Can My Costume Jewelry be Fixed?
Posted on | February 28, 2010 | No Comments
While costume jewelry isn’t as expensive as regular jewelry, the idea of taking it to a jeweler to be repaired is generally not feasible; the reason for this is that it will often cost more for them to repair it than the piece cost to purchase. The nice thing though is that a lot of problems with costume jewelry you can fix at home, the trouble can be evaluating whether or not a piece is worth fixing. If you invest a lot of money into costume jewelry, then repairing it will help you extend its life and there are a few things you can purchase for taking care of the more serious problems associated with broken jewelry.
The most important thing is a powerful magnifying glass, because you need to be able to take a good look at the smaller areas of the piece to inspect it for excessive wear or tear. Known most commonly as a jeweler’s loupe, the magnifying glass is important so that you can reset gemstones or repair broken links; though the most common problem involves stones becoming dislodged.
The reasons for a gemstone dislodging can be many. The glue could have lost its adhesiveness. The stone could have cracked, become dull, or maybe simply be loose. Glue is the primary means of affixing the gemstones, but it is a special type. Trying to use common project glue or super glue can actually have a negative effect and cause the piece to fall apart sooner. Picking up a simple adhesive intended to be used with jewelry is what you want to get. Though the amount of glue is very important and using too much glue will cause the piece to dry improperly and either be visible or hold the gem at an odd and noticeable angle.
Becoming a costume jewelry repairer is not as hard as you’d believe it to be. You can use a few simple tools and be able to extend the life of most of your costume jewelry and save a lot of money in the process. Of course, you should always consider the cost involved, if the piece was extremely cheap, spending the time to remove and replace a cracked gemstone may not be worth it and simply picking up a new piece is recommended. As you make more and more repairs you will be better able to determine whether or not a particular piece of jewelry is worth repairing.
Tags: costume jewelry > gem > gemstone > jeweler > jewelry
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