and make sure they don't spin around or rock in the Mounting, Prongs or Head.
Keep your rings cleaned. A clean Mounting lasts longer!
Have your Diamond Rings professionally Cleaned and Inspected a couple of times a year. Just to be safe (It's FREE to do).
Trust me, it will keep you from losing your Diamond.
Get your Rings checked today! :)
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