{"id":14461,"date":"2022-11-19T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=14461"},"modified":"2022-11-19T10:06:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T15:06:17","slug":"chain-repair-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/chain-repair-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"CHAIN REPAIR PROBLEMS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chain<\/div>\n

Let’s talk chains…<\/h2>\n

\nChain repairs are one of the number one repairs jewelers fix<\/strong>. Right underneath prong repairs…<\/p>\n

\nChains are always breaking<\/strong>. They get caught<\/strong>, snagged, stepped on<\/strong>, pulled… Non-stop. People sleep in them<\/strong>, they get kinked, the links open<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

\nBut it also leads to other issues<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Repairing them!<\/h2>\n

\nYou see, customers often bring in chains that are just a big wadded mess<\/strong>. They’re all knotted up, tangled<\/strong>, in pieces, and expect the jeweler to fix them like new again.<\/p>\n

Most of the times we can.<\/h2>\n

\nBut sometimes, there just isn’t a hope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nSo let’s take a look at some of the most common problems<\/strong> facing chain repairs, so you can see where I’m coming from…<\/p>\n

1) The Chain is Too Long!<\/h2>\n

\nCustomers will bring in a chain, like a snake chain, box chain<\/strong>, or dainty cable link chain, and it needs a solder. It’s broken, got yanked by their 2 year old<\/strong>, and needs fixing. No problem<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nBut when these customers get the chain back. It’s suddenly 4 inches longer<\/strong>. Customers get upset at this. What happened?<\/strong> Is this not their chain? What did the jeweler do?<\/p>\n

Honestly… NOTHING!<\/h2>\n

\nYou see, gold is a very flexible metal<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>. It can turn a chain into a much longer chain. The links will pull, get narrower, and less flexible, taught<\/strong>, because it’s lengthened<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nIt’s not the jewelers fault<\/strong>. It’s just the way gold is.<\/p>\n

2) The Chains Too Short!<\/h2>\n

\nLikewise, many chains get caught and snagged and come in broken, snapped in two<\/strong>, and are in pieces and parts needing to be soldered back together again.<\/p>\n

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

\nJewelers don’t keep any of these pieces. They use everything you give them<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

You just didn’t give them everything there was!<\/h2>\n

\nIf you had laid out all the sections<\/strong> and broken parts, you’d see that the chain was going to be much shorter.<\/p>\n

It happens!<\/strong><\/p>\n

3) Stiff Joints<\/h2>\n

\nWhen a jeweler solders a chain, they’re actually welding two pieces back together again<\/strong>. And this solder joint is stiff<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

\nThis 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nPlus, on either side of the repaired section, those ends of the chain will become weaker and loose because they will bend at the break. <\/p>\n

\nThere’s nothing you can do about this. It’s just the way it goes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

4) Weak Kinks!<\/h2>\n

\nThe 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<\/strong> and making it look wearable again. But the fact remains that that area will also be looser and more prone to kink again<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nIt will keep kinking in that same area over and over<\/strong> 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

5) Hollow Chains<\/h2>\n

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

\nPlus, when you add heat to hollow chains, often that metal will either just melt, or turn different colors<\/strong> than the rest of the chain. It makes it stand out and can actually ruin the chain…<\/p>\n

\nIt also makes that area hard to polish<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

\nHollow chains are cheap, feel like air<\/strong>, and are a pain to repair. <\/p>\n

6) Jump Rings Open Up<\/h2>\n

\nThis is a common issue<\/strong>. Many chains are sold with spring rings or lobster claw clasps<\/strong> on the ends… That aren’t soldered shut!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThis 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nSo what I always recommend, especially when you’re buying a chain for a diamond pendant…<\/p>\n

\nMake sure you get all the jump rings soldered<\/strong>, if they aren’t already. <\/p>\n

\nThis will keep them from opening up, and losing your valuable pendant.<\/p>\n

\nAnd the last biggest issue…<\/strong><\/p>\n

7) The Pendant Won’t Fit!<\/h2>\n

\nThis happens a lot!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nCustomers will bring in a chain to be repaired. We’ll take the chain in, solder the break<\/strong>, and they’ll come pick the chain back up…<\/p>\n

\nIt all looks good until they try to put their pendant back on…<\/p>\n

\nAnd the pendant won’t slide back on!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason is simple…<\/h2>\n

\nThe pendant was originally put on the chain before the clasp or end tabs were soldered<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nWhich means, when the chain broke, you didn’t bring the pendant with you<\/strong> to get it put back on properly…<\/p>\n

\nSo 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nNow many times that little ring on the end can be squished slightly<\/strong>, just enough to slide it back through the pendant, and then re-rounded back again<\/strong> so it keeps the pendant on.<\/p>\n

\nIt’s just a little thing… But something most people fail to realize<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

All in all…<\/h2>\n

\nChain repairs aren’t really a problem<\/strong>, it only becomes one at the counter because customers weren’t informed correctly<\/strong>, or they just didn’t put two and two together.<\/p>\n

\nAnd now that you know, this shouldn’t happen to you! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\nCheers! :)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,17],"tags":[537,536,534,535],"class_list":["post-14461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jewelry","category-repairs","tag-chain-broken","tag-chain-problems","tag-chain-repairs","tag-fixing-chains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}