The Unworn Pendant that Needed A Bail Out
A Beautiful Pendant That Wasn’t Being Worn
Irene’s Beautiful Tanzanite Pendant
Irene came to me with a newly purchased pendant that desperately needed an adjustment. The pendant itself was gorgeous – a beautiful, finely-cut tanzanite gem set elegantly into a platinum setting.
Her issue was with the short, frail chain that (barely) supported her pendant and made it fit too tightly around her neck.
Buyers Beware – Chains That are Dangerously Thin
A Chain This Thin Works Well With Small Pendants, But Can be Problematic for Heavier Ones
Irene’s problem is a common one to be aware of –jewelry salesmen know that if they beguile buyers with high-quality gems or eye-catching designs, they can cut costs by using poor-quality and insubstantial chains.
The result is an expensive pendant dangling precariously from a cheap, flimsy chain. This may save you a few dollars at check-out, but can suddenly be responsible for pricey repairs when the chain breaks and drops your delicate pendant onto the hard ground.
An Easy Fix Became More Complicated
Our New Chain Could Not Fit Through This Ridiculously Small Opening
I was able to find Irene a sturdy, proper-length chain as a replacement, but we ran into an issue – the bail (part the chain slides through) was too narrow to allow anything thicker than the original chain.
Open Flame Soldering Uses a Stream of Controlled Gas Flame to Heat the Gold or Metal to be Worked On
Usually, this would be a simple fix – use an open flame soldering torch to heat the bail and make the metal ready to work and adjust it, add metal, etc.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t an option for Irene’s pendant.
Tanzanite is particularly heat-sensitive, and even the most careful of soldering jobs would risk cracking or discoloring Irene’s precious gem. We had to try a different method.
Problem Solving with Lasers
This Jeweler Looks Through an Eye Piece to Focus the Laser on the Ring She is Sizing
Laser beams aren’t just a thing of sci-fi anymore (thanks, Einstein!), and we jewelers have the privilege of working with them to make delicate adjustments to narrow sections of jewelry.
By using a laser welder, (my blog about laser welding)I was able to carefully heat the bail on Irene’s pendant without endangering her tanzanite. This allowed me to widen the opening and, voila! – her new chain fit perfectly!
With these adjustments made, Irene’s pendant sat comfortably and elegantly at her chosen neckline length. And she was able to wear the pendant confidently without worrying about the integrity of its chain.
Wear It, Don’t Warehouse It!
Close-Up of the Re-Sized Bail
Do you have a pendant that sits at home because you don’t like how it fits or are worried about its chain breaking? You can find a fix to get it out of your jewelry box and onto your neck!
Having the option to use different lengths of chains makes a wonderful pendant versatile enough to wear with different neckline lengths, giving you more opportunities to wear it.
Don’t let a poorly-undersized bail or a cheap chain prevent you from wearing a pendant that you love!
Bailing Out my Clients,Calla Gold
Thanks for another great fix, Calla. I can really relate to bails that are too small. We all have one or two of them and they do hold us back from switching chains around.Now I learn maybe they endanger the pendant they are on.
I learn so much from these types of posts. The problem is that I also covet the the gorgeous results of your craft!
Dear Linda,
I am so delighted to hear that you liked this fix.
That is an awesome problem! We might have to do something about that. I have some particularly covetous pendants at the moment….
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla
Your constant reminders to not store jewelry that we’re not wearing, but to repurpose it is really important! Like Linda said, we all have some of these laying around, and it is so easy to bring our beauties into you, and have you make them even more wonderful! Thanks for the post, Calla.
Dear Alexandra,
I love reading your comment here.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla
HI Calla,
How wonderful that you can use a laser to fix the problem, without damaging the stone. I didn’t even know that technology existed for jewelers. I love that you can make a piece of jewelry functional and safe to wear again.
Dani Antman
Hi Dani,
You are not alone in not knowing what various methods are available to jewelers in altering and fixing and for that matter creating jewelry. I was so happy when laser welding came on the scene. It opened the door to fixing jewelry that was pretty frightening to work on before it became available.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla
Great advice on being aware of cheap chains. And don’t you just hate it when you think something’s going to be an easy fix and it turns into a can of worms?! Do you tell clients when an easy job has turned out to be not so easy? Good job, Calla Gold!
Hi Amy, I greatly enjoyed your response. It reminded me of the “easy” fixes that turned out to be anything but. And then the in my head conversation, “do I tell my client all that I did to safely fix this item that seemed so easy at first glance and be a hero? Or just smile and deliver it and say nothing?” And my answer is I do like to explain the work done so they’ll be mindful the next time work needs to be done to give it to someone knowledgeable. Unless it’s a casual client who seems to… Read more »