Don't let your favorite winter sweater ruin your jewelry! Learn why "prong season" is the perfect time for a professional jewelry inspection and how we catch hidden damage before you lose a stone.
The best thing about winter is getting cozy in a heavy, comfy sweater. The worst thing about winter is getting the prongs of your jewelry caught in the knit! It just kills the cozy vibe to pull on a sweater only for your jewelry to pull a thread loose. It’s also bad for your jewelry, as a loosened prong can lead to the loss of a gemstone. That’s why winter is not just sweater weather, it’s prong season, the time to get your jewelry inspected before loose prongs or other minute signs of wear and tear become a problem.
Instead of waiting until your jewelry—or your skin or clothing—suffers some major damage, bring your jewelry in for a professional inspection. When it comes to taking care of your health, preventative care is better for you and your wallet. You catch signs and symptoms before they can develop into serious health problems. The same goes for your jewelry. A preventative care inspection will catch issues like loose prongs before you lose a diamond.
What a Jewelry Inspection Entails
When you bring in your jewelry for inspection, we’ll use our 10x magnification jeweler’s loupe and other tools and techniques of the profession to cover every millimeter with an expert eye. We’re looking for:
- Scratched, chipped, cracked, or missing gemstones
- Loose or bent prongs (the parts that hold a gemstone in place)
- Dents and scratches in metal
- Worn, thinning, or cracked ring bands (also called a “shank”)
- Dented or cracked bails (the part of a pendant that attaches to a chain)
- Broken clasps or clasps that no longer shut properly
- Tarnish or other discoloration
- Broken, bent, or knotted chain links
- Worn, stretched, or broken pearl strands
In general, we’re looking for any structural issues or wear patterns that could lead to problems in the future. Since the components are so small, these issues usually can’t be seen with the naked eye. It takes not only the right equipment but the right training to catch them. If we find any cause for concern, we’ll let you take a look and we’ll discuss further action before making any repairs.
We’ll also clean your jewelry, removing tarnish and making those stones sparkle and metals shine like new. Different gemstones and metals require different cleaning methods. You can keep your jewelry looking good at home—see this article for some jewelry care tips—but when it comes to safely bringing the sparkle back to gemstones and buffing out scratches and dents in different kinds of metals, just let the Glitters Girls handle that!
As thorough as this inspection is, it doesn’t typically take long. Bring your jewelry in and we’ll give it a thorough inspection while you shop.
It’s Time for Your Annual Jewelry Inspection
When you’re worn out, bent out of shape, and missing your old inner glow, it’s time for a spa day that leaves you feeling brand new, your skin shining, your eyes sparkling. It’s a new year. It’s time to give your jewelry that same spa day treatment with an inspection and cleaning that will leave it refreshed and glowing.
