Every piece of fine jewellery needs professional attention at some point.
A ring that no longer fits after a few years. A prong that has bent or thinned from daily wear. A clasp that sticks or no longer closes securely. A white gold setting that has lost its bright white rhodium plating. A chain that has snapped.
None of these situations require replacing the piece. All of them can be repaired by a qualified jeweller. This guide covers every common diamond jewellery repair and restoration need, what each involves, and what it costs in India in 2026.
The Most Common Diamond Jewellery Repairs in India
Professional jewellery repair is a skilled craft requiring specific tools and expertise. Fine gold and diamond jewellery should never be repaired by untrained individuals or at unqualified outlets because incorrect repair can cause further damage, loosen diamond settings, or alter the metal in ways that reduce structural integrity.
Ring Resizing: The Most Requested Repair
Ring resizing is the most common jewellery repair request in India. Finger sizes change with weight fluctuation, seasonal temperature variation (fingers swell slightly in heat and contract in cold), pregnancy, and age.
How Does Ring Resizing Work?
For sizing up (making the ring larger): the jeweller cuts the shank at the bottom, inserts an additional piece of matching gold to increase the circumference, solders the join, polishes the area, and re-plates if the ring is white gold.
For sizing down (making the ring smaller): the jeweller removes a small section of the shank, rejoins the two ends, solders and polishes.
How Much Does Ring Resizing Cost in India?
Standard resizing (one to two sizes, plain shank): Rs 800 to Rs 2,500.
Complex resizing (more than two sizes, eternity bands, pavé-set shanks): Rs 2,500 to Rs 8,000.
Which Rings Cannot Be Resized?
Full eternity bands, tension-set rings, and very intricate setting configurations where the shank construction does not allow a clean cut and rejoin without affecting setting integrity.
Prong Repair: The Most Important Safety Repair
Prong repair is the most safety-critical jewellery repair because a damaged prong is the primary cause of diamond loss from a ring setting.
What Is Prong Re-Tipping?
Prong re-tipping adds gold to the tip of an existing prong that has worn thin or been slightly bent, restoring the prong to its original dimension and grip strength.
Cost: Rs 800 to Rs 2,000 per prong tip.
What Is Prong Replacement?
When a prong has worn away significantly, broken off, or bent far from its original position, it requires replacement rather than re-tipping.
Cost: Rs 1,500 to Rs 4,000 per prong replacement.
How Often Should Prongs Be Inspected?
Factual insight: the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) recommends professional prong inspection every six to twelve months for rings worn daily. Prong wear is gradual and invisible to the naked eye in its early stages. A jeweller with a loupe can identify thinning or bent prongs before they lead to stone loss. The cost of a prong inspection and early re-tipping is a fraction of the cost of resetting a stone that has fallen out of an inadequate prong.
Rhodium Replating: Restoring White Gold Brilliance
White gold jewellery gets its bright silver-white appearance from a thin layer of rhodium plating applied over the naturally yellowish gold alloy. This plating wears away with daily contact and normal wear.
How Do You Know When White Gold Needs Replating?
The clearest sign: the ring or pendant begins to appear slightly yellow or warm at the high-contact surfaces (the inner band of a ring, the top edge of a pendant bail). This warm tone is the underlying yellow gold alloy becoming visible through thinning rhodium.
How Does Rhodium Replating Work?
The piece is professionally cleaned and polished. It is then placed in an electroplating bath with rhodium solution and subjected to a low electrical current that deposits a fresh, even rhodium layer across all exposed metal surfaces.
Cost: Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000 for a standard ring or pendant.
Chain and Clasp Repair: The Overlooked Safety Issue
A broken chain is recoverable. A lost pendant because of a broken chain that was not repaired is not.
Link repair: rejoining two adjacent chain links that have separated. The most common chain repair.
Clasp replacement: replacing a clasp that no longer closes securely. A poorly functioning clasp is the most common cause of chain and pendant loss.
Kink removal: straightening a kinked section of fine chain without breaking it. Requires skilled handwork.
Full chain replacement: when a chain has multiple weak points, replacing the full chain is more economical than repairing multiple individual breaks.
Cost: Rs 500 to Rs 2,500 for standard chain repairs. Full chain replacement: Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000 depending on chain style, length, and metal.
Stone Setting and Resetting
What Is a Loose Stone Repair?
If a stone moves or rattles in its setting when you tap the piece gently, it is loose and requires immediate professional attention. Cost of a loose stone repair: Rs 800 to Rs 3,000. Cost of resetting a stone that has fallen out: Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 or more depending on the stone size and setting complexity.
What Is Stone Resetting?
Resetting moves a diamond from its current setting into a new setting, either because the original setting has been damaged beyond repair, or because the buyer wants to update the design while keeping the original diamond.
Cost: the cost of the new setting design plus a resetting labour charge of Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000.
Professional Cleaning and Polishing
Professional cleaning goes beyond what home cleaning achieves. Ultrasonic cleaning reaches into microscopic gaps in the setting. Steam cleaning removes residue at the molecular level. Professional polishing removes the micro-scratches from gold surfaces that accumulate over years of daily wear.
Cost: Rs 800 to Rs 2,500 for a professional clean and polish for a standard ring or pendant. Goenka Jewellers recommends a professional clean and inspection once or twice a year for all regularly worn pieces.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do common jewellery repairs take at Goenka Jewellers?
Standard repairs including prong re-tipping, rhodium replating, and professional cleaning typically take two to five business days. Ring resizing takes three to seven business days depending on the complexity. Contact the store directly for a specific timeline estimate for your repair before bringing the piece in.
Do I need my IGI certificate to get a repair done?
Not for standard repairs like resizing, prong repair, or replating. The IGI certificate is required if the repair involves stone verification such as a re-setting where the stone identity needs to be confirmed.
Can inherited gold jewellery with old stones be brought to Goenka for repair?
Yes. Goenka Jewellers provides repair services on pieces purchased elsewhere as well as pieces from the Goenka collection. If you want the stones replaced with certified lab-grown diamonds during the repair process, this can be arranged as part of a combined repair and upgrade.
How do I know if my diamond is secure in its setting?
Hold the piece under good light and listen while you tap it very gently against your fingernail. A properly set diamond makes no sound and shows no movement. A loose diamond will move visibly or produce a slight rattle. Any movement or sound means the piece should be taken to a jeweller immediately and not worn until the setting has been inspected and repaired.
The Bottom Line
Jewellery repair is not an indication that something went wrong. It is an indication that a piece has been worn and loved, and that the owner values it enough to maintain it properly.
A ring resized to fit. A prong re-tipped before a stone is lost. A chain clasp is replaced before a pendant falls off. A white gold piece replated to restore its original brilliance. These are maintenance decisions that protect the investment in a certified diamond piece for decades of continued wear.
For the complete diamond jewellery care guide covering daily storage and cleaning, read our Lab-Grown Diamond Jewellery Care: Essential Dos and Don'ts 2026. For home cleaning guidance between professional visits, read our How to Clean Lab-Grown Diamond Jewellery at Home 2026. Then explore Goenka Jewellers certified lab-grown diamond collection.