What happens to excess precious metals when you have a ring resized? Can I ask for it back??

[GlomOfNit]

I have fairly slender fingers and initially, I had my wedding ring adjusted (I couldn't have it resized as it's actually a plait of gold strands that are set onto the solid band, so any cut would be obvious) as (somehow!!) I must have lost weight after the initial ring fitting.

The jeweller put three largeish granules of gold at equal intervals on the inside of the ring. They're very rounded - like a little hill in profile I suppose - and it's always been comfortable to wear.

A few years ago, with weight and swelling that comes with getting to the end of your 40's, I had one of the 'hills' removed. Now, at 53, and with this hot weather, I'm finding I'm not even wearing my wedding ring much of the time as it's way too tight. OK, so I need another of the hills removed by our excellent local jeweller.

What I'm asking is - what happens to the gold? It's not an insubstantial amount to remove. Gold is through the ceiling these days. I'm obviously paying to have the job done but do the jewellers just keep the gold they remove as a 'perk' or is it going to be reflected in the price to have it done, or what? I used to do a very minor amount of silversmithing and I know you NEVER throw away 'waste' precious metal, even shavings and dust - it's collected and melted down and reused.

So would I be cheeky to ask them about this? Do I get it back? (I can't do metalsmithing any longer, I don't have the kit, but gold is gold!) Do I accept they keep it? (and yes, this was also on my mind a few years ago when I had the last one taken off, but I was too shy to ask them.)

I think you ask - they could price it on the basis of keeping the metal or the basis of returning it to you and without asking which you wouldn't know if you're comparing apples with apples when getting quotes.

I had my wedding ring reduced in size a few years ago and asked this question. The jeweller said it didn’t work like that, and that the metal was annealed. I had no idea what that meant, and still don’t, despite having researched it. It just means that it is heated, which is what I would have expected anyway. He then shuffled away in a rather shifty manner. I suspect he just kept the extra and tried to bamboozle me with a technical term. 22 carat gold as well!

I had my engagement ring made smaller and they just gave me the platinum they cut out in a little bag as, her words, “it was mine”

It really depends on the size of your ring. When you say a 'not insubstantial' amount, how big of a piece do you think it is?

If it's less than 0.5g it might be mostly shavings and you are unlikely to be able to sell it anywhere really.

If it's closer to a gram/ a little piece of gold that they cut out, I would just ask them for it back. There's nothing wrong with that - it is yours.

A gram of gold could be worth the price you'd pay for the ring resizing so it's worth having and the jeweller is definitely benefiting from getting to keep that.

They mostly blend it in so nothing to ask for back

I suspect they will probably just file it down, so there'd be nothing but dust left.

Annealing metal means to heat it up in order to change the way the molecules are lined up (I think) which makes it malleable for a while. If you're working on a piece of jewellery you might need to anneal it several times in order to work it (eg with a hammer whilst shaping it) as if you bash metal too often it becomes brittle and can shatter. In the context of your jeweller, if that's what he said then I suspect he was indeed trying to bamboozle with jargon!

See, THAT is honest and transparent! Maybe they felt they couldn't get away with keeping a little wedge of platinum! Even a tiny slice is going to be worth a lot, and while you can't do much with it, you could always sell it on to a professional jeweller or precious metal dealer.

I had a necklace that was broken weighed to see if it was worth selling, it was worth a lot less than I thought, so I had it repaired - good as new now, would have been £300 new but only £27 was the gold price. For a ring it’s even less