What happens if a stone falls out of your inlay jewelry

A client’s inlay wedding ring repair when it first arrived in my shop, with one of the two stones missing

Why did a stone fall out of my inlay jewelry?

Because of how inlay jewelry is made, a stone in an older or well-worn piece may fall out due to aged epoxy or repeated knocks on the stones. If a stone is falling out of a newly-made inlay, it could be that the epoxy wasn’t mixed correctly, so it never fully set.

Can I find a stone for my inlay jewelry repair online?

Each stone was hand-cut by the original artist to fit a specific channel, so it’s not like it’s a calibrated stone you can find online and set it right away. This is why most of your local jewelers will turn you away—inlay jewelry repairs require specialized stone-cutting skills.

Luckily, lapidary jewelers that specialize in inlay jewelry repairs (like myself) can recut and set a new stone for you—even if you can’t find the stone because it’s long gone.

How does the process work for replacing a missing stone in my inlay?

For this particular repair, my client lost one of the two turquoise pieces in her 14k gold wedding ring. While I could have matched the existing stone—which was a greenish turquoise—she wanted to choose a different stone to celebrate a new chapter in their marriage.

Holding up stone options to pair with the turquoise; my client chose a solid lapis lazuli.

I came up with 4 different stone colors as options, and she fell in love with this deep blue lapis lazuli to pair with the turquoise.

Before I set the new stone, I also checked on the original stone to make sure it was firmly set too. After polishing the new stone, her inlay wedding ring repair was complete.

Finished inlay stone replacement in lapis lazuli

Can you also help me replace the missing stone in my jewelry?

Yes! Though I specialize in hand-cut inlay jewelry for my own jewelry collections, I can recut missing semi-precious stones in any kind of jewelry—even if it’s not inlay.

My shop is well-stocked with many different kinds of stones to match the original stone as a closely as possible.

If you’d like to reach out and get a quote for your missing stone, send me a few pictures below, let me know what the stone was (or if you don’t know, what color it was), and I can get you a quote for the replacement.