[Jewelry making - Article 00041] - Re: [Orchid] Repairs on imported gold

[Neilthejeweler]

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>     But I suspect these items may have been flash plated or washed with
>     a 23K or 24K wash. I am not positive but it is my suspicion. I know
>     you folks that do much repair run into this problem, especially
>     with imp orted chains, and wondered if you had any advice

    Touching up plated stuff is tricky for sure. The main thing as I see
    it is that there are numerous formulations of plating liquids that
    its a shot in the dark whether yours will match. Heck, even touching
    up your own plating (with the same liquid) can be iffy sometimes. 

    The telltale(usually but not always) thing is that a plated piece
    will often have a hard look. I think that's the point of gold plating
    gold, a more brilliant shine. When I see that hard look I inform the
    client the color will likely change and why. 

>     catalog that it had been plated with pure silver. Luckily the fix
>     was easy when I saw the change 

    Fine silver on sterling is not too frustrating to deal with. Its the
    silver(or rhodium) over nickel over copper over a sterling base
    that's a superior pain. The copper bubbles up, the nickel polishes at
    much different rate..you wind up chasing a nickel 'edge' all over the
    piece til you get to a design break. 

    Another thing altogether is 18K yellow alloyed with a high silver
    content(my assumption). This stuff will tarnish sometimes within a
    few days. I feel it actually looks better tarnished but you can't
    present it that way. Anyway, on something like this, when you get
    color change polish the whole piece and let it tarnish evenly. A
    liver of sulphur bath sometimes will speed the process, but I hate
    that stuff. 

>     The owner makes jewelry and uses a good amount of imported gold
>     chain and components. 

    A frank but diplomatic discussion with the owner about the
    consequences of heating plated jewelry would be in order. After all,
    it's not your decision to use these problematic items.
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