We had a customer come into the store complaining about a broken prong on her Diamond Engagement Ring. She had the ring for 8 months and
already had 3 prongs fixed. For some reason, her
prongs kept breaking, bending and snapping off the mounting. She wanted to know why it happens and
how to stop the prongs from breaking.Some people are naturally hard on their jewelry. Some people never take their rings off and beat the crap outta them. So normally, I tend to believe it's the customers fault at first and that they hit them and didn't realize it. Customers are always saying stupid things like "It just broke off by itself!" Yeah, Right!
Every now and then there will be a "Lemon" mounting. (just like cars!). That's a mounting that just happened to get a bad casting. It happens. Air pockets and bubbles get into the Gold. Alloys don't mix right. It's rare, but can happen. Sometimes it's the jewelers fault and they carve too much out of the prong while setting the stone. Those weak spots can cause a prong to snap off. Sometimes jewelers catch a prong on the polishing wheel while polishing. That can cause small cracks in the prongs and make them break easier. Maybe their torch isn't hot enough? Maybe your ring has stress marks? That can make it become brittle and weak. A good inspection of your ring and prongs with a Jeweler's Loupe can normally spot these indications and warning signs.
It could also be the fact that the customer doesn't clean their rings enough. Dirty rings can actually erode and eat away at the metal prongs and Gold. Keeping your rings clean can actually prolong the life of your jewelry.
We tell the customer all of these things that could be making her prongs become weak and snap off. Nope! She's not buying it! She says she regularly brings her rings in for cleaning and inspection. She takes good care of them. She doesn't hit them. It's happened 3 times already... Finally we ask her what she does for a living. She says that she works in a Laundromat. "A Laundromat? Does that mean you work with Bleach?" She smiles and says "Every Single Day!"
"BINGO!" That's why her prongs break off! It's true! Bleach will absolutely kill Gold. If it comes in contact with it, it can weaken your mountings, pit your Gold, eat away at your prongs and virtually destroy that beautiful Diamond Ring of yours. Warning!!! DO NOT MIX BLEACH AND GOLD! Stay away from any contact with Bleach and your Rings and Prongs. Remove them if you do laundry. Keep away from other cleaning products that do contain bleach. Read the labels. Once our customer started taking her rings off at work, she never had another broken prong problem again! So if you have prong problems, just say no to bleach!
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