20 Questions

When my boys were younger, I would play “20 Questions” with them.  “Is it vegetable or fruit?”  “Is it animal or object.” I recall how they would try to ask surgically decisive questions with their youthful, still squeaky voices.  It was a fun game that if performed with skill could get the hidden answer.  As time went on, my boys became very skilled at the game.  The correct combination of questions and they would get their dad and back then beating dad was a big deal.  

A Harry Potter Spell?

How can a ring come into the store beaten up and looking terrible with the customer saying, “they do not know how it happened.  They barely wear their ring!”

Well, unless you have the Harry Potter Elder Wand, precious metals do not dent, scratch, or break spontaneously.  

Precious Metals Are Soft.

Silver, gold, of any color and karat and platinum are the most commonly used precious metals.  They are malleable.  That means they are soft enough to be damaged with wear.  And despite what some people feel about how they wear their jewellery, these metals do not change shape, dent, scratch, or chip without being worn.  

A few months back, I gave my new wife a first anniversary platinum and diamond ring.  I went shopping with her to my least favorite big box store in the world (and thus shall remain nameless).  When my wife grabbed a shopping cart, I heard an unusual ‘pinging’ sound and told her that sounded odd.  She had not even noticed.  I told her to look at her ring.  There it was a dent and sharp edge from where her ring met the rigid steel handle of the shopping cart.  After a few tears and some explanation, I told her it would be an easy repair.  If I wasn’t present, I wonder if my wife would have noticed.  If she didn’t notice would she have said, “I just got the ring, how could that happen?”

Back Again!

This week in my store, I have had three customers bring in rings that were previously repaired for being knocked, dented, and scratched.  In each case, the customer told me the same story, “it just happened,” “I barely wear my ring”, “I haven’t worn it since it was repaired last time.”  In each case, the type of wear present on each ring requires my goldsmiths to burnish, sometimes sand down and extensively polish the ring to remove the visible wear.  Below are two of the rings that came this week.  The ring on the left was hit so hard that it cracked at the point where it was sized.  That is also quite common.

Hit so hard the ring cracked.

Deep hits that have marked the bottom of the ring.

When you look at the palm side of your hand, from the edge of your palm to the first wrinkle on your finger has a name, “the digital crease.” Who knew it had a name? I have found that most people will have a digital crease that is from two to seven millimeters wide. And most people find a four-millimeter ring to be most comfortable. I personally wear an eight-millimeter-wide band, and it doesn’t bother me. Rings that are wider than four millimeters tend to show more wear. I can only hypothesize this is due to the width of the ring having more surface area to scratch and dent. I also would hypothesize that the wider rings tend to cushion hits to the hand that a person might feel but the ring takes the impact and makes the wearer unaware of a knock. The ring that my wife dented is about eight millimeters wide. Not enough to prove my hypothesis, but a good example.

It’s In Delivery.

When customers bring in rings that are damaged, like those shown in the pictures, I try to go through my version of “20 Questions” with the customer. Usually, I can get to the cause in two to three questions. I am not trying to interrogate my customers. Although, this week, I was told that I was very much making my customer feel that way. It was not my intention and apologies for doing so!  My delivery was not particularly good. The goal of asking these questions is to make the client aware that something they are doing while wearing their rings is causing damage. I want my customers to enjoy their rings and wear them. Awareness is prevention (no that wasn’t Confucius).

The one point I can make with absolute certainty is that a ring will not spontaneously dent and scratch.  

Out Damn Spot Out!

Below are the same two rings shown earlier.  These pictures were taken after some work by our goldsmiths.  To get back to the ‘like new’ polish, takes anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours on each ring.