{"id":7819,"date":"2018-11-12T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=7819"},"modified":"2018-11-12T08:23:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T13:23:46","slug":"bad-sizing-ring-repair-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/bad-sizing-ring-repair-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"BAD SIZING RING REPAIR JOBS"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"blog-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Bad-Ring-Sizing.gif\" alt=\"Bad Ring Sizing Repair Jobs\" title=\"Bad Ring Sizing Repair Jobs\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-7820\" \/><\/div>\n<p>You get your ring back from the jewelry repair after you had is <strong>sized<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p><h2>You can&#8217;t wait to wear it.<\/h2>\n<p>\nBut you look down, and <strong>see a faint line splitting the bottom<\/strong> of your band (see picture). <\/p>\n<p><h2>What causes this?<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong>Why is that line there?<\/strong> Is this <strong>normal<\/strong>? <\/p>\n<p>\nIf your rings are gold, 14kt, 10kt, 18kt, yellow or white, then <strong>that line is not normal.<\/strong> You should <strong>not<\/strong> be able to see that line. That line is the spot where the jeweler has sized your ring, and<strong> you should not see it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>It should be invisible.<\/h2>\n<p>\nIt should be perfect and smooth and blend in seamlessly with your band. In other words, you shouldn&#8217;t be able to know where it&#8217;s been sized. <\/p>\n<p>\nIf you can see that joint, then the jeweler did a crappy job of soldering, filing, and polishing your ring back together. <\/p>\n<p>\nTo learn more, let&#8217;s look at the actual ring sizing process&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><h2>Sizing a ring:<\/h2>\n<p>\nWhen you get your rings sized, the jeweler either has to <strong>cut a piece of metal<\/strong> out of your ring, or add a piece in. <\/p>\n<p><h2>Sizing up? Sizing down?<\/h2>\n<p>\nIt all depends on if you get your ring sized up, or sized down to fit. To size your ring up, the jeweler will cut your band or shank, pull the two sections apart and add in another piece of metal to enlarge it. <\/p>\n<p>\nIn sizing down, the jeweler cuts out a section of metal and reshapes and bends your ring back together again to make it smaller.<\/p>\n<p>\nThat splice(s) that the jeweler makes, is then <strong>welded and soldered<\/strong> shut with a low-melting point solder that<strong> fuses the band back together<\/strong> again. <\/p>\n<p>\nThe ring is then filed down, smoothed out, and polished to look new again.<\/p>\n<p><h2>That sizing joint is the joint that you&#8217;re seeing.<\/h2>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s all because the jeweler didn&#8217;t use enough solder, filed too much solder away, or polished too much of the gold during polishing. <\/p>\n<p><h2>It&#8217;s bad:<\/h2>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s a quick, sloppy repair job that you should <strong>never accept.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\nAnd since we&#8217;re talking about this section of the ring, you&#8217;d also like to know that it&#8217;s the <strong>weakest part of the ring.<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>\nThis section that the jeweler works on and solders is <strong>fragile<\/strong>. And that&#8217;s because it&#8217;s the part of the ring that takes the most abuse. The bottom of the band takes quite a beating. You hit it every single time you set your hand down. This is why people are always bending and breaking their shanks.<strong> <\/p>\n<p>\nThat joint and weak solder line will snap under pressure<\/strong> if you hit it too hard.  <\/p>\n<p>\nThe good thing is, it can be fixed easily. A little more solder, a little more filing, some more polishing, and <strong>BINGO, it&#8217;s all brand new again.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><h2>But why does it break, you ask?<\/h2>\n<p>\nThe main reason why it breaks is because either your rings are too thin down there (read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/is-your-ring-thin-bent-and-breaking\/\">Is your ring thin and weak?<\/a>), the jeweler didn&#8217;t use enough solder (hence the visible line), or your rings are just too big. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Too big?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\nYes, if your rings are too large and spin around on your finger, they are more likely to snap at the joint. This is because you have too much space in between your ring and your finger, which causes the joint to crack and break if stressed.<\/p>\n<p><h2>Quick and nasty:<\/h2>\n<p>\nAnd if the jeweler did a quick and nasty sizing repair on your rings, then that can make them weak as well. If they use too little solder, or file and polish away too much of your ring, then it will cause that sizing joint to become <strong>vulnerable<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>\nIf you can see that mark, then your rings are probably <strong>weak and may break easily<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><h2>So what can you do if you see that solder joint?<\/h2>\n<p>Have the jeweler redo the repair job. <\/p>\n<p>Have them add in more solder and smooth out your shank so you can&#8217;t see the marks anymore. <\/p>\n<p>\nThis will make your rings stronger and endure more wear and tear as well (just make sure they don&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/is-your-ring-thin-bent-and-breaking\/\">thin out your shank<\/a> in the process).<\/p>\n<p><h2>Not so with platinum:<\/h2>\n<p>\nNow, if your rings are <strong>platinum<\/strong>, that&#8217;s a whole different story. <\/p>\n<p>\nPlatinum, and platinum solder are extremely tough to work with. Chances are good with a platinum ring,<strong> you <strong>will<\/strong> be able to see that soldered line<\/strong> (unless they use a 1700 degree seamless platinum solder). <\/p>\n<p>\nSo depending on the solder used, with platinum, <strong>you may or may not see that seam. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\nPlatinum&#8217;s just a tougher metal to work with because it doesn&#8217;t melt and blend like gold does. But at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/is-platinum-really-worth-the-price\/\">platinum is more durable.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>\nAsk your jeweler about <strong>platinum seamless solder.<\/strong> It&#8217;s a good thing to know.<\/p>\n<p><h2>So the next time you get your rings sized&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>\n<strong>STOP!<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>\nStop and check your ring sizing <strong>before you leave the jewelry store<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p><h2>Inspect it<\/h2>\n<p>\nUse a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Edr9HQ\">microscope<\/a> or a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2kwSI5G\">10x jeweler&#8217;s loupe<\/a> and take a careful look to make sure it&#8217;s sized expertly.<\/p>\n<p>\nSpotting a bad sizing repair early is the best way to prevent future damage to your ring and <strong>your pocket book.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\n<strong>Cheers! :)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>You get your ring back from the jewelry repair after you had is sized. You can&#8217;t wait to wear it. But you look down, and see a faint line splitting the bottom of your band <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/bad-sizing-ring-repair-jobs\/\" title=\"BAD SIZING RING REPAIR JOBS\">[Read More&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jewelry","category-repairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819"}],"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=7819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}