I have a 14K “low nickel” white alloy ring that has a diamond mostly
set into the top. My problem is I screwed up and have too much metal
to move and I fear it has gotten too hard from me banging on it so
much. But the diamond is wiggly still. Can I anneal it a second time
with the diamond in place? It’s a 1/2 ct size VVS2, so big enough to
matter though quite clean. I would heat it to dull cherry red and let
it cool just sitting there on the block but I’ve never torched a
stone before and even though it is a diamond (and don’t they actually
cast rings with stone in place?), I still feel very wary of the idea.
Any thoughts? I’m also a little wary of annealing the white gold a
second time (I hear it’s persnickety that way)… Is there a danger
with too much annealing? I don’t quench the white gold, only let it
cool totally on the block.
Thank you all!
Yes you can anneal the metal. Do it slowly though as you might end
up heating the metal too much causing the solders to fall off. And do
not quench the heated diamond on any form of liquid as diamonds with
tiny holes (treated diamonds) will end up with something blurry
white inside.
And do not quench the heated diamond on any form of liquid as
diamonds with tiny holes (treated diamonds) will end up with
something blurry white inside.
You’ll likely end up with a lot worse problem than something blurry
inside if you put a torch to a fracture-filled diamond, and it won’t
be white. It’ll be black and nasty. If there is even the slightest
doubt in your mind about whether a stone has been treated, either
find out for sure with the help of a gemologist or just don’t put any
heat to it. A VVS1 or 2 you won’t have to worry about. Probably.
DO NOT - and this is worth repeating - DO NOT put heat to a
fracture-filled diamond or any other filled gemstone for that matter.
I would also avoid quenching any stone, treated or not, as Marvel
notes.
To answer your original question Cheyenne, yes you can anneal the
setting with the stone in place, just heat it up evenly and slowly
and then let it air cool. With white gold it probably won’t make a
heck of a lot of difference though. You’ll probably be better off
filing the setting a little thinner so you have less metal to move.
Dave Phelps