A jeweler sent me this Onyx and Turquoise ring to replace the broken Onyx with Black Jade inlay.
When a men's ring with a broken Onyx inlay comes in, I almost always recommend replacing the Onyx with Black Jade. The Black Jade looks just like Onyx but is MUCH TOUGHER!
I use a type of Black Jade known as Edwards Black Jade. The Edwards material is the best Black Jade. See more about Black Jade on our Black Jade page.
At left you can see a ring with a unique Turquoise inlay in the top and a broken Onyx inlay on the side.
The jeweler discussed with his customer replacing the Onyx with Black Jade and the customer agreed.
The Black Jade is much tougher and will hold up much longer. This can be important in men's rings which tend to take more abuse.
Here you can see that I have fitted the Black Jade inlay into the ring and have Epoxied it in place.
The next step is trimming it down flush with the ring and after that sanding and then polishing it.
In this close-up photo you can see how tightly the inlay is fitted into the ring.
My goal is always to inlay the inlay so tightly that one cannot see a glue line. I do not use colored glue on my inlays. The only exception to this is with Opal inlays. It is necessary to use black epoxy on Opal inlays.
Here you can see the finished ring which looks like new again!
If you have an inlay ring which needs to be repaired, please feel free to contact me for an estimate.
Denton Anderson,
Gemologist & Gem Cutter
click photo for Video
Graduate Gemologist, GIA, GG
Over 20 years of experience.
