CHAIN REPAIR PROBLEMS

Let’s talk chains…

Chain repairs are one of the number one repairs jewelers fix. Right underneath prong repairs…

Chains are always breaking. They get caught, snagged, stepped on, pulled… Non-stop. People sleep in them, they get kinked, the links open…

But it also leads to other issues.

Repairing them!

You see, customers often bring in chains that are just a big wadded mess. They’re all knotted up, tangled, in pieces, and expect the jeweler to fix them like new again.

Most of the times we can.

But sometimes, there just isn’t a hope.

So let’s take a look at some of the most common problems facing chain repairs, so you can see where I’m coming from…

1) The Chain is Too Long!

Customers will bring in a chain, like a snake chain, box chain, or dainty cable link chain, and it needs a solder. It’s broken, got yanked by their 2 year old, and needs fixing. No problem.

But when these customers get the chain back. It’s suddenly 4 inches longer. Customers get upset at this. What happened? Is this not their chain? What did the jeweler do?

Honestly… NOTHING!

You see, gold is a very flexible metal. And it also warms as it’s laying on your chest. So when it gets caught, yanked, or pulled, this gold can stretch and thin out. It can turn a chain into a much longer chain. The links will pull, get narrower, and less flexible, taught, because it’s lengthened.

It’s not the jewelers fault. It’s just the way gold is.

2) The Chains Too Short!

Likewise, many chains get caught and snagged and come in broken, snapped in two, and are in pieces and parts needing to be soldered back together again.

But the problem is, many times when the chain breaks, sections of the chain get lost in the rug, roll under the table, go down the drain… They come up missing. And so when a customer brings all the pieces in for the jeweler to put back together, the chain comes back shorter.

Jewelers don’t keep any of these pieces. They use everything you give them…

You just didn’t give them everything there was!

If you had laid out all the sections and broken parts, you’d see that the chain was going to be much shorter.

It happens!

3) Stiff Joints

When a jeweler solders a chain, they’re actually welding two pieces back together again. And this solder joint is stiff. Harder than the actual chain. Jewelers do a great job at making this joint invisible so you don’t notice it, but it’s still soldered, and still less flexible at that repair spot.

This means that you’ll feel that section. It’ll feel different than the rest of the chain. Plus, it won’t bend like the rest of the chain. You’ll really notice this if you have a pendant hanging in that exact area. It just won’t hang right.

Plus, on either side of the repaired section, those ends of the chain will become weaker and loose because they will bend at the break.

There’s nothing you can do about this. It’s just the way it goes.

4) Weak Kinks!

The same goes with chains that kink. When a chain (usually a flat chain, like a herringbone, or omega chain) gets kinked, jewelers do a great job at smoothing that kinked area out and making it look wearable again. But the fact remains that that area will also be looser and more prone to kink again.

It will keep kinking in that same area over and over again, until it eventually just breaks and can’t be repaired anymore. Then that kinked area will have to be cut out and removed from the chain, which will then shorten the length of the chain.

5) Hollow Chains

If a chain is hollow, it creates all sorts of problems. For hollow chains are difficult to work with. You can’t apply pressure to the links, because they would just cave in. So it’s hard to fix dents, dings, and really difficult to fix hinges and breaks.

Plus, when you add heat to hollow chains, often that metal will either just melt, or turn different colors than the rest of the chain. It makes it stand out and can actually ruin the chain…

It also makes that area hard to polish…

Hollow chains are cheap, feel like air, and are a pain to repair.

6) Jump Rings Open Up

This is a common issue. Many chains are sold with spring rings or lobster claw clasps on the ends… That aren’t soldered shut!

This means, the jump ring that’s connecting them isn’t welded closed, and all it takes is a good tug or pull, and that C ring, or jump ring, will pull apart and open up.

So what I always recommend, especially when you’re buying a chain for a diamond pendant…

Make sure you get all the jump rings soldered, if they aren’t already.

This will keep them from opening up, and losing your valuable pendant.

And the last biggest issue…

7) The Pendant Won’t Fit!

This happens a lot!

Customers will bring in a chain to be repaired. We’ll take the chain in, solder the break, and they’ll come pick the chain back up…

It all looks good until they try to put their pendant back on…

And the pendant won’t slide back on!

The reason is simple…

The pendant was originally put on the chain before the clasp or end tabs were soldered.

Which means, when the chain broke, you didn’t bring the pendant with you to get it put back on properly…

So now, the jeweler will have to remove one of the end rings, tabs, or clasp, and slide it back through the pendant bail, and reattach it.

Now many times that little ring on the end can be squished slightly, just enough to slide it back through the pendant, and then re-rounded back again so it keeps the pendant on.

It’s just a little thing… But something most people fail to realize.

All in all…

Chain repairs aren’t really a problem, it only becomes one at the counter because customers weren’t informed correctly, or they just didn’t put two and two together.

And now that you know, this shouldn’t happen to you!

Cheers! :)