There is nothing more irritating than a Diamond or Gemstone Ring with a
Prong that gets Caught on everything!
It Snags your Clothes, it Snags your Hair, it even Snags your Dog! (Poor Dog!) Prongs have a way of not only frustrating people, but destroying things as well.
Sweaters are the worst type of Clothing for Rings and Prongs. Prongs eat them up! Prongs catch all the small fibers and yank out foot long strings, making ugly runs in your beautiful clothing.
And if you wear Pantyhose, give it up! Those Snagging Prongs will do nothing but tear them to shreds and ruin them.
So what can you do about nasty, Catching Prongs? How do you fix Prongs? What causes them to happen? Let's find out...
Prongs catch on things because of a couple of reasons: 1) The Prong is thin, worn out and needs to be re-tipped. 2) The Prong is lifted up off the stone. 3) The Prong has a little, rough burr on it and needs to be smoothed out and polished down.
These types of Prongs are dangerous to Clothes and even your Skin. Any Prongs that are worn flat and very thin on top, are not only bad for your clothes, but bad for your Gemstones as well. Thin Prongs can break easily and allow you to chip your Stones or lose them all together. Thin, Worn, Flat Prongs have to be re-tipped by a Jeweler!
And chances are, if one Prong is low and flat, all the other Prongs are low and flat as well. Prongs are like tires on a car and wear down pretty evenly all the way around. Get them re-tipped and fixed, or you'll end up losing your stones.
Now Prongs that are lifted or raised up off the Gemstone are a little different. These Prongs can be thick and durable, but they can still get caught on everything, because the area underneath the Prong is open and vulnerable. (See picture)
Raised and Jagged Prongs generally mean that the Prong was never pushed down flat on the stone to begin with. Jewelers do what they can to lay the Prongs flat on top of your Gemstone or Diamond, but sometimes they don't fit exactly flush. Or...
Sometimes raised Prongs just mean that you got it caught on something and pulled the Prong up. Either way, Fixing or Repairing a raised Prong is a simple process. All Jewelers have to do, is push the metal Prong back down so it's flush on top of your stone. It takes just a couple of minutes! (You don't want to chip your stone in the process!) That way, you won't have to worry about getting it caught or snagging on anything anymore. And that's great!
Prongs that need to be re-tipped are easy to fix as well. The Jeweler adds gold tips to the Prongs, building them up to become durable again. Then they smooth them out, polish them up and your Prongs are brand new again.
Prices will vary from a couple bucks to a couple hundred bucks. It all depends on if it's a raised prong or a retip job. (Retips are more expensive!)
Now, if the Prongs are really low and thin and brittle, you may need to scrap the whole re-tipping thing and just get a new head instead. (The Jeweler will advise after seeing your Ring.) Prices on new heads will vary depending on the size of the head and the difficulty in resetting your Diamond back in the mounting.
So if your Prongs are Snagging and Catching, don't ignore it. It's a warning sign! Take it in and have it fixed. It's not only your clothes that are in jeopardy, it's your Gemstones and Diamonds as well. And losing your Diamond because of one Snagging Prong is a hard lesson to learn!
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