THIS IS HOW JEWELERS CHIP DIAMONDS
MAKE SURE THE JEWELER DOESN'T CHIP YOUR STONES
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Some of the most talented Jewelers in the world can accidentally Chip a stone.
They can Chip it, Crack it, or even Fracture it in half.
This is just a fact of life, it happens to the best of us.
There are three main ways that Jewelers (meaning Bench Jewelers) can Chip a Stone, they are:
- By Crushing the Culet
- By Setting them too Close to other Diamonds
- By Tightening the Prongs
So let’s take a closer look…
1) By Crushing the Culet
The Culet, is the point or very tip of the bottom of the Diamond. This tip is very vulnerable to damage and pretty easy to Chip.
Jewelers can accidentally Chip or Crush this Culet if they push the Diamond too far into the mounting and the Culet bumps into the metal. This is a rare circumstance, but sadly it does happen and it can happen to you.
And when it happen, most Jewelers are totally unaware that they even damaged the stone. Only upon closer inspection afterwards (generally with a 10x Loupe or under a Microscope) will they notice that the Culet is no longer perfect in shape, but it now has a jagged appearance. Like so…
And if you pick your ring up from setting or repair, you may not even know it happened at all… Unless you microscope it yourself. That’s why I always advise, ALWAYS, to microscope your Diamond at the time when you pick it up (NOT After, Later, or the Next Day)… NOW!
Look at your Diamond under the microscope, make sure that it has no Chips or Cracks or Fractures (at least any new ones).
Granted, this should also be done when you drop your Diamond off as well so you can see the Before and After yourself. Check the Culet, make sure it looks fine. Because a Crushed Culet can be a visible dead center eye-sore for the rest of your life.
2) Setting too Close to other Diamonds
When Jewelers are setting Diamonds close together, side-by-side, as in a channel, often the Diamonds will push or rub up against each other and crush themselves. Like so…
This can happen because Diamonds are the most hardest natural substance on the face of the earth, so when one Diamond accidentally pushes up against another Diamond, it can crack it or break it in half!
Many mountings are designed to have Diamonds Side-by-Side, Touching, Flush together, or even Tension Set, Invisible Set, or Bezel Set, like in the examples below….
A good Jeweler usually catches a Crack or Break, I mean, they are looking at the Diamond when it happens. But sometimes if the Chip is faint or small it can get missed. Which is why, again, you should microscope your ring when you pick it up from the Jeweler.
Look at all the Diamonds. Check the edges well.
If you see anything that you don’t understand, ask the Salesperson, or speak to the Manager. It’s your Diamond, you have a right to inspect it, and question it.
And this is something that needs to be done BEFORE you leave the store! Otherwise, it’s your word against theirs, and this is a situation that you never want to be in.
So check it before, that way you have peace of mind and an undamaged Diamond.
3) By Tightening the Prongs
Prongs, are the little metal fingers that come up on the sides of your Diamond, fold over the top, and securely hold your Diamond down.
Prongs will not only wear down over time and need re-tipping, but they’ll also get Bumped, Bent, Caught, and Loosened. When that happens, your Diamond is more vulnerable to Chipping and Breaking, so a repair is absolutely needed. After all, it is the Prongs that are protecting the stone.
So when a Jeweler is fixing or repairing your ring, they often take pliers and squeeze the Prongs together (A Diamond should be tight, secure, and not spin or rock in the mounting). But, they have to be very careful doing this, because, if they squeeze too hard, it can snap the stone.
And you can tell this, by looking at your Diamond around the prongs that it’s been crushed. And these can be with regular Prongs, or V-tipped Prongs (which go around pointed Diamonds, like the Princess Cut or the Marquise Cut Diamond), it doesn’t matter. They all can Crush the edges. As seen here…
So check around your Prongs just to make sure they aren’t over-tight and Crushing your beautiful stone.
For once a Diamond is Crushed, Chipped or Broken, you CANNOT fix the stone, you have to recut the stone and make it smaller just to get rid of the damaged area. And re-cutting a Diamond can get pretty expensive…
Check out my post on Re-Cutting Diamonds.
But, not all Broken Diamonds are done by Accident…
Some are Chipped on PURPOSE!!!
It’s true! Just like any business in the world, you will run into a few unscrupulous individuals who go out of their way to be mean and spiteful.
It could be a disgruntled employee, someone who just had a fight with his boss or girlfriend. It could be a Jeweler who had a few beers during lunch, or a Jeweler who gets mad at the customer because they keep saying “It’s not Perfect enough“.
There are many reasons why a Jeweler would want to chip your diamond… Maybe you bought your Diamond at a competitor and it pissed them off. You never know. The Jeweler could be cleaning your diamond, grab some pliers, and crack it (called Torquing) at the same time (which is why you should always go back to the same Jeweler that you bought the diamond from).
This is scary and REAL, because you would take your perfectly clean diamond, put it on your finger, leave the store, and be extremely happy and none the wiser… Until a month down the road when you’re looking closer at your Diamond and you see that it’s chipped. Of course, the first thing you will think is “HEY, my Jeweler sold me a Chipped Diamond!!!”
And then guess what you would do… You would never shop at the Jewelry Store again.
Instead, you would probably think of the last Jeweler that cleaned your rings so well (and was so nice to you) and take your business there. See how that works? It’s a shady way of stealing customers, and if you’re not careful enough, it could happen to you!
So always get in the habit of inspecting your Diamond under a microscope BEFORE and AFTER you pick it up from the Jewelry Store (and do try to stick to one Jeweler only!).
It only takes an extra minute or two to inspect your ring, but it could save your Diamond, and your Pocketbook.
Get the point?
CHEERS! :)