# DIAMONDS, your diamond, may not be forever



## skygazer (Sep 3, 2011)

Today my wife lost the diamond out of her ring. She is UPSET! Ladies, check your ring, here is how. A simple eyeball check is way better than nothing, any sort of magnifier check is much better. Each prong should have a hook on the end hooking around the edge of the diamond. The hooks should be down tight! Any space at the end can let a thread snag and loosen the hook. The hooks can be raised on the end (bad), cut by the diamond so they are loose, or just plain worn short or gone from bumping into things.

It's a good idea to have a jeweler check your ring every once in a while, most will do it for free.

Sure you can buy another diamond, but it will not be "the" diamond.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Same thing's happened to my wife as well... good advice.


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## sww914 (Oct 25, 2008)

Better get a cheap wedding band for boating. When my wife was in the USCG she lost 2 wedding rings overboard and 2 pairs of expensive sunglasses. Now it's cheap rings and $20.00 glasses.


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

skygazer said:


> Today my wife lost the diamond out of her ring. She is UPSET! Ladies, check your ring, here is how. A simple eyeball check is way better than nothing, any sort of magnifier check is much better. Each prong should have a hook on the end hooking around the edge of the diamond. The hooks should be down tight! Any space at the end can let a thread snag and loosen the hook. The hooks can be raised on the end (bad), cut by the diamond so they are loose, or just plain worn short or gone from bumping into things.
> 
> It's a good idea to have a jeweler check your ring every once in a while, most will do it for free.
> 
> Sure you can buy another diamond, but it will not be "the" diamond.


That is unfortunate but I have to ask, why would one wear any jewelry aboard the boat anyway. I know of two cases where folks got their rings hung up in sheets and fingers pulled into turning blocks/winches and it is a horrible way to loose a finger which is horrible in any event. I also know one fellow that insisted on wearing a gold chain with a little gold anchor on it despite several comments that it was dangerous and foolish. He was quite proud if it and persisted, however, until one day when he was checking something on his motor and the damned thing slipped out of his T-shirt and got hooked in his alternator belt. He was jerked down so fast he didn't have time to react and the left side of his face got shredded by the cooling vanes on his alternator before the chain broke and freed him. Do Not Wear Jewelry Aboard the Boat. Keep it in a purse or pocket and put it on once ashore if you must wear the stuff at all.

FWIW...

PS: When we acquired our second boat, in the early 70's, I found a diamond ear-ring stuck in the strum box in the filthy oily wet bilge the PO kindly left us. After a little rooting around in the muck, I found it's mate. About 1/2 carat each. I considered them a consolation prize and my wife still wears them.


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## blt2ski (May 5, 2005)

My ring fell off my finger and stopped on the deck...wife insists I now NOT where my ring when sailing, in fact, even from the get go, overall, she understands why I do not wear jewelry of too many types and styles while at work. Now if I could just get her to take hers off when in the yard gardening. It the BIG diamond has a very small chip on it......grrrrrrrrr.........Yeah she wears gloves. but those will wear thru at the diamond part, then it is exposed and damaged before you realize what happened. 

Or the case I know of an electrician, that wore a small hole thru his gloves, got ahold of a live as normal in his day job at local power company, a 1" diam wire, got electrocuted, wife insisted upon him wearing his ring. so he did. She realizes too late that this insistence killed her husband of 30 yrs!

Marty


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

My sister, one year younger, lost the ring finger on her left hand to a (non-sailing) accident that caught the ring she was wearing, when were where 9 and 10 years old respectively. I was there. I would never want to see rings worn anywhere near the lines.

The prongs that hold any stone in can become thin from daily wear, even if they are fully pressed down. If the piece has serious sentimental value, it should be cleaned and inspected yearly. Expect to replace the prongs over a lifetime. If valuable, be sure to add a rider to your homeowner policy, as ordinary coverage won't reimburse you.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

Only James Bond has Diamonds Forever


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

"When my wife was in the USCG she lost 2 wedding rings overboard and 2 pairs of expensive sunglasses."
Each of those is a $10,000 MARPOL violation, and of course, if she doesn't cite herself for the violation, that's what, malfeasance and dereliction of duty as well? 
So now that she's out of the USCG...you have put strainers on all the sink drains, right?


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## dongreerps (May 14, 2007)

Wedding ring type rings can, and have caught on a protruding object, and caused degloving of the finger, which usually leads to amputation. Engagement rings can get caught by a flying line, and pull the finger into a winch, leading to a crushed finger. Both easily avoidable. If you must wear rings on board, please go to a cooperative jeweler, and have him cut two grooves on opposite sides of the inside of the ring. The grooves must be deep enough so that if the ring is caught, it will break before dragging your finger into oblivion.
By the same token, long hair around winches and flying lines is dangerous. The hair can get caught up in the flying line, and if the line then jerks hard, a scalping injury will follow.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

If it concerns you take your ring to a jeweler and have them put a safety slice in the back - so the ring breaks before your finger becomes fish food.


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## Serendipitous (Nov 19, 2010)

My diamonds are currently sitting in a safety deposit box while I travel (and I do miss them  ), but I had a warranty with my jeweler that if I had it checked every six months, any lost stones will be replaced for free. Which is good, because one did actually fall out within months of getting the ring.


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## sailordave (Jun 26, 2001)

I don't wear a ring for this reason.
Also my knuckle is bigger than the inner part of my finger; to get a ring on it has to pass over the knuckle and then is too loose on my finger. Talk about an accident waiting to happen. I got tired of taking it off or forgetting and then worrying. Easier to just not wear one. I'm kinda fond of all my fingers.


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## MarkSF (Feb 21, 2011)

Another big danger when working on a boat, or a car for that matter, is a metal watch band. Imagine if it got shorted across two battery cables, say at the starter or at the 1-2-both-off switch. It'll get red hot in a second and the injury doesn't bear thinking about. I won't even own, let alone wear, a metal-banded watch with all the car and boat maintenance that I do.


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

My engagement ring floats.


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

You gotta hand it to De Beers - their control & promotion of diamonds over the years has created a whole societal norm and expectation around diamonds & romance.

The girl I married didn't want one OR a big expensive wedding - she wanted to spend the money on our first condo instead. 

We went to the JP with only close family in attendance and I found a VERY nice custom band for her.

I also had a friend who bought his live-in girlfriend a loose diamond as a gift. He thought it was just a nice expensive gift and was quite confused when he found out what it actually signified to her. :laugher


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

"The girl I married"
Got a young'un, didja? Down south here, you say "girl" and you're sleeping on someone else's couch for a week. 'Course in Iceland the age of consent is something like 11, so they might see things differently.


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

I noticed recently that the gecko in the Geico commercial opened a ring box that advertised Helzberg Diamonds. Advertising within advertising. Interesting concept.

My brother had to have his wedding band cut off when a bird of prey sank a talon into his ring finger. Since he's been through two divorces, it might have been a sign.


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

hellosailor said:


> "The girl I married"
> Got a young'un, didja? Down south here, you say "girl" and you're sleeping on someone else's couch for a week. 'Course in Iceland the age of consent is something like 11, so they might see things differently.


She WAS a girl when I married her.  AFAIAC they ain't women before 30 at least.


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