Diamond Replacement: How to Replace a Diamond in a Ring

The need for a diamond replacement in a ring arises for a variety of reasons, simplified below.

Firstly, a diamond replacement for a lost stone.

Secondly, a replacement for a broken or chipped diamond.

Or, perhaps a gemstone or fake diamond replaced with a genuine new diamond.

Replacement diamonds for an engagement ring, eternity ring or wedding ring.

Losing a small diamond from an engagement ring can be very upsetting. Despite every care, diamonds can be lost from settings. Loose claws, damaged prongs, a knock or a scrape can dislodge a diamond with a visible loss that stands out like a rotten tooth.

Few people realise diamonds sometimes break. Despite their hardness, diamonds occasionally chip, and some diamonds break depending on the impact and other issues such as flaws. Put simply, sometimes a flaw or inclusion breaks the surface, making the diamond vulnerable.

Small replacement diamonds for engagement rings

As diamond specialists, one of our day-to-day services involves matching up lost diamonds from engagement rings.

We take the existing shape, size and quality of your other diamonds into consideration, matching a new stone for your ring. Matching replacement small diamonds is daily work for us—helping both jewellers and members of the public.

The resulting work ensures a perfect replacement and restoration of your engagement ring with full contact at any time during the process.

You would certainly struggle to see where the lost diamond was before our work commenced.

Be cautious when approaching a jeweller for this type of service. Some bench jewellers use low-quality jobbing parcels of diamonds for this type of work.

As a result, the new diamond rarely matches the quality of the original diamond set. We take great care to match the whiteness and clarity of the new diamond with the existing diamonds.

Remember to insure your diamond engagement ring against the loss of diamonds

All too often, we help clients with replacement rings and diamonds accidentally lost or stolen. A large proportion of people have either no jewellery insurance or expired insurance for their jewellery.

One of our main recommendations for any engagement ring purchase has to be an insurance policy for your diamond engagement ring.

Engagement ring insurance provides much-needed reassurance and peace of mind against the possible loss of a diamond.

What to do if you lose a diamond from an invisible setting

If you have an engagement ring with a diamond missing from an invisible setting, contact your original retailer.

Invisibly set Princess cuts (see example below) feature tongue-and-groove style edges that lock together. Such diamonds are very difficult to replace.

In some instances, the entire ring would need replacing. Other illusion setting styles are suitable for replacing diamonds because they feature small claws to hold diamonds rather than the edges of the diamonds themselves.

Diamond replacement service for jewellers

We provide replacement diamonds for members of the public and for other jewellers. Furthermore, we cover inward insurance for items sent to us for diamond replacement. In addition, we match, replace, set and finish new diamonds into an existing item of jewellery including various shapes, qualities and cuts.

Small old cut diamonds, as shown in the above ring, can be difficult to match and replace

How to replace a diamond in any item of jewellery

An outline of the process for re-fitting missing diamonds includes the following stages.

1. Contact us with details of your situation. Provide us with a photograph initially.
2. Alternatively, send your ring to us for inspection.
3. We provide an electronically emailed estimate detailing all work required and cost.
4. Upon approval, we carry out the work over a period of approximately 1.5 weeks.
5. Payment is made upon completion and before delivery
6. We deliver you a re-set engagement ring by fully insured Special Delivery.

For local clients within travelling distance of the Isle of Wight, we are happy to arrange an appointment for the delivery and collection of your item. We can also arrange an inward cover for your jewellery item being sent if your item is above the £2500 maximum value offered by Royal Mail Special Delivery.

Please contact us for additional advice and guidance. We have an online chat on our main website and we can be contacted by email or phone at any time.

Difficult diamonds to replace

Some diamond shapes can be very difficult to match up and set into jewellery. For example, small tapered baguette diamonds vary enormously in shape. As a result, we often sort through many carats of diamonds to find one suitably shaped tapered baguette that matches to the gap created by a lost or broken diamond. Broken baguette diamonds appear unsightly with an obvious crack across the stone. As a result, they impair the appearance of jewellery and require a suitable replacement.

In addition, some antique diamond cuts prove difficult to match. For example Swiss-cut diamonds—a hybrid mix of single-cut and brilliant cut added to some antique items of jewellery.

Why replace a diamond with a diamond?

We replace diamonds with diamonds for different reasons.

Firstly, sometimes we replace a broken diamond with a new diamond. At other times, we replace smaller diamonds with larger diamonds. This work often requires a new setting to hold the bigger stone.

Additional reasons include the replacement of a lookalike diamond, or lab-grown diamond with a natural mined diamond. Such an upgrade forms part of our work in replacing stones in rings and jewellery.

Get further help from our showroom team

Reach out for more help and guidance from our specialist team of diamond experts. Whether you represent a member of the public or jewellery trade, we can help. Email us, talk to us online or call into our showroom for assistance.