I have recently adjusted the size of 14k ring with diamonds and sapphire. I wrapped in wet toilet paper and heated up to solder the new join ashad to make the ring smaller. As I was doing this some of the paper got burnt and some the soot has got trapped behind the sapphire. I am socking it in acatone and have run it in the ultrasonic to try get the soot out but dose not seem to want to come out. Any one have any suggestions. The setting is gypsy set its a small oval. Is my only alternative to removed the stone and purchase another stone slightly bigger and have it reset?
Best regards Amanda
Hi Amanda, This is a very tough question! Once dirt or debris gets burned onto and then behind already set stones it’s hard to remove the discoloration without removing the stones. I don’t have a good solution. I will say that most jewelers have to deal with this at some point in their jewelry repair career. I’m so sorry that it’s happened to you!!
Next time you before you size a ring like this, make certain that your ring is 100% clean before heating it up for sizing. This may mean soaking the ring in a heated ultrasonic cleaner for as many hours as necessary until you are absolutely certain that there is no dirt or grime anywhere on the ring. Steam cleaning the ring along with a lengthy ultrasonic soak (if you have one) would speed the cleaning process.
Diamonds, rubies and sapphires should easily be able to take the heat of sizing a 14 kt. ring as long as the ring and the stones are well coated with boric acid. (I said sizing, not prong retipping. Prong retipping is a different conversation) Unless there’s some extenuating circumstances that I’m not aware of with this ring, you shouldn’t need to soak a 14 kt, diamond and sapphire ring with water and toilet paper before sizing.
Sometimes you’re lucky when this happens and soaking the discolored stone ring for extended periods of time in a heated ultra sonic can loosen and remove the discoloration, but like I said, I don’t think there’s any good solutions. I wish I had better news to tell you. Best of luck!!
Jeff
1 Like
Jeff- Boric acid or any flux with boric acid or borax should never ever be used on corundum of any color. The the borax when heated will “melt” into the surface of the stone. Even when sizing. When pickled and cleaned afterwards the areas where the borax/ flux have fused to the stone will dissolve and leave an orange peel surface. Thus resulting in a very expensive stone recutting or replacement.
Trust me on this. I’ve seen it happen on more than one occasion while working in busy trade shops where speed and volume of repairs lead to mistakes.
-Jo
1 Like
Amanda- Acetone is a solvent best used for dissolving adhesives. Try boiling it in a solution of a strong detergent with some ammonia first. If that doesn’t work the next step is to boil it in lye. This should be done with caution. Always add lye or acids to water. Place in a container with a lid and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for several minutes. Then turn the heat off and let it soak and cool down for at least an hour or two. Then remove the piece, rinse, place in the sonic and then steam.
And Jeff G is right that you shouldn’t need to protect diamonds and sapphires with a barrier if you are just sizing a shank. However do not ever use flux or boric acid directly on corundum. See the below link from GIA. Sapphire Care and Cleaning Guide
Jo
1 Like
Jo, Thanks for that info! The jewelry store repair shops that I’ve worked in only removed sapphires when replacing prongs, not resizing gold rings. And everyone always coated rubies and sapphires in boric acid before sizing. Good to know! Thanks again!
Jeff