Re-Tip Prongs and Beads
You want to be able to wear your find jewelry for all kinds of occasions, which is what it's for, after all. But that also means it's exposed to hazards and just general wear and tear over time that can cause damage to certain areas of a piece.
Whether you need the prongs on your engagement ring repaired or the beading on a family heirloom touched up, our experts have the right set of skills and the proper tools to get the job done. We'll return your piece to you looking like new, so you can again wear it the way it was meant to be worn.
Process Overflow
Re-tipping prongs and beads is a delicate process, especially because we don't want to do anything that will adversely impact another part of the piece. Many gemstones can be damaged by heat, which is why we use the best tools available to precisely direct a focused laser to only the specific area we're trying to repair.
- The first step in any re-tipping project is to clean and examine the entire piece to see if there is any additional damage that needs to be repaired.
- Once we know what we're working with, we'll solder a new bead of metal onto the worn surface of the old prong or bead to build it back up again. We'll also make sure all prongs are sitting securely against the gemstone like they should be.
- After the soldering is completed, we'll check all gemstones to make sure they're secure, and then we'll polish and refinish the piece.
Advanced Tools
In order to complete this type of highly technical and detailed work, we use only the best tools available. These include lasers that allow us to direct heat only onto the spots that need it without impacting any surrounding areas or features. This is especially important because re-tipping is carried out with the gemstones in place, and with this type of tool, we can avoid exposing them to the heat.
Why It's Important
Re-tipping may hardly seem to make a difference in the appearance of your ring or other piece of jewelry, but it's extremely important when it comes to the safety and security of your gemstones. Prongs especially serve several functions, including holding the stone securely and serving as a buffer to deflect impact.
This is why they get worn down, of course, and it's also why you need them. Many beads, while they may seem simply decorative, also serve similar purposes, and restoring them to their original condition is an excellent way to ensure that your fine jewelry looks its best for many years to come.
-
Working with Joseph Jewelry on our custom design project was truly exceptional. As designers ourselves, it was important to us that we could work with a jewelry designer who could fabricate our vision down to the last millimeter. Joseph Jewelry's designers and artisans were able to provide us with a very positive and patient collaborative experience. We also felt that Joseph Jewelry's designers were truly excited and engaged in our design concept, which really enhanced what was a collaborative endeavor! Plus it made us feel good that the experts were enthusiastic about the direction we were going with our design! Joseph Jewelry's designers were able to work directly with our 3D digital design files, sketches and inspirational photos, providing feedback and helping us to make adjustments to our 3D digital design models. Ultimately, this improved the long-term quality and viability of the finished product. Once the design was finalized the team used a process of digital fabrication to make a physical prototype of our jewelry before the casting was completed in precious metals. This was absolutely the best part of the design process – being able to see a physical representation before going forward! It's probably the smartest service you can seek out in a jeweler and Joseph Jewelry has both 3D printing and milling available! Additionally, we were really impressed with their specialized online customer interface, which provides you with a direct conduit to your jewelry designer – a online service exclusively design for Joseph Jewelry. We were able to upload images back and forth, and have a discussion board for collaboration which was fantastic and becomes a place to come back again and again with any questions regarding your jewelry long after the project is complete! For hands-on customers with a very specific design vision and story for their special piece, but who may need that extra support when moving into fabrication we HIGHLY recommend Joseph and Danny's team at Joseph Jewelry. Even if you only have a glimmer of an idea for where you want to take your project, with a majority of their beautiful in-store jewelry being custom designs, Joseph Jewelry truly excels in understanding the complexities of custom jewelry design and fabrication.
