White Sapphire

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am sizing a 14kt yellow gold ring down 1/2 size and it has a
white sapphire in it, can anyone help me with this? Is the stone
able to be kept in the ring while I size it? or do I have to take
it out. Can I size it while the stone in submerged in water?
Thanks in advance Bari

2

Hi Bari, It really depends on the size of the shank. If it is of
the thin engagement ring type, just make your solder and quench
before the stone even gets warm. If the shank is heavy, you
might want to put the stone in water. In any event, you don’t have to
pull the stone. Have fun. Tom Arnold

3

Hi Bari, You should have no problem sizing a ring with any
sapphire in it. You could heat sink the band and do it quick with
a hot flame. When I want to cool a ring that I have worked on, I
keep my ring mandrel handy and side the hot ring on it for faster
cooling. Hope this helps. Janine in rainy Redding CA.

4

Bari:

These days, with all the treatments, I avoid heating stones
whenever possible. Submerge that stone in water and crank up the
heat. You failed to mention if the ring is gold or silver and the
thickness of the shank. These affect my answer. If it’s a
narrow and about 1 to 2mm thick shank, you could do it without
water but on second thought, why take a chance?

Best of luck;
Steve

5

Sizing a 14kt yellow gold ring down 1/2 size with a white
sapphire in it. Do I have to take it out? Can I size it while the
stone in submerged in water?

The answer is, it depends, but in general you can do the work
without remo ving the stone. Unless you need to solder close to a
heat sensitive stone, you do not need to remove it. Assuming that
the stone cannot take heat, which is not necessarily true for
sapphires, and assuming that the stone is on top and the sizing
area is at the bottom of the shank, there is still no reason to
rem ove it. In fact there are lots of reasons not to. the setting
can be damaged opening it up. the setting will be hardened and
perhaps fatigued to the point of brittleness duriing the
operation. the stone can be damaged removing it. the setting, no
hardened, can be damaged in resetting. the stone can be damaged
during resetting. it takes extra time to remove and reset the
stone. in general the extra cost is not collected from the
customer, so you a re doing it gratis. who pays for rebuilding the
setting if it breaks during the operation? What about a damaged
stone? it just is not necessary.

If the stone were heat sensitive, which is always the safest
assumption, you would need to make sure it stays cool. This means
either protecting it in water as mentioned, or in wet sand, in a
thermal blanket, etc. Or if the r ing has a thin shank, you can
actually solder it while holding the gem and set ting in tweezers
or in your fingers, as long as you quench the sizing area
immediately, without shocking the stone. (Do not try this unless
you are certain can solder quickly.)

In reality, an accomplished bench jeweler very rarely removes a
gem during sizing. Removal is usually the last option for sizing
a ring.

Alan Revere
Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts
San Francisco

6

You should have no problem . If you use a hot enough flame to
do it very quickly you could even hold the stone in your fingers
while you solder. Jerry in Kodiak

7 
I am sizing a 14kt yellow gold ring down 1/2 size and it has a
white sapphire in it, can anyone help me with this? Is the stone
able to be kept in the ring while I size it? or do I have to take
it out. Can I size it while the stone in submerged in water?

As long as you protect the stone with something–Kool Jool or
Heat Shield ( or water) it should be fine. It is only when
retipping that you should remove the stone or when the work
being done is real close to it.