My mother's Engagement ring set was in bad shape. It had not seen the light of day for many years! Thirty years to be exact....how could that be you say? She was told by a Jeweler that it was beyond repair....it was placed in a safe deposit box at the bank and forgotten. UNTILL WE MADE OLD NEW AGAIN! Restoration of your family jewelry is the preservation of your heritage. Your family jewels may have been passed down through many generations of love and hard times , each gem carries stories that formed what has become your family today. Grandma’s diamond engagement ring or great-grandma’s antique brooch were given to celebrate the love that once was. Preserve what has been treasured for decades more.... You May ask.......How can I trust such precious family heirlooms to a jeweler I’ve never met? Your Sidney Thomas Sales professional can help walk you thru this process with confidence. Jewelry restoration requires several technical steps in order to bring each piece as close as possible to its original condition. Many processes are used to restore jewelry including cleaning, polishing, replacing lost stones, re-cutting chipped diamonds and gemstones, repairing broken and worn prongs, thickening bezel walls, fixing bent shanks, replacing worn or broken shanks, engraving, applying filigree or millegraining, even removing incorrect “repairs” and poorly performed solder seams. My mothers ring is platinum and circa 1950's . The “before” pictures above illustrate some of the problems with the piece, such as 18K gold solder on prongs, heavily worn prongs and cracked walls, poor polish and lost texturing (millegraining). After restoration, this ring’s life has been prolonged by many years and looks like it might have on my mother's and father's wedding day. Before restoration, the side galleries, which are the most exposed to wear and tear, had been reduced to cracks, nicks and bumps. With years of antique jewelry experience to draw on, the Jewelry Restoration Expert sometimes has to made an educated guess as to the original pattern and hand engraving for a crisp finish. This circa 1950 platinum ring had so little platinum holding its diamonds in place that several had already fallen out. Matching stones were sourced and set into the ring, while all the settings were rebuilt with fresh platinum. Previous attempts at repair using 18K white gold solder, were removed from the ring. My mother’s wedding band needed full restorationn also ......Work on the ring included polishing the platinum to make it sparkle and look new again. All missing melee diamonds were replaced, as well as metal throughout the ring was rebuilt with the laser welder. The delicate milgrain accents, and other details in the metal that had long been worn down, were rebuilt by hand. Restoration was done with a laser welder, which created precise repair that was not only strong but very clean and crisp. The rings shank had metal added and we soldered the band to the engement ring to create a more thick, sturdy band that can withstand many more years of wear. With the intention of bringing back the ring’s original sparkle.... We have also restored a forgotten treasure to my mother, who will be able to proadly wear it again until she passes it on! Another great idea is repurposing inherited jewelry. You can restyle aunt Betty's treasures into so many things. Take her 30 inch pearl strand and make a new shorter strand for your self and a matching braclet .,,,,You can restyle a multi stone ring into a fabulous diamond cocktail ring using your largest diamond as the central focal point and placing the other diamonds around it. Another idea: create a diamond pin! Also known as a brooch, a diamond pin is a piece that could be passed along from generation to generation.
Your Sidney Thomas consultant has lots of experience in either restyling or restoration ...so dig into that jewelry box of yours and start dreaming of what can be ...,,,It's easy , let's make old new again! Give me a call or just stop in. Sidney Thomas Jewelers Christiana Mall , newark Delaware 19702. 302 369 3255 e-mail - rwrj@sidneythomas.com
2 Comments
Lisa Espinoza
4/25/2017 03:15:57 pm
The ring looks wonderful. Thank you for making it happen.
Reply
Anonymous
4/25/2017 06:17:05 pm
?
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Hello...I'm Rene trying to live my life simply with only the things that I love , and make my heart sing .....
Archives
October 2017
Categories |