AJ Raefields Blog

 Here are a few jewelry fixing basics that I (sarah, the jewelry fixing girl, here at raefields) have picked up while working here.  I hope you can use them when fixing a piece of your own jewelry.
 RHINESTONES
Never submerge any piece of jewelry with rhinestones in water, cleaner or alcohol. It mess it up, even if you can’t see it right then. Don’t do it.
REMOVING OLD RHINESTONES
If a rhinestone is ugly/old/discolored and you need to get it out, try to pry it out with a pin first.  If that doesn’t work, then use a q-tip to apply a little bit of Goo Gone or Disolve It on it. Let it sit for a minute, then try to use the pin again. It should work.  If not, just keep adding a little bit of GG or DI until you can pry it off easily.
GLUING THEM
Make sure you clean the area where you are going to put the new rhinestone in with a q-tip and a little bit of alcohol and let it dry (for like 10 seconds) before putting the glue in.  The best glue to use to glue rhinestones is the G-S Hypo Cement. Be careful with these because the glue keeps coming out after you stop squeezing.  So squeeze, then close it as soon as possible to keep from wasting glue. You only need a little bit of this, either in the hole or on the back of the stone, and then place the stone quickly, using tweezers or your fingers if they are like as skinny as tweezers.  Tweezers are good.  It will take a while for this glue to dry, so it’s best to leave it alone. Give it overnight to be sure it’s dry.
CLASPS
There are quite a few kinds of clasps.
Usually, you will need to put a jump ring on the end of a necklace/earring/bracelet/etc before putting on the new clasp.
These  are jump rings:
http://www.pasternakfindings.com/images/new/productsAgent/Half-Round-Wire-Silver-Jump-Rings-14-01081-lg.jpg
When opening the jump rings, this is the correct way:
http://www.jansjewels.com/basicinst/pics/jump01.jpg
Don’t pull apart the other way, it weakens the ring.
Close them in the same manner.
To put on a new clasp, open the exsisting jump ring (if it’s there, if not, add a new one), and slip the clasp onto it and close it up. Very easy. I suggest using the smallest pliers that you can find.  ALWAYS MATCH GOLD TONE CLASPS TO GOLDTONE CHAINS, same with silvertone, real silver and real gold!!
Here are a few of the clasps we use a lot:
http://www.girlguides.ca/media/images/13/clasp.jpg
http://onissino.com/ostore/productImages/miscitems/clasps/5001.1.JPG
For adding the other end of the clasp, use the same directions, but usually you won’t have to replace those. Many times you can just use a jump ring of the same color.
 

TESTING
You’ll need:
The testing kit which includes: a black stone, acids and sticks.
Scrape the piece of jewelry on the black stone gently until you get a marking of the metal.  Try to do this in an inconspicuous place on the piece, since it might be a piece of crap jewelry and you could scrape all the color off.  If it’s good/real metal, you won’t harm it by doing this.
If you think it’s gold, use the sticks that are labeled 10, 14, 18.  Scratch each and keep track of which is which somehow. Sometimes I do this by actually scratching a 10, a 14 and an 18 on the stone.
First, put some 10kt gold testing acid on the 10 mark.  Also put it on the scratch that is being tested.  The 10kt stick mark should not disappear for a long time, if at all. If the scratch mark is 10kt gold, it will not disappear, if it does, you’re done and you know it isn’t gold.
However, if it does disappear, you need to make sure it isn’t a higher kind of gold. Make a new scratch with the piece you are testing and follow the same directions with the 14kt gold testing acid. If it comes out positive (meaning it won’t disappear,) go on and test for 18kt gold. Continue until the scratch disappears under the new acid.  Once it does, then that means the one before it is the real “karat-age” of the piece. For example, if the scratch disappeared under the 18kt acid, it’s 14kt gold.
If you think the piece is silver, scratch the stone with the stick marked “999” for sterling.  Use the sterling or silver testing acid and place a small drop on each scratch.  The stick scratch will turn red underneath the drop (you’ll need decent lighting) and then compare the scratch that you’re testing.  If its about the same color, bingo! You’ve got a piece of sterling jewelry.  If not, if it stays the same, you’ve got a lovely piece of silvertone jewelry. Congratulations either way.
Hope these tidbits were helpful!

www.ajraefields.com

This entry was posted on Friday, April 6th, 2007 at 6:46 pm and is filed under How To, Helpful Fashion Answers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.