Jewelry made from precious metals has not lost its relevance throughout the history of mankind. In the Middle Ages, rings and rings served as symbols of power and rewards for services. They passed from lord to vassal, who wore jewelry with special pride. Jewelers of that time often performed stretching of gold accessories, because everyone's fingers are different.
Nowadays this happens less often, we do not pass our rings on to each other, but age, the appearance of excess weight, swelling of the hands require a proportional increase in jewelry, which a person can wear for many years.
How do they do this in the workshop?
If there is a need to change the size of a product made of gold, silver or platinum, then you need to contact a specialist in a jewelry workshop. Your gold jewelry will be stretched or rolled out for you in minimal time and little money. It is better not to subject a silver product coated with a layer of rhodium to such treatment, because the outer surface may change its original appearance. Platinum is a refractory metal, so it is impossible to change the size of such a ring without special equipment, which is not available in every workshop.
Using professional tools, jewelers enlarge ring sizes in several ways.
Important! Engraved jewelry cannot be enlarged without deforming the lettering.
Roll out
This method is used quite often. It is uncomplicated and suitable for many jewelry, but It is not advisable to roll out a ring with a thin shank (the inner part of the ring adjacent to the finger), because it becomes even thinner. The wizard's algorithm will be as follows:
- measuring the size and cleaning the jewelry;
- rolling out the bottom to the desired parameter;
- giving the correct shape;
- cleaning and polishing.
Important! Rings with designs, stones, inserts, or those with a bimetallic composition are not rolled out.
Stretching
This method is used more often than others. It is used when enlarging a gold ring with a thin shank without openwork inserts or a precious stone. With its help, you can change the jewelry by 1-3 sizes in half an hour, but at the same time the inner surface of the jewelry will become thinner. Wide rings cannot be stretched in this way. The process consists of several stages:
- determining the required size for mechanical stretching;
- heating the product and placing it on a rotating crossbar, as a result of which the softened metal of the ring is slightly lowered down the cone, and the internal size increases;
- washing, cleaning, grinding and polishing the accessory.
Insert the required piece of metal
To increase the ring size by one size, it needs to be widened by 3.14 mm. This is done in the following way:
- the decoration is cut and moved apart to the required distance;
- the cut site is covered with a piece of metal that matches in color, shape and standard;
- joints are soldered or laser processed if there is inlay;
- At the final stage, the product is bleached and polished.
Important! At the end of the work, which will take at least an hour, the client should have a piece of jewelry on his hand without any signs of additional processing.
Bored
The size does not change radically in this way. People turn to it if you need to enlarge the ring quite a bit, and the thickness of the product allows you to lose some of the metal without changing the outer surface. The work will take an hour. The essence of the method is to remove the thinnest strip of gold, which will help the jewelry fit more freely and comfortably on the finger. The appearance of the product will not change, no one around will notice traces of processing.
Important! The disadvantage of this method is the loss of the ground part of the expensive metal, but sometimes this is the only way in which the jewelry can be worn.
What to do if the ring has a stone or a diamond?
Work on resizing often begins with heating the product, and stones, especially precious ones, cannot be subjected to heat treatment. They may change color, become cloudy, or crack. That's why Before starting work, the jeweler must warn the client that the stone will have to be removed while the metal is being processed., as well as an increase in payment for work performed. After stretching the ring, the stone is returned to its place.
Sometimes boring can be used to increase the size of a ring with a stone. The decisive factor in this is the thickness of the tire.. If it is sufficient, then the decoration can be increased by a maximum of half a size.The work will take from 10 to 30 minutes, all this time the stone will be in its place. There is no need to delete it.
Another method used for inlaid jewelry is to insert a piece of metal. In this case, the jeweler will prefer to laser solder the gold patch. Upon completion of the work - polishing, grinding - the applied part will not be visible, but such processing will take at least an hour.
Is it possible to increase a ring size at home and how?
Considering that the methods described above require professional training and the availability of special devices, we can conclude that There is little point in home ring enlargement. Moreover, the cost of work in a jewelry workshop will not be very high.
If, nevertheless, you are determined to work on your own, and you have the appropriate tool, then follow the instructions:
- Prepare a gas torch, pliers or round nose pliers for work. Stretching is done using a special crossbar and a small rubber hammer;
- take the ring and clamp it with pliers;
- turn on the gas burner and heat the ring until it turns red;
- leave the accessory for a few minutes to cool to a warm temperature;
- place it on the crossbar and begin stretching, lightly tapping the ring with a hammer and moving it slightly along the cone;
- Finally, dip it in boric acid solution for shine.
0
