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Daily Wire Tip: Rescuing a Prong Setting

By on September 6, 2011
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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip

Question:

Hi Dale, I was making a prong ring today and as I was setting my stone, one of my prongs broke. Is it safe or even possible to set a stone with just 3 prongs or is this setting now scrap? Thanks so much! Love your tips!

-Cindy in Lake Station, Indiana

Answer:

Hello Cindy, you are not alone! Unfortunately no matter how careful we think we are, sometimes a prong gets snapped off anyhow. It is possible that the prong was bent too many times or there was a nick in the wire that you didn’t see, causing it to be weak and “snap”! off it goes. Bummer. This usually happens near the very finish of the project. Depending on the project, you “could” make it a new design by using the “middle” wire (hoping you used at least 5 wires in the original bundle) to cross over the stone in an attractive way that also acts as part of the main construction to hold the stone “in” the ring. If this execution is not possible, then into the scrap box it goes and you begin again.

True story: the 37ct amethyst ring that folks have seen me wear in class (and maybe on a few DVD lessons) only has 3 prongs! Not only is this a huge stone, but it has a very unusual cut with an odd pavilion. While trying to get one of the prongs to fit correctly, I overworked the wire and off the prong snapped! Frustrating? Yes! Give up? No! I manipulated one of the crossover wires to act as a prong replacement, and I have been wearing it for more than 12 years now. Good Luck!!

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

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5 Comments

  1. avatar

    Alberta

    September 6, 2011 at 11:13 am

    I love the ring you wear in your DVD classes. I keep trying to get a better look at it. Which brings up this question — can you use a faceted stone rather than a cabochon in the Classic Cab/Pharaoh’s Ring?

    • avatar

      ConnieD

      May 8, 2012 at 7:22 am

      I have put a faceted stone in the pharaoh’s ring but you have to adjust the size for the depth of the stone because it isn’t flat.

  2. avatar

    Adrien

    September 6, 2011 at 11:29 am

    Hi Everyone,
    I use only .925 and gf wire. I always try to minimize “scrap” so I would not toss it into the scrap box before seeing what I can salvage especially with the prices of metals. This practise is also eco-freindly as it reduces the amount of new wire I use. I always challenge myself to reduce the scrap after each piece I make to less than 5 mm.
    Depending on how much I have worked the “non-prong wires” I am frequently able to remove the wire wraps and work them into earring designs. Although the wires are square, I convert smaller pieces into sturdy jump rings of various sizes or even links that I can use in abother piece. Again, depending on how much I’ve worked the wire before the “catastrophe” I have even been able to use the middle shank wires in the next ring I make. As for the bundle wraps, I find that if I twist each bend sideways (like opening a jump ring) rather than backwards, I am able to reuse them for bundle wraps on another ring with the exact same number of wires in the bundle and the very same gauge. I twist each bend back into place, like closing a jump ring.) This is the trickiest operation, and the least successful because the wires do have to the wrap the bundle securely.
    I should add that I am retired and have the time for the salvage operations and I don’t know how wire other than .925 and gf would respond.
    Good luck.

    • avatar

      dalecgr

      September 7, 2011 at 4:23 pm

      Awesome advice Adrien! Thanks for sharing :)

  3. avatar

    Sandy

    September 6, 2011 at 11:56 am

    If it is a matter of the prong coming out of the wrapping, I have successfully rewrapped the side starting in the area of the prongs and wrapping towards the center.