Porous metal (unusable) engagement ring- don’t know what to do?
*Red circle is one of two slits you can see where it was fixed, I have an old phone and camera so not showing it very well!*
A while back I noticed my engagement ring had a few weak points and was bent out of shape. I went to the jewellers who extended it for me a year or so before this, and they said they’d take a look.
Turns out the ring (white gold 18 carat- I think) has become porous and the metal is unusable. At this point (just after my wedding) they’re quoting me £1500 to basically remake it. Otherwise, a quick fix for £150 that probably won’t hold. This was in January, and the quick fix has (and is still) holding but you can see the lines where the metal is weak. I don’t care about the lines, but I worry about the durability. I don’t wear it near water or when working, just day to day.
This is the most expensive piece of jewellery I own, and it’s only because it’s my mother in laws ring. I’m not a jewellery person, but I do really like this ring. For my wedding, I specifically got a ring (silver not white gold as I don’t have that sort of money) to go with it, so I really don’t want to loose it. I asked the jewellers if they could remake it in silver- and they said no? My understanding is that they can’t reuse the metal (their words), and the ring setting looks similar to other silver rings I’ve seen, so why not?
I really want to preserve and wear this ring, but I can’t afford anything close to that quote right now, or for the foreseeable future. Further context- this ring lost two diamonds with my mother in law which were replaced (not sure which ones), and I lost two also which were replaced by the same jewellers due to the setting.
I have three major questions and concerns here:
- How could my ring have become porous in such a short time after they sized it up? Is this a natural occurrence or could their work have been a contributing factor? (Not trying to shift blame I genuinely don’t know)
- Why can’t it be silver? Is there a genuine reason?
- Is it worth it? With the loss of diamonds and all this, I’m still attached to it. I think I still would love it if I could get it remade, but financially it’s a push.
Any help or support anyone could give us much appreciated. It’s been on the bottom of my worry pile, and not a priority, but living in my head for a while now!
Edit to add: someone briefly commented I should have paragraphs- I’m on my phone and I do have paragraphs so sorry it might be a formatting issue!