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Jewelry Repair Careful inspection of your jewelry items after cleaning will identify if the prong head has been damaged. If the prong tip is missing, it will most likely be catching on everything from nylons to shirts and blouses. It pays to inspect your jewelry on a regular basis; probably weekly or at the very least, monthly. It might be a good idea to invest in a magnifying glass so you can look at the intricacies of your jewelry and can readily notice if something is amiss. Once you have identified a problem, such as a broken prong, you should have it properly repaired. Take the item to your jeweler. Be sure that you know what the cost of the repair will be and that no unnecessary work will be done. Jewelry such as diamonds, rubies, and sapphires can accept heat without fear of damage to the gemstones. Many other gemstones can not accept heat and must be removed in order to repair a prong. Your jeweler should be able to properly explain the technique that needs to be done with your jewelry, whether it needs to be retipped or repronged. Retipping is adding gold to the tops of the prongs that may have worn flat. Repronging is where that tip is entirely missing and the gemstone is exposed. Repronging is generally a most labor intensive and costly process. Depending upon if the gemstone needs to be removed, fees can range from $15 per prong and up. Retipping can be a much easier process if the gemstone can take heat. It may be a fee of $10-12 or less, with the price going down for each additional tip, provided that the gemstones do not need to be removed. If they must be removed for retipping or repronging, generally there is an additional fee to remove the gemstones, retip or reprong, and then to reset the gemstone. Fees to remove the gemstone should range from $5-10 per gemstone and up, depending upon their size and type. For instance, opals and emeralds are much softer stones and require special handling and pose a greater risk and liability for the jeweler. Some jewelers may charge a little more to remove these soft gems. You may have seen a commercial about up front pricing. A reputable jeweler should be more than happy to provide you with an estimate of up front pricing for the work to be done. Be sure that you are educated an informed before you say, "Yes." Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
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