Featured Would you fix this? Amazing 14k enamel swivel brooch pin!!

I found this brilliant art nouveau pin for $5. It is 14k gold with enamel and pearls. It swivels from green to blue. The enamel is in desperate need of repair. Should I seek someone out to restore the enamel? How much would something like that cost? Thanks!

 

Lovely!
Can we see the back with the pin/catch?
@kyratango

 

So pretty!!

I think enameling is a very special art that not many jewelers do. It might require a specialist? I googled "jeweler who does enamel restoration" and got some hits worth checking so you might try that.

 

Is the blue side a Haley's comet design?

 

I think enamels are repaired with cold painted acrylics, essentially like nail polish, but you'd still have to know the specifics.

 

If professionally repaired, the jeweler should be using powdered glass and firing it, as the original was done. This jeweler describes their process as being that way (not an endorsement of their services specifically of course...more research would be needed).

 

ya...send it to Kyra !!!

 

A proper repair might cost a fortune. So there's that.

 

Fired enamel repair is out of thinking on this, it would need to remove the plaque from the mount....
Of course you can send it to me for a kyratisation
To mend it cosmetically, you can go to a craft art shop and use markers testers to fill the lacks, then put tiny droplets of clear nail polish with a tooth pick only on the damages.

 

It has the same radiating design underneath the enamel as the other side, with lines radiating from the pearls in the centre.

 

I think it begs to be repaired properly, but have no idea how costly it would be. If you wanted to double your investment by selling it, I’d be most happy to find out.

 

Where do they describe re-firing the metal?

This person says they work cold:
https://enamelrestoration.com/FAQ.html

It's my understanding that re-firing an enamel will affect the color.

 

I found this one below in London. Their “cold methods” are, of course, not explained, but I love their examples. I really like Spartcom’s brooch, too. The enamel work reminds me of Russian enamel of the Faberge times.

https://www.jewellery-repairs-london.co.uk/jewellery-enamelling.html


(P.S. Hi, moreotherstuff!)

 

So gorgeous. I love that collet setting around the single pearl.
I can't believe you paid 5 bucks for that!!
I'm jealous!

I like @kyratango 's advice.

Alternatively, you can search for some cheap blue and green nail polish to fill in the color with a toothpick. Then add clear polish on top.

Cheap nail polish is somewhat transparent because there is less pigment. So you can do thin layers till you get the coverage that looks right.
Just my opinion!

 

I think that might be a converted fob.

 

"Enameling is the process of applying colored glass powder to the jewelry’s surface."

 

Cold enamel is not vitreous, so it isn't enamel in the traditional sense. The finished product looks enameled, but the "enamel" is a synthetic resin.

 

I was quoting the page of the jeweler I linked who specifically says that their enamel is powdered glass, which of course needs firing.

"Enamel" being used to describe certain paints and resins is also a thing, I agree. Research on how a person does their restoration work and what it looks like/costs is definitely in order with anyone who's contacted.

Of course the original was powdered glass, so a historically accurate restore would be the same.

 

And then, we have the verb, "enameled" ..,

Thanks for the info all. It's a learning process.

 

It was, but unfortunately a historically accurate restore is impossible, it would damage this piece even further.