Restoring Vinatge Jewellery

Getting the most beautiful pieces of vintage jewellery can often be expensive, so I tend to gravitate towards those items that have been well loved or in other words restoration projects.

Pieces that are broken or discoloured can often be easily repaired of cleaned.  Most costume or plastic jewellery are often with plated metals which often go green due to the high content of copper or brass in the base metal.  They are also coated or electroplated with a thin layer of silver or gold that wears off quickly. 

My best fix for green discoloured metals is again the trusted Napisan soak and finish with a quick gentle scrub with an old toothbrush, you may need to repeat this process several times, just don't soak for too long as rust may become a problem.







The pic above is a good example of 'green gunk' if you can see it in the centre of the photo.

For rust, I've found that a very light sand with a very fine grade of sandpaper is good to remove thickened rust followed by a rub with a good polishing cloth will bring it back to a reasonably good shine :)  In a side note: Napisan will soften rust but may also turn rusted metals orange.

For the above necklace it will require a very light sand.  Even if you don't have sandpaper handy, disposable emery boards can be used.  Most of the marks will remain but the Paua/Abalone shell setting is so striking so I hope all attention will stay on that lol.

 

I hope that I am giving some helpful tips for restoring your vintage jewellery, and make you think twice when you come across that one beautiful piece that needs a little loving.  More tips to come :)







Vintage Bags and Purses

Well, I've been talking about vintage jewellery but now I'll go slightly off track and talk about vintage bags and purses :D 
I LOVE vintage bags and purses because there is a 'quality' feel to ones made before the 80's, back when they were made to last and not just look pretty. They are also often simple in design but still beautiful to look at.

I got all these bags and purses from a Swap Meet for $5 (another awesome bargain).  Glomesh is one of my favourite vintage bags to buy, but leather ones also catch my eye ;)

Glomesh was founded by Hungarian immigrants Louis & Alice Kennedy in 1958, they migrated to Australia with their 2 children in 1957 from Israel after living in Tel Aviv for 10 years.
The Glomesh factory was first setup under the company Camel in Bondi Junction Sydney Australia, then soon after moved to St Peters where the iconic metal mesh was being produced in golds, silvers and vibrant rich enamel colours. Some of the many products Glomesh created was most notably handbags, purses, clutches, cigarette holders, lighters and make-up compacts to name a few.

Another brand I love is Whiting and Davis. They began in 1876 as Wade, Davis & Company in Plainville, Massachussetts. Even though the company is recognized primarily for making quality metal mesh handbags, they began by producing jewelry such as brooches, bar pins, chatelaine chains, hat pins, and cuff links, according to the Whiting & Davis Web site.

The above bags are glomesh brand, the one below is a Whiting and Davis brand, this one I actually bought for 50c Aus. at a garage sale.  It even has a Lucite chain handle :)

 

The problem with glomesh is that the enamel is often chipped and links separated.  The links can be re-joined, with a good pair of needle-nosed jewellery pliers and a lot of patience, but the enamel is a different story, carefully applied nail polish can be used, so can enamel powder heated then varnished but this is only an option if you can find the enamel powder :/

White/Milk Glass Jewellery

I love Milk Glass jewellery and have a huge collection.  It was most popular in the 50's and came out of mostly West Germany, Japan and from American costume designer Miriam Haskell. They are mostly found as necklaces in simple white round beads on either single or multiple strands sometimes with their own milk glass clasps, but also come in bracelets, earrings and brooches.

West German white glass also uses an art deco style and this is my personal favourite.  They also moulded the beads into many different shapes and combined colours with the traditional white.

Unfortunately they are often in not great condition when I find them :(  The cotton strings often corrode or weaken due to the edges of the beads and break easily, the metal used in clasps I find can turn a crusty green.  The Beads themselves can also turn brown from dust and sweat :P

I bought the necklaces above from a swap meat and the whole lot cost me $6 Aus (BARGAIN!!!).  But as you can see there's work involved lol . 

The very top necklace required soaking as the dust had hardened between the beads and needs restringing as the cotton was weak and stretched.  By soaking I mean I have a jar that I put water and about a teaspoon of Napisan Colour (a washing powder originally used for only nappies) it has a mild bleach that whitens the white beads and also will whiten discoloured cotton.  For restringing I love using upholstery thread as is strong and has a kind of sheen to it for easy sliding.

Before you take the necklace apart remember to take pictures and plenty of them to remember the design, even draw a  diagram to help you remember. I am a beader so the weaving they use is something I am used to, but for a beginner - take note of everything!!!!!!!

Another tip is: if you find bags like the one above, grab it!!!!!!! There will always be necklaces like the one at the bottom left, where there will be beads missing.  Bags of bits may just contain the magic missing beads :D  More about restoring coming soon!