Platinum ring shank distorted

This is a friends platinum ring.

This is the second time this has happened to the shank on her
platinum engagement ring. She claims it happened both times
completely spontaneously on her finger while she was doing
absolutely nothing at all. it just snapped. She had it ‘repaired’ by
a local goldsmith twice and now is coming to me for answers because
she’s been to the ‘jewelry store’ twice with no results. I am not
going to touch it but it would be great to get her some answers. I
have never worked with platinum. Thanks everyone. :slight_smile: joy kruse

This is a friends platinum ring.
http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/plt-ring-joy.jpg 

The bottom of the shank is too thin. Because the area under the head
is not tied to the head, that short bridge is able to bend if the
ring is compressed side to side (not sure how she’s doing that, but
people can do almost impossible things to their rings without
knowing, so rings need to be designed accordingly. It’s unusual to
see the bottom pulled down like this. More common is if the bottom
is pushed up/flattened, like from gripping the steering wheel or the
like. But anyway…) Platinum, if annealed, is pretty soft and
flexible, so the cure is that the bottom of the shank cannot be
tapered as much as this one does. The fix is not straightening the
ring, as it will just bend again. The fix is to replace about the
bottom third of the ring, from about the 4 o’clock position to the 8
o’clock position, or a bit more. Further, the stock used to reshank
the ring should be rolled/forged metal, not just cast. Even after
annealing, it’s much stronger. With that done well, the ring won’t
again distort. Any competent platinum worker can do this. If the shop
has a laser or pulse arc welder, all the better, since then the shank
section being added won’t even be annealed from soldering, though if
done right, that’s not much of a problem, and done right, soldering
can be just as good, sometimes even better. I’d advise NOT taking it
back to where the ring was purchased or worked on, or otherwise
hoping to get it fixed on warranty or something. Therein lies the
temptation to the jeweler to use the quick and cheap fix of just
straightening it again. Reshanking the ring will cost some money.
Done right, it’s a permanent solution.

Peter Rowe

I mostly agree with you on this ring. the way to properly repair it
is to redshank it with platinum. good money and a easy job. that
said. when I looked at the photo of the ring in the position it is
in, the bottom half is distorted from the top half. so I am thinking
the ring is too large in the first place and is turning on its side
where it is getting crushed into the shape it is in now. more then
likely by the steering wheel of her car. or the back of the Taxi she
uses…:slight_smile: Re shanking will stiffen the ring and needs to be done…

But also resizing the ring might be in order or depending on her
finger another type of shank which can open to get over a large
knuckle might also be explored as a way to prevent this in the
future. Will get a loyal customer ifit is done for life and her
friends. Just my 2 cents worth.

Thank you very much for this response on my friends platinum ring. I
will forward pass this along to her. I will have a laser welder in a
month and maybe I will fix her ring. I just have never worked with
platinum. Any great books out there defining dos and don’ts with
platinum. I feel like I know pieces of from here and
there. Thanks again :slight_smile: joy kruse

Peter, as soon as I saw the deformation of the ring shank, I said,
“She must have been moving a refrigerator.” I have no idea if that
is correct, but that is certainly how I put exactly the same shape to
an also too thin shank. The edge of the my wedding ring snagged
around some trim when the fridge got away from me going down the
steps. Luckily I still have a finger. I learned a lot that day. I
can’t add anything to the repair process. just more cautionary tales.

Evalie