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Redoing an old engagement ring

scubamagescubamage
in Just Engaged and Proposals
Hey everyone,
I am saving to get an engagement ring to propose to my girlfriend. The one issue I am running into is the price of rings - to get something even remotely nice i'm looking at more than $4,000.

I recently inherited an old engagement ring from a great aunt whom I never met. I have no emotional attachment to the ring since i never met her. I would be willing to re-use the ring, however the ring is gold, and my girlfriend dislikes gold - her preference is white gold, or platinum. It does have a brilliant stone which I would love to re-use, so after talking to a few jewelers the feedback I've gotten was that "there are jewelers who will remove the stone from the setting, take the metal as scrap, and then let you refit the stone into a setting you like." The issue is - I haven't been able to find anyone who is willing to do it. Has anyone else been in this sort of a situation? Any suggestions would really be appreciated. Thank you!
-M
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Re: Redoing an old engagement ring

  • Grits8812Grits8812 member
    First Comment
    A beautiful ring doesnt have to cost $4,000.  Mine and his was only at right about $1,000.

    If you want to reset the stone, you need to find a jeweler and designer, like Magdala9 said above.  Your best bet would probably be local jewelers, not chain stores.

    Good Luck!
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  • Magdala9Magdala9 member
    First Comment
    To be successful, you generally will need a jeweler who is also a designer.  I am not familiar with the poconos area so I cannot recommend someone specific.  You may wish to try your local board. (left side of board)
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  • thejucheideathejucheidea member
    Ninth Anniversary First Answer 500 Love Its First Comment
    My grandmother gave us her wedding ring to use as an engagement ring. It's also yellow gold, which I do not like. I talked to a jeweler friend of mine and he said that it could be plated with platinum or palladium, no problem. I passed the ring off to my boyfriend in May and still haven't seen if it was successfully plated or not because of a decided lack of engagement, but as far as I know, it can be done and can look nice.

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  • MaggieandJakeMaggieandJake member
    Fifth Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    I agree with PP that a very nice ring does not need to cost more than $4,000.

    My ring is from a local jeweler, is stunning (IMO), and cost $3500 (though we got it for about 1K less due to a promotion store was running).  My center stone is a .77 princess cut H color, VS1 clarity, excellent cut, on a beautiful .2CT setting with small round diamonds set 1/3 of the way down on all 3 visible surfaces, and a hand engraved band on the rest of band.  While it may not be big, or the highest quality diamond, it still sparkles like none other and I get compliments on it all.the.time.

    But to answer your original question: I would check with a local jeweler.  A friend of ours used a diamond he got handed down from his grandma and had it reset into a new setting that he and his now wife picked out together.  Could you go back to jewelers who told you that you could do this and see who they can refer you to?
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  • normajean13normajean13 member
    Tenth Anniversary First Comment
    Have you considered looking into moissanite?
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  • mymissingpuzzlepiecemymissingpuzzlepiece
    Second Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    I agree with PPs, for an engagement ring to be beautiful it definitley doesn't have to be $4,000. Mine was $2,300 dollars and I have a beautiful .78 violet sapphire with 4 diamonds down each side (8 in total). I'm in love.

    As far as resetting a diamond. I've heard it's fairly easy... many jewelers should do it. And like ahstillwell said, it can be plated with a silver type metal to get the look that you gf wants. 
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  • ashleyvanderhoofashleyvanderhoof member
    First Comment
    If you are looking to have your diamond reset, yes a local jeweler is your best best. If you are just looking for a good deal, you might try a chain store. My ring is almost flawless and .47C and we only paid $700. Just try to find sales, coupons, special occasion events and such. It can be done!
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  • ambahberambahber member
    First Comment
    we took his grandmother old engament ring and had the stone reset into a ring that i liked. we went to a chain jewler like kays, belden or hanoush jelwers. they took about 900 off of the price of the ring because we had our own stone and fit it to the ring i picked. its much cheaper that way. good luck!!
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  • MidnightMareMidnightMare member
    Third Anniversary First Comment
    I have my grandmothers ring. It was also set in yellow gold. I chose to only have a sloitare, so hubby paid $400 for the new white gold band, the mounting, and the labor to clean it all up and put it together. I am in Northern NJ, not far from Poconos. I got mine done at Coats Jewlers in the little town of Branchville right off 206.

    I had taken mine to chain stores, and they all wanted to take my ring for a small value and try to sell me a new much more expensive and lower quality ring. DO NOT BUY INTO THIS. Just like everything else it seems in this world, they dont make diamonds like they used to. I would have ended up with a smaller, darker, less quality cut stone and lost all of the sentimential value and paid a ton for it. I love my ring now. Small locla jewlers are your best bet.
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