Technically? Yes, it could be done. Mostly the prongs would need to be cut away with a graver (because you're unlikely to bend them back successfully); you'd need to cut the seats with an onglette to free the stones off too (as the walls of the seat hold the stone as much as, if not more than, the prongs. Obviously this would leave you with a piece that needed new prongs attaching - I'd laser them on. Then you'd need to set new stones. Alternatively, with a small punch you could smash the stones out.
In practice, the labour would be many, many times the purchase price of a piece like that and it'd be a better use of money to have a new one made from scratch. And if you're doing that, might as well go for 18ct.
Commercially it can be done buy dissolving the base metal with acids. As peter said not really worth it for CZ's though. Not something you would want to do over the kitchen sink though.
Thank you so much! Will look into dissolving them out, as one of my favorite hobbies is organic chemistry. "EDIT: I just watched the video in the link you posted and although very interesting - sort of the opposite of what I need to achieve. Im looking to dissolve/remove the gems to leaving a pronged piece waiting to be set. Will still be saving that video for future reference though Thanks again"
Although, when you say that I could smash the stones out with a small punch, does that leave the sockets open for replacement with minimal reworking? The cz are garbage to me at this point, and don't need to keep any of them except for maybe a size reference.
I've looked into recasting this piece, and since its out of my scope of experience I needed to seek professional help - but every time I get an absurd price. Even though I am supplying the base material.
Sorry to bump an older thread, and thank you all for the previous input!
I forgot to ask if though; once the CZs have been smashed out, would it be simple to pop in some new stones? Or would it require some intricate work?
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