Platinum diamond ring repair

Hi all, back with another question… just purchased an antique
diamond ring made in platinum. My question is can the slender band be
cut off and a wider band be soldered in its place, without removing
the diamonds? The reason I ask is that there is a center stone .80
carat, one .10 carat BEZEL set marquise on either side and surrounded
by 22 .015 carat prong set diamonds. I am new to jewelry making and
don’t really know what the current torch setups are able to do. This
is something that I would not attempt to do and would have it done by
a professional… which leads to another question, if they attempt to
do it and the diamonds are damaged, who’s responsible for the
replacement? any replies would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Mical in Michigan

Hi Mical;

There is a possibility that this work could be done with a torch,
but it depends on the distance from the diamonds of the proposed
solder joint and the general mass of the metal in that area. But in
any case, if it were possible, it would still be something that would
require a bit of expertise. However, it shouldn’t be any problem to
do the weld with a laser. You’re in Michigan (I lived there all my
life) and you might call AU Enterprises in Detroit. I know they have
a laser and they’ve done work for me in the past. As for
responsibility for the diamonds, you could, of course, ask the
customer to sign a release exempting you from responsibility, but
short of that, the risk is yours.

David L. Huffman

Yes you can replace the shank but white gold solder will have to be
used instead of platinum solder as the temperatures required for
soldering the platinum solder will burn the diamonds.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-491-6000
@spirersomes
www.spirersomes.com