If you are considering buying a pearl ring, one of the most important features to pay attention to is its setting. The way the pearl is mounted on your ring can affect how likely it is for your pearl to fall off. Here are our tips on how to pick the best setting for your pearl ring.
The Typical Pearl Ring Setting
The most common setting that pearls are set in has a pretty simple construction.
Basically, a short pin extends from the ring’s mounting and goes in the pearl through a small hole drilled in it.
Usually, some glue is applied on the peg and in the hole to keep the pearl in a fixed position.
The advantage of this setting is that it can make the pearl more prominent depending on how far the pin holding it extends from the base of the ring.
This type of mounting is also relatively easier to make compared with more complex settings.
However, although such settings look really good, they are not very safe. Sometimes, the hole in the pearl may expand and loosen up, and in such a case it is very easy for the pearl to fall off your ring.
If this happens, you can put some glue in the hole and put the pearl back on. That is, if you don’t lose it.
Luckily, there is a safer option when it comes to setting pearls.
A Better Choice: Prong Setting
To avoid the potential hassle of pearls loosening and falling off only to be never found again, you can consider getting a ring with a prong setting.
Instead of having a peg going in the pearl, such mountings have prongs holding it from several sides.
Prong settings are a lot safer than the most common ones using pegs and glue. You still have to be careful, though, as if you hit your ring hard, your pearl may crack.
However, the prongs do not exert much pressure on the pearl and hold it securely, and as long as you are careful, your pearls should be safe.
Just remember to take off your ring before doing any work that makes it riskier to hit or bump your jewelry.
Making Your Pearl Ring Safer to Wear
If you have a peg-in-the-hole pearl ring but don’t want to part with it, there is a way to make your pearls safer without buying a new one. You can always have a couple of prongs added to your ring.
A lot of jewelers can perform this service, and the additional prongs can be made to look like the rest of the ring’s body.
The downside to this option is that you will have to pay some additional money to have your ring’s setting refashioned.
Be sure to check how much getting a new ring would cost and compare that with the price asked for adding new prongs.
Depending on the metal and structure of your old ring, it may turn out that buying a new one is an option that’s not much more expensive.
Choosing and Caring for Prong Settings
Once you have a prong setting, you should keep in mind that prongs wear down with time, bend and can even break if they get too thin.
Since problematic prongs can make your pearl loose and easy to fall off, you should have them checked regularly by a jeweler (at least once a year; every six months is even better).
To make sure that your prongs last longer, pick a metal that is more durable. Yellow gold, for example, is softer and wears more quickly; it is a good choice for jewelry that you won’t wear every day.
A better option for rings that you will wear more often is a metal such as platinum – it is very durable and prongs made of it wear down very slowly.
Where to Buy Pearl Jewelry?
For pearl jewelry, check out the great selection available at Amazon.
We also recommend Blue Nile and Ross-Simons.