Huge butterfly brooch | ||
| mikelv85's loves1076 of 24532 |  |  |
Sheluvsjewelry loves this.
clockerman loves this.
betweenthelens loves this.
racer4four loves this.
HippieArchaeologist loves this.
SEAN68 loves this.
AnnaB loves this.
valentino97 loves this.
mikelv85 loves this.
TassieDevil loves this.
jscott0363 loves this.Gillian loves this.
Manikin loves this.
Ms.CrystalShip loves this.
PhilDMorris loves this.
fortapache loves this.
vetraio50 loves this.Windwalker loves this.Tigra loves this.aura loves this.
nutsabotas6 loves this.
Newfld loves this.Create a Show & TellReport as inappropriate
Posted 3 years ago
Mrstyndall
(869 items)
I went to an estate sale today. They had a table outside with lots of bags of jewelry. I bought several pieces, this being one of them. This brooch is huge, with all rhinestones intact. The back though needs cleaning-what would be the best way to clean the metal or should I just leave it?? This piece is unsigned.
Create an account or login in order to post a comment.
Beautiful assortment of colored stones!
I f this brooch were mine, I would wash it with dish soap and water. DON'T soak it !!! Give it a light rinse of water, then a gentle wash like you're washing your hands, then a light rinse and terry cloth towel drying, just pat it. Then allow to air dry for a couple hours. I clean ALL my brooches this way and have never had an issue.
For the back of the brooch, it's possible that the finish has just worn away or it could be dirty. Now I know this is going to sound strange, but I use car polish on pieces like this. I dampen a terry cloth rag then apply a small amount of polish to it and rub the surface, it usually turns black. Then wipe off the polish with a clean soft terry cloth. It's just like waxing your car. You could send it out to be cleaned by a pro, but be prepared to pay, possibly more than your purchase price !!
This is how I clean my jewelry and may/may not work for you, so use caution. Oh, by the way it's beautiful ! :)
Jenni-I thought so too ;). Thanks
Ken, thanks so much for the info. What brand of car polish do you use? I’m not interested in pro cleaning. I paid $18 only-it had an old $45 tag on it, as the previous owner was a dealer. Yeah, just want to get a bit a black off of the back. Will see what happens. Thanks again ;)
MrsT, I use Turtle Wax chrome polish & rust remover liquid. You can find it almost anywhere and its inexpensive. It also works for testing for Bakelite !!
Some Bling in this little fellow...smiling.,, nice score..
I always send it to a professional cleaner with EXPERIENCE ! Never soak it yourself as the the backing foil on the stones ROTS if it is not dried carefully and properly !~
I have a stone setter who is cleaning some of my pieces right now, she has lots of experience and does not charge all that much for cleaning, but takes a while to dry with several fans going when drying.
Myself I would "never ever" run it under water at any time. You run the risk, which is so easy to do, of "trapping water" under the stone which has the foil backing.
That is why I suggest a pro, the piece can be soaked but a lot of times the drying is not done with fans adequately so it lets the foil backing ROT !!
The trouble with ebay is one seller told me that Sherman NEVER used foil backed stones. Actually 99% of stones are foil backed so I made it a point never to buy a Sherman piece from him, HE SOAKS ALL HIS JEWELLERY HE SELLS IN GLASS CLEANER. What a complete moron.
Phil, thanks for that info. Was just wondering if there was something to put on the back only, to remove some of the black.
Yeah, buying on eBay, you always take a chance, because a lot of sellers lie or are just unaware of what they have.
Windwalker, yes, it is does have a lot of bling ;). Glad you like!
Beautiful Big Butterfly!!
Both Phil & Ken have excellent suggestions on cleaning this Beautiful Bug... I was wondering...
It looks to be quite old, it may not be "worn", just has a lot of patina. Could it be sterling? I clean Mom's Sterling pieces with Tarn-X. The stuff is amazing. I can dip a "black" piece in and it comes out silver and shiney. BUT NO DIPPING WITH STONES for the reasons Phil & Ken warned. I use a Q- tip & carefully rub the piece. BRASSO I used to get all the "black" that was covering a Schreiner piece, using toothpicks & Q-tips. Takes time & patience, but the end result is worth it!!
Good luck... I know you can do it and your piece is well worth the effort! Wish I would of been at that Estate Sale :)
Ms.Crystal, thank you-you are very sweet :) I haven’t seen any markings on it-I will try a QTip to gently clean back only, but as you said it may just be worn.
Wow another stunning beautiful flutterby ! Love love ! :-)
Beautiful butterfly Mrstyndall!!
Manikin, thank you for the kind comment!
I like Eileens comment, wonder if at one time it was black japanned ?
Mrs.T.
Be sure & show us the "after" pictures!
Such a beautiful pin! Great advice about how much effort should be used to clean old rhinestone items. If I had this, I would first use a soft toothbrush to get the dust off and check all the prongs. Then, damp but not soaking wet Q-tip w/a diluted metal polish (I use simichrome, Ken uses TurtleWax, just don't use "full force", dilute them, stir them around and have some other things to polish up and apply with damp Q-tip). Tarn-X is dangerous if the piece isn't 925. It will strip away any sterling plate - best to clean "unknown silver" dabbing with the Q-tip.
The technique I mentioned - only on the back, not on the rhinestones - just a soft toothbrush on the rhinestones :-)
Phil, I found another online almost identical and it was not japanned. This was is dirty or worn or both.
Valentino, thanks for the info, I will gently try to clean and see what happens. At least it’s just the back, which when worn, is not seen anyway:)
Vibrant and lovely!
I am not much into Jewelry,,but this is fantastic and gorgeous.
Betweenthelens, yes, thanks so much!
Clockerman, glad you like!