Featured Saving Swedish Silver Suffering Some Serious Neglect

Good evening everyone!

I finally have some space in my schedule to share another recent purchase. I came across a listing of flatware that looked promising, but man did they look rough. I got some extra photos from the seller and recognized the marks of Swedish silver. I'm going to show the before photos first so you can see the rough state this flatware set was in when I received them. Everything from rusty blades to very thick tarnish (I'm talking about the kind that is like a corrosive rust that seems impossible to remove) and an overall state of neglect. But to those of us with a polishing passion, this is a perfect project to restore this set and bring them back to their original beauty. Here's the before photos:

 

And a few hours later, lots of Q-tips, polishing and patience, here's how they turned out. I paid about $40 for the entire group, so very happy with the purchase and very happy to make them shine again:

 

Nice job! I bet some other folks saw these, saw the green all over one fork, and couldn't hit the Back button fast enough.

 

I sure hope the price was cheap.

 

$40 total

 

Wow, they are gleaming now!. What a fantastic save as it looked so sad and neglected.

 

Fantastic result!
I too find very satisfying to polish such neglected silver pieces, when I don't like to do current usual polishing

 

You have magic in your fingers @MrNate

 

Nice - if you don't already know, the pattern is "Haga' (duh), the Stockholm makers, J.L. Hultman and Skandia merged in 1957, a few years after your pieces were made, continuing use of the 'JLH' mark.

Believe most silver collectors enjoy the satisfaction in polishing (it was my 'job' from early childhood), though it's hard on my arthritic fingers these days. Polished this miniature Mexican silver tea service yesterday, and despite its small size (the tray is 4-5/8" handle to handle), it took a couple of hours. After taking pics, took off the the lids to make sure everything was well-dry before packing it away, stood up with the set in my hand, the tiny lid from the teapot (maybe 3/8" X 1/4") fell off the tray, heard it bounce off a stainless water bottle I'd set on the floor, and after extensive search of my terrazzo floors and busily patterned Persian rug, still haven't found it (and thankfully haven't stepped on it either) - preparing to move the sofa shortly...

Before:




After:




~Cheryl

 

Thank you very much for the information on the maker. And as for the mini set you polished, the “after” photo is so stunning it made me giggle.

 

Oh no! I hope you'll find the naughty bouncing lid!!!
This is charming

 

Time to let a cat loose. Mine hunts loose beads; I bet she'd hunt a lid too! At 2AM probably, but she'd hunt it.

 

pooch Presh is pretty observant

Hehe, if Tali-cat had been in the room, he'd have told me where it went, even pooch Presh is pretty observant, but unfortunately I was on my own - must have gone under the sofa, but it's an old sleeper and weighs a ton...

~Cheryl

 

That's what yard sticks are for. Whack-y sticks too, aka canes. Probably a yard stick for this one.