If you are like me you spend a lot of time wandering flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales and auctions. When it comes to buying vintage jewelry keep in mind these tips before you buy. Nothing is more disheartening then getting a piece home and really looking at it after the “honeymoon” of finding it is over.  In the case of this signed Coro brooch , it wasn’t until I got home from a wonderful afternoon of junking that I realized the top left pearl was a lower quality replacement. Now it sits on my replacement shelf waiting for me to find a better match. Taking this into consideration I would not have paid what I did for it at all.
What is the physical condition of the piece? A well cared for and therefore more valuable piece does not have to look new, after all, it is termed vintage for a reason but it should not look it’s age either.

Missing, cloudy, black or mis colored rhinestones stones: these devalue the piece. If stones are missing inspect the area to see if they are missing due to becoming loose from the glue or in the case of prong set stones the prongs have broken off. In the case of missing stones due to old glue this is an easy repair, however, if the stones are missing because the prongs are broken or missing I would put it back on the shelf and say a little prayer to the Rhinestone Goddess for the mistreatment of one of her treasures.

Missing or broken parts and tacky plating:

 Here is a prime example of what to pass up. This brooch has some wonderful stones in it and they would be easily replaced. Take a good look at the metal. it is in very poor condition. The plating has worn off in places and someone down the line tried to brighten it up by using something on it to cover the old plating. Poor workmanship or repair flaws are a sure sign of a lower quality piece. Missing pieces such as the clasp mechanism on the back of a brooch takes some skill to repair. I have accumulated quite a few pieces of old brooches to use for repair. You will want to match the metal color and patina as closely as possible so your repair doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. The same goes for necklace and bracelet clasps. make sure whatever you use keeps the original integrity of the piece as much as possible.

Poor repair workmanship: Sometimes you find a piece that has already been repaired. Take a good look at it. Did they use the right glue when resetting a rhinestone? If there is a hard yellow glue residue around the stone or pearl it was not repaired properly. Was the repair stone replaced with an inferior one?  These repair mistakes can be easily corrected by you and you can restore the piece back to it’s glory with the proper tools. (see previuos posts about repair kits and tools)

I do a lot of vintage jewelry repairs for people. Most of the time it involves re-stringing the piece so the owner can wear it. Let’s face it when many of these wonderful pieces were created the stringing materials were pretty much mono filament, cotton string or silk string. All of these materials eventually wear out. Mono filament gets brittle over time, silk and cotton can fray with time and all of these result in a necklace breaking at a very inopportune time and place.

Which brings me to a question of ethics. Is it OK to restring vintage pieces with newer stronger stringing materials?

Well that depends- you knew I was going to say that.

When I am repairing/restringing a piece it is usually for someone who wants to wear the piece.  So I use today’s better stringing materials on the pieces. I never use mono filament because it does get brittle and I do not like the way the necklace lays with it. I have many beautiful leaded crystal strands of beads that have been strung on mono filament. I won’t wear it or sell it if it is strung on this awful stuff. Usually the stringing material is so tight that the crystals actually grind against each other. I think in general that necklaces should be rather fluid- not tight and kinky. Vintage necklaces that I have that are strung on cotton or silk are either too loose- the fibers have stretched perhaps under the weight of the beads- or they are frayed and on the verge of breaking. Again - this is not an acceptable presentation in my studio to sell a piece like this. So I restring the pieces.

I let my clients know that the piece has been restrung. The clasp fits nice and tight and all the jump rings are replaced if necessary or shaped back into perfect circles with ends that align properly.

What about replacing missing beads? Or totally refashioning a necklace? The best policy is to be open and upfront about it when selling a piece. I think there are many vintage pieces out there that have been re-worked or repaired at one time or another.

This Haskell choker was too small for the owner to wear it. She needed it to be about an inch longer to be comfortable. I restrung it exactly like it was to begin with but added in black vintage seed beads on either side of the round black beads through out the entire piece. One would never know that it hadn’t been designed this way in the first place. The client was happy with the solution because she really liked the piece and wanted to wear it and we didn’t want to just add an extender to the clasp.

This necklace was one long strand and the customer just didn’t like it. After careful examination I believe it had at one time been a double strand necklace that some one had restrung into a single. It was really designed to be a double. The pattern that the beads were in did not make sense for a Haskell and the stringing material  was too new. I had no idea what the original patten was of the double strand but was able to put this configuration together using all the beads from the single strand. I used vintage double strand spacer findings so the patina of the metal matched that of the clasp. 

Is it OK to do this? Yes because the client requested it. If it were mine I would make full disclosure that the piece had been reworked. Most of us are buying these glamorous old beauties because we want to wear them and we do. They aren’t museum pieces and to be honest- something collectible is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

You have cleaned, removed stones, reset stones and done just about everything you can to get your prize into wearable shape. Now you need to look at the clasp. Maybe it’s missing or broken or it’s so worn it won’t hold anymore.

I buy huge lots of vintage jewelry at flea markets, auctions and on eBay just so I will have replacement parts for my vintage pieces that need repair.

Lobster claw clasps are a wonderful invention - so easy to open. But, they weren’t invented until 1990. Your main consideration for repairing or replacing a clasp is to find one that matches the metal color and is appropriate to the age of the piece. 

Clasps are easy to replace usually by opening the jump rings or other attachments and adding it to the neckline area. I open jump rings by using two pairs of needle nose pliers. I keep telling myself I am going to order one of those handy jump ring opening tools from one of my jewelrysupply sources but I just don’t do it. Jump rings should never be opened by pulling open. They should be twisted open like a bottle cap. Hold the ring in one pliers to keep it steady and open it with the other.

If you intend to sell your vintage pieces and you have replaced the clasp I would make sure the buyer is aware of this. I had a client send me a wonderful MiriamHaskell piece that just didn’t lay right. After checking it over carefully we both came to the conclusion that it had been repaired extensively. The gold chains did not match the metal color in the pendant. The MH oval hang tag wasn’t hanging in the right spot. It was two jump rings in from the clasp. We had an authentic Haskel clasp and pendant but the rest of it was all replaced. This client collects Miriam Haskell avidly and she did not notice these repairs and had paid quite a bit of money for it. So in the interest of good reputation please be upfront about your repairs when selling vintage jewelry.

You’ve removed the old rhinestones, cleaned the cavity, removed any residual glue and tried to return the setting to its original metal color. Now you can set some rhinestones.

To GLUE IN a new rhinestone, first you must choose one that is the right size for the cup setting. I do this by dropping the rhinestone into the setting to make sure it fits correctly. Compare it to the others in the setting to see if they match in color and size. Don’t replace a shiny new rhinestone with others  that are a little more lovingly worn, for instance.

 I repair quite a bit of jewelry and have a fairly large supply of suitable stones on hand. Nothing is worse than spending all this time on the repair and having a piece where the rest of the stones look different.

 I purchase my stones from a wide variety of sources. If you are purchasing rhinestones for repairing vintage jewelry make sure that the stones are from “vintage stock” or “new old stock” not newer stones. Collections of vintage rhinestone jewelry are a great source for both vintage findings and rhinestones. Auction sites are a wonderful source- like eBay for buying lots of vintage rhinestone jewelry for “scrap or repair”

 Putting the stone into the setting and getting it straight takes some practice, but there are some easy ways to do this. A pair of long and very pointed stone setting tweezers is very useful to have but, use them only for setting stones and keep them clean. Don’t be tempted to use them to pry out the stones, for instance. Otherwise, you will have a rhinestone removed, and then won’t be able to hold the new one well!

I suggest practicing first with stones that aren’t indispensable. That way, if you lose one as you attempt the restoration, you won’t be heartbroken. Lay the stone on the table with the flat side down. Place the tweezers parallel to the table top and squeeze lightly then roll your hand over  the stone so it will be at the correct angle to fit into the cup. Practice, practice, practice-you will soon get it.

If you won’t be repairing often and don’t want to invest in the tweezers, you can just use a small piece of scotch tape and attach it to the flat side of the rhinestone and then lower it into the space. I’ve also heard of using a tiny piece of Blue Tac (for hanging posters) or beeswax on a toothpick. There are lots of different techniques for getting the stone into the channel without it going in upside down. I recently purchased a tool by Bead Smith called a Jewel Setter. I bought it to glue flat back rhinestones onto my hand embellished vintage purses. (Fabulous Bags!) They work very well for this but I do have to do some extra cleaning after the glue has dried to get residual wax off the stones. The wax on these blue plastic sticks reminds me of the wax my kids have used on their braces.

Resetting a prong set stone is a little easier. Set the stone into the setting. Be sure it is sitting evenly. You will need to roll the prongs back into place. You do this with any flat tool - tweezers, a thin, knife, even a pair of closed pliers will do. Work again in pairs. Push them lightly down on the first go round and then more firmly on the final pass. You will want to make sure that the stone doesn’t move at all in the setting and sits straight when you are done. Again this takes patience and some practice.

To remove a stone set with prongs try, if possible, to use a non metal tool. Sometimes you can reuse the stone and you don’t want to damage the foil backing or scratch the surface of the stone. You can get a prong setting tool from jewelry supply stores or craft stores such as this one:

Once in a while you will come across a stone that has been prong set but also glued in. In that case please refer to my posting about removing glued in stones. This applies only if you want to save the stone. I generally don’t save the stones I am removing because they are dull, flawed, chipped or are in less than satisfactory condition. So I use another one of my favorite tools from the dentist- the flat dental pick. It comes to a very thin edge and is small enough to fit under the prong yet strong enough to chip away at tartar! So I know it will lift the prongs for me.

Please be careful when lifting prongs. Too much pressure and you can break the prong and your repair has become much more complicated. I always work in pairs when I am lifting prongs.  I will lift one prong slightly- go to the prong directly across from it and do the same. Then I return to the first prong and lift it a little more - back to the second one….etc…until I have them lifted high enough to release the stone. I have pretty good luck with releasing a stone by lifting just two of the prongs. If you need to lift more then proceed just like you did for the first two. Working your way gently back and forth between prongs. Remember to be careful- take your time- do not over work the metal -you can cause it to become brittle and to snap the prong right off the setting.

After you have removed the stone clean out any glue, dirt, etc from the cavity. Use your acetone in the cavity to try and get the metal back to its original metal color.

What!?! you mean you want me to REMOVE a rhinestone from it’s setting? Well yes, actually, there are times when this is necessary. First of all not all rhinestones are set in the same. Some are set with glue and some are prong set. Your job is to determine which way your stones have been set.

Glued in rhinestones may or may not have prongs. Prong set rhinestones have very definite prongs on them.

If the stone is glued in then you will need to gently pry it out of the setting. Some people use a thin pointed knife or a toothpick. My tool of choice is a dental pick. So if you come across any dental tools or are in good with your dentist and can ask for some old tools add this one to your tool box! It is priceless. 

Removing glued in stones is generally never easy and pretty much always frustrating. You have to be so careful that you don’t damage the setting. Sometimes a previous owner of your piece will have already removed the stone and re-glued it using the wrong glue.  First thing to try is hooking the edge of the stone and trying to pry it out. If you are lucky it will pop right out. If that doesn’t work then you can try dipping a cotton swab in nail polish remover with acetone and dabbing it over the surface of the stone and around the setting to loosen the glue. Try with your dental pick again to pry it out. If that doesn’t work you have to go for more drastic measures…

…soaking the piece in nail polish remover with acetone for about 30 minutes is the best solution at this stage. After soaking you will generally find the loosened stones at the bottom of your dish. CAUTION: do not soak hand painted or enameled pieces- the nail polish remover just might remove the color. This course of action generally won’t damage the metal of your rhinestone piece but I would use caution when soaking any piece of rhinestone jewelry in any kind of liquid. And remember to make sure it is completely dry before storing it.

Sometimes after all this you may find that the only way to get rid of the stone is to crush it in the setting. Again, I must emphasise caution. Rhinestones are made of glass and you could send slivers of it shooting off so please protect your eyes. Also make sure the damage is done to just the stone and not the setting.  Once you have crushed the stone clean out the cavity and discard the debris.

Generally I do not re-use stones that I have removed from settings. The foil on the back of the stone can damage very easily and the last thing you want to do is to put a stone in that looks dead. You’ve gone to all this effort to remove it so replace with a new stone!

Please remember that once you have removed any glued in rhinestones that you must removes any residual glue from the setting or you won’t be able to re-set the new stones. Use a cotton swab soaked in acetone based nail polish remover to clean out the cavity where the stone was to loosen any left over glue. I also find that using my dental pick gently I can get into the tight spots. Using my soaked cotton swab, I try to get the finish back to its original metal color.

Last week I worked on this wonderful cuff bracelet that had a broken wire and was losing beads. I was able to locate replacement beads online from two different vendors- of course. Once I had everything assembled the piece went back together smoothly.

Just a few words about these wonderfully sparkly pieces of glass. All rhinestones are not created equal. The best are leaded glass. Think of a leaded glass chandelier- the facets are brilliant when the light hits them- the same is true about rhinestone jewelry. Leaded glass will give you a brilliance that plain old glass can never do. Keep this in mind when replacing missing stones. Look for the brilliance. Austrian crystals are brilliantlybeautiful!  If the piece is a signed designer piece such as Eisenberg, Coro, or Trifari then make sure you replace with good quality stones.  Don’t get me wrong- even unsigned pieces will have quality stones in them.

I used to pass right over pieces that were missing a stone or two. Now I will give these pieces a chance. If it’s only one or two stones that are missing and the rest of the piece is in excellent condition- no dreaded verdigris or cloudy stones - and the cost is reasonable I will more than likely purchase the piece. I  found an excellent source for vintage rhinestones on the web. I have ordered from this company and have found the service to be EXCELLENT! If you are looking for replacement stones for your jewelry please check MRstones out!

http://www.MRstones.com 

 

 

 

 

 

I had this bracelet for five years with one stone missing and finally was able to repair it with a recent order from MRstones. I am so glad I kept it because now it is gorgeous!