When Should Jewellery Be Checked, Repaired or Restored?

If a stone moves, clicks or rattles in its setting, stop wearing the piece.

Don't wait to see whether it gets worse.

A loose stone is often a manageable repair.

A missing stone is a very different problem.

Claws — or prongs — are tiny pieces of metal doing an extremely important job.

Years of contact with clothing, surfaces and everyday life gradually wear them down.

If a claw becomes thin, bent or damaged, the stone it holds may no longer be secure.

If a ring that never used to catch suddenly starts snagging jerseys, hair or fabric, pay attention.

It may be nothing more than a rough edge.

It may also be a raised or damaged claw.

Either way, it's worth checking.

Hands change.

Weight changes.

Temperature changes.

Arthritis can change joints.

And sometimes a ring simply hasn't fitted properly for years.

Many rings can be resized, although the construction, metal, stones and amount of adjustment required all matter.

Let us look at the piece before assuming what can or can't be done.

Wear often happens at connection points.

Clasps, jump rings, hinges and links move constantly and can gradually become thinner.

If something feels different or a clasp isn't closing as confidently as it once did, have it checked before it becomes a loss.

If a rhodium-plated white-gold ring begins showing a warmer tone in high-contact areas, that may simply be the plating wearing naturally.

The piece can often be professionally refinished and replated.

Some jewellery needs more than maintenance.

An inherited ring may have been worn for fifty years.

A setting may have been repaired repeatedly.

A piece may be too fragile to wear in its current form.

That's where restoration — or sometimes thoughtful remodelling — becomes part of the conversation.

The aim isn't automatically to make an old piece look brand new.

Sometimes the history is precisely what should be preserved.

Wear isn't failure.

A ring worn every day for thirty years should carry evidence of those thirty years.

Our job is to distinguish between character and structural risk.

If you have a piece you're worried about, bring it to us.

We'll look at what's worn, what's secure, what should be repaired and what should simply be left alone.

Sometimes the best repair is the smallest one.