Morganite

[SaltandPepper22]

i absolutely love the engagement ring my fiancé chose for me. It is a pear shaped morganite with accent diamonds on a very thin white gold band. The problem is that sometimes (not all the time) it is too big! I did measure my ring size before he chose it but I have since been told because the band is so thin you normally need to size down.

I’ve been back and forth on getting it resized because it isn’t too big all the time but yesterday, when it was colder, I managed to shake it off and briefly lose it trying to prove to myself that it wasn’t in any danger of coming off!

It is from a jeweller in Hatton Garden and we are out of their window for free changes so I went to a local place to ask about getting it resized. They said they weren’t prepared to take it on because of the morganite stone - they were worried that it would not tolerate the heat involved in the soldering and welding. Naturally I’m now a bit anxious to try anywhere else.

Has anyone here successfully had a morganite engagement ring resized and had it turn out okay?

I don’t want to wear ring adjusters because they just feel a bit naff to me (I know some people swear by them). I was thinking if it couldn’t be adjusted I would buy a simple tighter fitting ring to wear on top so at least I wasn’t worried about it slipping off. Does that sound like a reasonable solution? Will people think it’s odd and like I’m trying to look married already? (Ring I am looking at is not an obvious wedding ring candidate).

All opinions welcome this has been such a saga 🤣

Didn’t realise that was going to be so long sorry!

TL:DR Will extreme heat ruin a morganite stone and is it weird to wear another ring on top of your engagement ring?

Lots of people wear their wedding ring on top of their engagement ring, so I wouldn't think it weird so long as it looked okay on.
You could always have the stones put into a new band if you wanted.

Thanks - sorry if it wasn’t clear, the new ring would not be my wedding ring!

You could get a nice eternity ring to go on top 🙂

I would get a thin band to wear on top of it. Then after you're married it would be wedding band first, engagement ring, slim band. It will probably look very pretty.

Why wouldn't you take it back to the original Hatton garden jeweller who sold it to you and ask their advice?

If it's falling off your finger it does sound very loose! Speaking as someone who was in denial my engagement ring was too big til I dried my hands with a paper towel and managed to throw it away - luckily realised, retrieved and resized it.

My ring has been resized then I lost 4.5 stone. I was advised that I couldn't have it resized again as it would weaken the band.
I have a much tighter 1.5mm band that is almost invisible

I wear my wedding band above my engagement ring which helps to keep it in place!

My fiancé is going to call them on Monday but they won’t be able to do a replacement in a smaller size because we are out of their window which would mean looking at resizing with the potential issue the jeweller pointed out to me today 😔

denial is a good word.

No sorry it’s not falling off passively. I stood in my office and gave my hand a jolly good shake for about 30 seconds - I don’t know why either🤪

Firstly you need to find a better jeweller.

It's usual to remove the stone(s), make the adjustment and then reset. There is no way you would attempt a solder on a morganite ring with the stone in situ. There are various things you can do to protect a stone from heat but none are 100% safe.

You could also find a jeweller with the correct pulse welding equipment who could make the adjustment without having to remove the stone. It's expensive equipment and most local jewellers won't have one.

Can you take it back to the Hatton Garden jeweller? Even if it's outside their usual alteration window they would be able to do it for you even if they charge

I was told it would weaken if it was made bigger, not smaller. I had mine resized down and the band ended up much thicker and stronger.

Disclaimer - I am absolutely not a jeweller, but could the stones be removed and placed into a new (smaller) mount? When I got engaged the ring was six(!!!) sizes too big and they had to remove the stones and reset them in a different band. It's not morganite though so I don't know if that would cause the same issues. Only a jeweller can answer that really

Resizing more than a couple of sizes down is difficult especially if it is stone set. It's usual to cut the band at the same place where it was originally soldered wherever possible to keep the strength. If too much is taken out the ring distorts. It's easy to reshape a plain wedding band ring, harder if it's stone set. When I'm making rings I always put the join opposite the stones to facilitate this.

When sizing up, if it's more than a size or two, a decent jeweller will also cut the band and put a bit more gold into the space rather than try and stretch it. Stretching will indeed make the band thinner. Whether that matters depends on how thick the metal was to begin with. Doing it "properly" takes longer though and requires silversmithing skills and most high street jewellers are little more than retailers.

I'm sure your original solution (thin band above your ring) will work.

I have a tanzanite and diamond ring which, while not an engagement ring, is very precious to me. I wear it with a thin white gold ring a size smaller above it, for the same reasons you are thinking of.

Also intended to say, I too, love Morganite, so very pretty

My engagement ring now only fits my baby finger so I never wear it. Neither does my wedding ring so I occasionally wear an eternity ring instead. I wouldn’t be in a hurry to make your ring any smaller as if in the future you need to enlarge it again, it may weaken it. As others have suggested, a thin other ring worn alongside your engagement ring seems the best solution.

I have a 9ct gold ring adjuster that the jewelers clipped on. Its invisible and can't feel it but it is also bendy so when my fingers swell say in the heat it moves but then bounces back when fingers thin out again. I knew if I resized I would beed to do it again if I lost/ put on weight.

Unmount the morganite. Resize the ring and set it again.