While washing dishes, the stone cemented to my NCAA championship ring popped out and down he drain pipe. A few days later, I disassembled the pipe to see whether the stone was trapped at the bend. It wasn't.

I talked with the ring manufacturer - the stone can be replaced with an identical stone at no cost other than shipping - and asked whether the dark blue glass stone could be replaced at additional cost with a synthetic sapphire or star sapphire. The stone cannot be upgraded. At the time the ring(s) were received, I could not afford a more desirable stone; now I can.

I seek a jeweler or craftsman who can replace my missing stone with a synthetic sapphire or star sapphire.

I am a bench jeweler and own a store in Illinois. Send me a pic and I'll let you know what I think.

If you are going to do it then I suggest you go with a real star sapphire. I've never seen a synthetic one that looked real and some of them are simply atrocious. A good one will hold its value better than gold. I like the ones from SE Asia. I have a cornflower blue star I picked out in Thailand. I wish I had picked up a few more.