Refurbish Old Jewelry: Maintenance Makes It Look New Again

Your jewelry can go through so much of abuse and stress that it’s often amazing that the old pieces don’t get fully damaged. Even if the wear and tear and the effects of time don’t do much to your old jewelry, the changing fashion trends can leave them obsolete. If you have any such old jewelry pieces, have you ever thought of refurbishing them?

Benefits of Refurbishing

There are many reasons refurbishing your old jewelry can be a great choice.

• Your old piece of jewelry including rings can be refurbished to new pieces.
• The gems can be remounted into a fresher design.
• Using the same old metal and gems can help in saving money.

It is also a unique feeling when you wear your old jewelry pieces in new looks. When you refurbish your jewelry once every few years, it will also help maintain it and extend its life.

It is also a cost effective way to enhance the pieces. Jewelry refurbishing involves restoring the piece so that it becomes alive again. In some cases your jewelry designer may recommend creating a new piece of jewelry out of the old one. For example, the earrings may be turned from wire backs to posts or screw backs.

Reusing Old Gold

If you are thinking of reusing the gold from your old jewelry, you should know about the limitations.

• Single Casting Uses a Lot of Gold – Since only one piece of jewelry is cast, the process will require more gold. It will also take more time. This can increase the costs. This is because when the new jewelry is cast, the liquid gold will have to pass through a passage known as sprue. The gold over this passage solidifies. So you the gold will not only be used for the new cast jewelry but also for the sprue. Although the sprue is given to you, it is not of any use. It is recommended to choose a jewelry designer who has regular re-casting work. It will help you save on the ‘sprue’ gold.
• Recycling the Alloys – There is no problem when recycling old jewelry made of pure gold. But most of the gold jewelry is made of 14k or 10k gold. Both these golds have 42% to 58% alloys. Using gold again and again is easy, but it is the alloys that create a problem. The alloys, more so the ones found in white gold, can turn unstable. This can cause your new jewelry to show pit marks or suffer from discoloration. The alloys can also cause splits when the jewelry is working on the metal.

Giving a New Lease of Life to Your Old Jewelry

This is why it will be best to choose an experienced jewelry designer who knows the intricacies. They can help you make the right choice between refurbishing your old piece of jewelry and making something entirely new from the metal and the stones while minimizing losses and helping you save money. If you are thinking of doing something with your old piece of jewelry. You can have it redesigned or refurbished into a beautiful piece of new heirloom. If you have acquired a fine piece of old jewelry as an heirloom and you want to restore it, make sure to consider the benefits. You know the piece has lasted so long. If you make the right choice, you can give it a new lease of life that can make it last another lifetime – something you can hand down to the next generation without losing the original metal and stones.