Is it possible to patch up a broken silver ring on the cheap?

June 10, 2010 7:40 PM

My husband broke his silver wedding band - is there any way to fix it that won't cost more than a new ring?

The ring is broken cleanly in one spot - a straight cut right through with both sides fitting together perfectly. The problem is that we're pretty short on cash right now, and can't really afford to buy a new one or even pay for a professional repair.

Is there any way to mend it that won't cost a fortune, or doesn't require specialized skills or tools that I don't have?

posted by scrute to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Normally, rings have a point at which they were soldered together. It sounds like the ring broke along the solder bond.

The problem is that we're pretty short on cash right now, and can't really afford to buy a new one or even pay for a professional repair.
Unless you're skilled at soldering and working with silver, there is no way you can properly fix the ring. This is something you really do need specialized skills and tools for. I wouldn't mess around.

If you were to take the ring to any competent jeweler, they should be able to re-solder the ring for a small fraction of the cost of a new one.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:51 PM on June 10, 2010 [2 favorites]

Most likely, you do not have the skills to do it yourself. What it takes is the ability to do simple silver soldering. You could pick up these skills with a little training, but I would not start on the wedding ring as my first item to solder. Over heat it and you have a nice puddle of silver. It also needs to be filed, pickled and buffed after being soldered. Take it to a jeweler. It shouldn't cost more than a few dollars to have it soldered and buffed out.
posted by Old Geezer at 7:53 PM on June 10, 2010

I had a gold ring that broke in exactly the same way - I went to one of those little booths in a mall (the ones that set up in the walkway between the stores) and just on a whim, I asked how much to fix it. The guy did it for me on the spot (within 30 minutes) and it was less the $50. I thought that was pretty cheap and it was an excellent job and has lasted the 4 years hence perfectly.

This was, incidentally, in a run of the mill shopping mall in Atlanta.
posted by Brockles at 8:01 PM on June 10, 2010

fwiw - if it's going to cost you around $50, you might consider getting him a replacement in titanium. we used titanium knights on the suggestion of a mefite and we couldn't be happier! they're very sturdy and light and i can't imagine this one breaking like that.
posted by nadawi at 8:04 PM on June 10, 2010 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask how much it would be to have it soldered. I'm in Toronto if anyone knows a good, affordable jeweller in the west end.
posted by scrute at 8:09 PM on June 10, 2010

Are you sure you can't afford a new one?
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:19 PM on June 10, 2010

I've had silver rings soldered before and it was super cheap. Any jeweler should be able to do this easily.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 8:55 PM on June 10, 2010

Nthing that this is an easy repair for a bench jeweler.
posted by desuetude at 10:33 PM on June 10, 2010

I had my (very simple, silver band) ring soldered at a jewellery store and it couldn't have been more than $12. I gave it to them, they sent it somewhere that soldered things, I got it back within a week. I was so happy, because the ring meant a lot to me. Also, it came back shinier than it left me - I think they cleaned it too.
posted by hepta at 2:47 AM on June 11, 2010