Replacing rhinestones

On the wanted board, I said I was looking for 3 rhinestones. Marie was kind enough to supply some. This thread will show why I needed them.

I thought I had carefully looked at this brooch before I bought it but, when I got it home, I noticed a missing stone on the inner, recessed, ring. You can see it at about 2:00 o’clock. This was why I needed the ruby colored stone. Well, it was difficult to measure and maybe I got the size a touch too small, but I think the replacement will do.


This brooch, I have shown here previously. It looked good to me until I took a side shot of it and noticed empty prongs pointing up into the air. All the stones seemed present, but a closer look showed one to be smaller than the others (probably someone else’s replacement). It was small enough that it had fallen down inside its “pillow” setting, and was small enough that it was in danger of falling out completely. I pinched down the prongs to hold it in place… but then the prongs looked pinched down. This was why needed the amethyst stone.


This shows top and side views before replacement:


And this shows after:


Here’s a comparison of the stones side by side (the original on the left and its replacement on the right):




Finally, there was the Christmas tree brooch missing its teardrop topper:


I must have mis-measured again because the 10mm X 6mm replacement is simply too small to be usable.



All in all, the lessons to be learned are: don't buy pieces that need to be repaired and, repairs can be trickier than is warranted.

 

Too bad about the Christmas tree... I think the others look really good!

Fig

 

I used to keep pieces missing stones around for parts for others. I rarely had the right ones.

I've seen some pawn shops selling bags of stones that they have taken out of stuff they are scrapping.

 

There are so many shapes, sizes and colors you could probably have thousands of spares and still not have the one you need.

 

I also have trouble measuring (even with a great digital caliper tool). Here's what I've done that has helped me.

I ordered a stash of various sizes to keep on hand so I can actually test fit for size (and then can order in the correct color). When in doubt (or don't have a sample size that works), I do my best at measuring, and then order that size plus one size smaller and one size larger (total of 3 stones). The stones usually don't cost much, it's just the shipping that gets you.

 

You did a good job, the fixed ones look great!

 

just for info. if you look for more special replacement stones - also search Gablonzer Strass.
http://www.gablonzer-industrie.de/?lang=en