Featured How cleaning/polishing can improve "not gold" antique jewellery!

I had a crush on these 6cm or 2.5" long 1860s micromosaic earrings, looking for a pair at affordable price since many years
Not gold, nor gilt silver, awfully tarnished, but mosaic was in perfect condition.
I was confident they will shine again!

Listing pics:

After cleaning/polishing:

Side to side before-after:


Polished with sunshine cloth, then cleaned with a kind of Windex spray which has ammonia.

Good looking for being more than 150 years old!

 

Much better looking cleaned and polished. Stellar work, kyra!

 

Fabulous cleaning and I'm a wee bit jealous!

So rare to see pieces that deserve the "micro mosaic" name.

 

You are so terrific for sharing your secrets and techniques with the rest of us. I would never imagine using a sunshine cloth on non precious metals, but these are outstanding results. Beautiful earrings too. Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Lovely and such a great clean up.

 

Stunning earrings, kyra, I can totally understand your infatuation. And great polishing job.
I polish my antique non-precious jewellery as well, if possible. After all, that is how they were intended to look. Those 19th century ladies would never have dared to go out wearing tarnished jewellery, what would the neighbours think.

 

Lovely,but I bet they are heavy as all get out ! You'd end up with ear lobes like Buddha !

 

Are you sure they are not gold? They sure look it to me.

 

Bravo. Beauty of a pair there. Such a nice contrast post-cleaning.

 

My thoughts entirely. Antique doesn't mean dirty looking in my mind. Tarnish in my estimation looks like dirt!

 

Exactly. Patina is fine, it means it has age. Tarnish is something else entirely. Besides, I don't want to wear other people's accumulated dirt.

 

doesn't need to be gold to shine.......well done Kyra !!

 

Thank you Jivvy!
The older the micromosaic pieces are, the tinyest are the tesserae (little glass bits)!
Those commonly encountered on EB are vintage ones, still made in Italy, but rather messy

Thanks to YOU, Kiko!
Sunshine cloth can polish everyting "soft", it does wonder on turtle shell, ivory, plastic.... Just have to keep a clean, not blackened one for these materials

Thanks Pearl!

Aww, AJ! I'm all the same as you for non precious metals, but you know I love my old silver remaining black in the recessed areas

Thanks Johny!
NO BUDDHA EARS !!! They are light weighted at 17 grams the pair, very comfy to wear all day long

Yep, metal... see the pics before cleaning, not the tarnish color of gold! That is all the magic of polishing

Thank you! I'm very glad they looked like this rather quickly

Thank you, Ô Shiny Light of the Board

 

I am besotted with Sunshine cloths, they work on anything bling. I use the window cleaner spray with cotton buds.

 

My “windex” is a professional cleaner “STARCO SPEED 3G+” I got in a 5 liters can from a friend working in professional clean out, when I had to clean a studio flat after a heavy smoker (aged 65!) leaved after a 2 years rental... all was orange from tar and nicotine

I use it in a spray, directly on all my new buys including pearls, opals, paste stones, turquoises, and rinse quickly under tap water and thoroughly dry the piece. Never had yet a piece damaged with that

 

I have a beautiful intaglio I bought thinking it was glass because the setting, while pretty, was such blackened base metal. Intaglio turned out to be stone in an inexpensive mount. Was surprised at how much the application of a sunshine cloth with a lot of elbow grease brightened up the frame & restored much of it to its original gold appearance, although not in the crevices. It has gradually been darkening again; will have to try further cleaning like the 'windex' treatment that would not have occurred to me. At least I don't have to worry about harming the stone. Good tip to know!