Keep an Eye on Those Ring Prongs

Posted by Maire Loughran Mar 12, 2008

There is nothing more vexing than to glance at your hand and notice your ring is missing a gemstone. It can be more than vexing if the gemstone in question is a large diamond solitare.

This happened to me last weekend and I really should know better. I was visiting my son in Chicago and about an hour after I checked out of the hotel room I noticed one of the diamonds from a family piece of jewelry was missing. It was a cold weekend in Chicago and I had been pulling on and off a pair of snug fitting leather gloves while wearing the ring (another big mistake - don't ever wear gemstone rings with gloves). Apparently, I loosened one of the prongs.

Well, I checked the rental car and my luggage hoping it somehow fell in there - no luck. I know it was not missing that morning when I put the ring on and I really did not have time to go back to the hotel to check the room. It was only a .15 carat diamond, but still I was pretty irritated with myself.

Checking the prongs should be a daily routine whenever a fine piece of jewelry is worn. In my next article I give tips on how you can avoid having to shell out the money for a new gemstone. And, I give instructions on using prong closing pliers to make a cool pair of princess cut CZ earrings that look fantastic.