Loose diamonds are a problem. If not noticed in time they will fall out. Replacing a diamond can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
If you don't want to lose your diamonds, you better read this article in full.
So how can you tell if a diamond is loose?
Many years ago, when I first opened my business, a lovely young lady received an engagement ring from one of our clients.
After about a month we got a phone call, "My center stone is loose...can I come in to have it tightened?" Certainly, was my response.
It took a few minute to tighten her stone.
She expressed concern, "I only had the ring a month and it is already loose. I am extremely careful with the ring." And as I inspected the ring I noticed there was hardly a scratch on it...so it was true that she was very careful. I scratched my head. "Are you sure the ring was made properly?" she asked.
I assured her that we take great care, and our quality control is meticulous.. after all we've been in business for 3 years by selling quality, and having a business that is dependent almost exclusively on word-of-mouth.
She left feeling a little better, but still skeptical.
2 months later we got another call from her. Her center stone was loose again. There was irritation in her voice. "This is second time in only a couple of months...I am afraid of even wearing the ring now."
I apologized. When she came in I inspected the diamond ring. No scratches, no nicks, no dents. Nothing that would indicate she had an accident with it. In the past, clients would either admit right away that they banged the ring into something or I was always able to find the cause. After showing a customer what happened they realized they had to be a bit more careful, or not wear it when working out, cleaning, etc.
But, with her ring nothing. I was puzzled, and it made her even more aggravated and concerned. After we tightened her diamond I showed her that all is well and tried to convince her that it would not happen again. "I am very unhappy with the quality of your ring she said. It is beautiful, but I don't even want to wear it. If it happens again I want a new ring made." I agreed that if it happened again, something was very wrong and we'd have to make the ring again. With that she left.
Not even a month passed by, she was in the store again, this time with our client, her fiance. They were visibly upset. I was ready to offer my apologies, when something occurred to me. It was a questions I had never asked a client before.
"HOW DID YOU NOTICE THAT YOU DIAMOND IS LOOSE?"
She looked at me with some disdain, as if I asked her how much was 2 plus 2, grabbed her center diamond between her thumb and finger and gave it a twist.
"I check my diamond every day!", she said.
I felt a huge sigh of relief. The mystery of the loose diamond was solved. I knew that I would not see her in my store for a long time with this particular problem.
"With all due respect you must never touch your diamond, especially not in the way you just demonstrated. The prongs of your setting are metal, and they are ever-so-gently holding the thin edge of your diamond, called a girdle, in place. If we attempted to really press down on the diamond with the prong we might crack or chip the stone."
"SO how an I tell if my diamond is loose?" she asked.
"Simple...just take your ring...hold it up to your EAR, and gently with your finger nail, tap on the shank of the ring...the part that has no side diamonds. If anything is loose, you will hear a buzzing sound, instead of a solid sound. I held her ring to her ear and gently tapped. There was a barely discernible sound. The diamond was ever-so-slightly loose. After we tightened her diamond she listened again and heard only the solid tap, no buzz.
A little self-righteous, a little embarrassed, she left. She never had that problem again.