Repairing Jewellery Part 1 - Enameling

This is part one of - Repairing vintage jewellery.

To start I thought I would look at re-enameling. Having a collection of jewellery that technically was okay but could not be used because it was worn - either the enamel or the plating. Also those pieces of vintage jewellery that were a bit boring and very tired looking.

Invested in a few small pots of enamel paint that is used for painting model cars, planes, soldiers, etc. Had a few puzzled looks from the numerous men who were browsing in the model section of the craft shop when buying!

So set to work and got carried away...

Here is a vintage brooch that I brought earlier this year for myself. The pearl bead at the front needed re- pearling and the green colour that someone had already repainted was a bit too green.

I am very pleased with my first attempt and will be wearing this garland brooch soon.

This brooch was just a bit tired, vintage filigree that was a dull gold colour. So repainted it with the enamel paint in a dark gold and added a bit of colour.

The vintage bangle above belonged to my grandmother. The silver coloured plating had worn badly. With the edges worn and the front part of the buckle black, really the bracelet was unusable. So I have given it a couple of coats of silver coloured enamel paint. The result above was far better than I had hoped for. Will be wearing this and see how the enamel stands up to being worn.

This was my favorite from all the jewellery that I painted. This seventies vintage bracelet was wearable, if you like the worn plate look and the stones also had been rubbed almost bare. Unfortunately I did not take a before photograph. I like bright colours and so first painted the whole bracelet in a dark gold colour. Just to give the bracelet an antiqued look. Then repainted the triangular stones in various bright colours as previously they were pastel tones. Even painted the chain and charm at the end. Will be wearing this vintage bracelet now.

This is just my first attempt and I am certainly no Picasso! But I love turning something that is unusable into a piece of jewellery that I can wear. All the above pieces I will be keeping for myself - although my daughter did say she liked the bracelet.....

Been busy this weekend visiting more Christmas fayres and will be bloging about them soon. Next repair will be replacing missing stones. So please bookmark.