Diamonds fallen out of ring

[Sundayrain]

Within the last two weeks two small diamonds have fallen out of my engagement ring (and been lost). I'm planning to take it into the jewellers we bought it from 10 years ago to see how much it would cost to replace them and check the clasps for the other stones to prevent any others from coming loose. I know it's been a long time but I thought engagement rings were supposed to last forever! I haven't banged it or anything. Should the jeweller replace them even though it's been so long? I'm not sure whether to even ask, advice welcome!

but I thought engagement rings were supposed to last forever

No they’re not.
Is it insured?

The claws holding the gems in wear out and you have to get new ones soldered on

After 10 years, unless you'd been having some kind of annual care on it (20 years down the line I've not had mine looked at once so I don't know if this is a thing) I'd say absolutely not unfortunately. The best really you can hope for is damage limitation in not wearing it till it has been looked at to prevent more falling out and seeing if your insurance will cover the cost of replacement. Mine fell out in the first year and they replaced it as they'd since redesigned due to the clasps being insufficient but I don't think you'd be as lucky after 10 years. Sorry.

Do you mean replace them for free after 10 years?

I used to work in a jewellers, it happens and it's fairly common.

But if you've lost 2 stones in a couple of weeks, I'd guess you have damaged it somehow without realising.

Do you leave it on in water? This happened to mine 10 years in but luckily I found the diamond and had it fixed.

The claws wear away eventually, also your wedding ring rubbing against it can wear the setting down . I’ve just taken mine in for a quote which I’m not looking forward to but I can see at least 3 of the settings have worn away , and kept catching on jumpers etc.
Diamonds may well be forever but the setting isn’t !

After 10 years that is fair wear and tear I'm afraid. I guarantee my rings for 1 year against manufacturing errors, and after that it would depend on the circumstances.

Rings have a hard life, they get banged and caught even if you don't notice at the time and some settings are more robust and suited to daily wear than others. People do tend to choose the ring they love rather than consider its intrinsic suitability to be an engagement ring!

Definitely get the rest of the setting checked - they should do this automatically but it is worth mentioning to make sure they do.

Thanks all this is really helpful, I'll go in and just ask for a quote to replace the stones and check the rest of the settings.

I'd get a few quotes from different places to be honest.

Some jewellers are better at repairs than others too.

I'd recommend one that has its own workshop and does the repairs themselves, although these seem to be hard to find nowadays.

As part of my insurance I have to have my clasps checked once a year otherwise it won't be covered if a stone falls out!
After 10 years it could be wear and tear. What metal is the ring? Maybe it's a softer gold ?

I've had my engagement ring thirty-odd -five years it's needed fixing once because of a lost stone . They need checked regularly the older they get . Get it checked a couple of times a year .

Used to work for a jewellers during uni and sadly quite common especially in multi stone rings. Traditional solitaires with claws are quite obvious when they are damaged / broken and tend to last a few weeks/ up to a month with 3 claws so not a lot of people loose their main stone. Smaller ones often rely upon less robust claws or often tension settings with the overall integrity reliant upon the whole setting (if that makes sense ?)

basically it’s like dominoes - once one stone is loose / fallen out the whole row is at risk. I’d take it in before more fall out. Sadly no jeweller is going to accept responsibility after 10 years - I’ve seen people rejected after 18 months. Definitely shop around for quotes as there are charlatans out there. If you are cost conscious I’d consider replacing with man made lab diamonds - much cheaper than natural and I wouldn’t be surprised if they say more work is needed to fix settings in stone. I’d go to a mix of high street jewellers, independents and specific jewellery repair services but be aware most of the time the will need to send the item off for a quote as most chain jewellers don’t have a repair service in store.

good luck !

In my insurance policy says for the ring to be covered I have to have it inspected and prongs inspected/ tightened every 6 months. You’re supposed to make sure your ring is regularly checked .