Beyond repair?

First of all, wow! Where has summer gone? How can it possibly be September already???

This is only going to be a short blog, but I just wanted to share a little repair job that I’ve been working on today. The client initially sent me an email a few weeks ago, as she’d been told by a high street jeweller that her sentimental gold dress ring, wasn’t able to be resized. Que that little evil bit in my brain that just wants to prove them wrong and show that it IS possible, and voila! One resized garnet and pearl dress ring. Yes, it IS a delicate ring, so she’s not going to be able to wear it every day, but at least it now CAN be worn, rather than being destined to sit in a box forever!

The ring in question - so beautiful!

It’s 9ct gold, set with garnets and pearls and is very delicate, but definitely not beyond repair. It’s a “dress ring” and will never have been intended to be worn all of the time.

Size L1/2 and needs to be a size N

The ring shank has some delicate engraving all around it, and because it’s a very small ring, the hallmark took up most of the available space, so I had to choose where to make the cut very carefully.

Adding the new gold

It’s all thanks to my Dado laser welder here. It meant that I could add in a new section of gold and “weld” it in place without risking heating (and ruining!) the pearls.

Cleaning up

Once the new piece of gold was welded, it was just a case of very carefully cleaning up the joins.

Not forgetting the inside.

The newer gold alloy was a slightly different colour, but it’ll all blend in with a polish.

Ready to wear!

Yes, you can see the join if you look closely, but sometimes it’s not all about completely hiding the new part. This ring was about preservation and making it wearable again.

Polished and ready for many more years!

A “very” careful polish so as not to damage those delicate pearls, or to remove to much of the character. In my opinion, it’s right for an antique to look as such!