Normal day to day wear can damage jewelry prongs. Check your prongs occasionally - especially ring prongs.
There is nothing more vexing than to glance at your hand and notice your ring is missing a gemstone. It can be more than vexing if the gemstone in question is a large diamond solitare.
This happened to me last weekend and I really should know better. I was visiting my son in Chicago and about an hour after I checked out of the hotel room I noticed one of the diamonds from a family piece of jewelry was missing. It was a cold weekend in Chicago and I had been pulling on and off a pair of snug fitting leather gloves while wearing the ring (another big mistake - don't ever wear gemstone rings with gloves). Apparently, I loosened one of the prongs.
Well, I checked the rental car and my luggage hoping it somehow fell in there - no luck. I know it was not missing that morning when I put the ring on and I really did not have time to go back to the hotel to check the room. It was only a .15 carat diamond, but still I was pretty irritated with myself.
Checking the prongs should be a daily routine whenever a fine piece of jewelry is worn. In my next article I give tips on how you can avoid having to shell out the money for a new gemstone. And, I give instructions on using prong closing pliers to make a cool pair of princess cut CZ earrings that look fantastic.
