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Rhodium plating wearing down prongs

I went into the jeweler's the other day to have mine and my husbands rings inspected for our warranty and asked that they be redipped while they were there. The sales lady got kind of nasty with me and asked when the last time I had them replated was. I told her I wasn't sure, she said that the more you replate your rings the more it wears down your prongs each time. I just wanted to know if there was any truth to this at all or if she just didn't want to take the time to do it?

Tina Legault
buyer - Junction City, Kansas, USA
January 17, 2011

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Hi, Tina. I doubt that the plating process attacks the ring in any way. However, to get a full shine, things have to be polished and they probably polish the prongs, slowly wearing them away.

Rings should be replated when they need it rather than arguing over an ideal schedule for replating. Next time you might express your concern that they don't seem to be providing high quality plating as you need to bring it back too frequently, and you are concerned that this may be wearing down the prongs :-)

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 18, 2011