Featured Hole in silver locket

I have this silver locket that is overall in nice condition but upon inspection there is a little hole right through the silver in the bottom right hand corner of the raised square section! Is this normal wear and tear and does anyone know why a hole would form if there's anything I can do to keep it from getting bigger? I wear it a lot- should I be afraid to wear it? (it came to me this way btw, so the wear and tear is not specifically from my wearing it)
Edit: I'm trying to upload a closeup of the hole but it says file is too large, but you can see it in this pic if you look carefully

 

It is beautiful, Kimbert. And you managed to upload the second photo.
The hole looks like someone knocked it against something, not caused by mad polishing imo. Accidents happen. I'm sure a jeweller can fix it.

 

Thank you! That's comforting if you think it was just knocked and is not so concerning, the hole doesn't detract much from the piece! I had fear of it wearing down and getting worse, and I do like to keep my silver polished and wouldn't want to wear it down with excess polishing!

 

Very nice Victorian locket!
Agree wit AJ, a restorer/jeweller can add some silver to the hole, but ask him to NOT MACHINE POLISH the locket after, that would ruin the patina, and you'd get a mirrored shine silver...

Personnally, I would let is as is; the damage is very small and non noticeable while wearing

 

I agree, no machine polishing, some jewellers are overly fond of that.

 

thank you- I love this locket so much!
Thanks for the tip of specifying not to machine polish- I probably wouldn't have thought of that! It's very good to know that adding a bit of silver is something that's possible. I think I will go that route only if it somehow gets more noticeably banged up (sure hoping it doesn't!!)

 

Agree with AJ & kyratango. Looks like it got punctured through trauma, not any kind of chronic wear. I would leave it alone unless you're very bothered by it. A jeweller's idea of the best fix may not turn out to be to your liking.

 

Or try my laughable non orthodox method... (fully reversible!)
The aluminium foil trick
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/kyratisation-guess-what.28057/

 

Looks like you could almost patch it with the head of a straight pin.

 

now THAT is impressive!! I totally could just stick a little aluminum foil on the inside.. hmm why not!

 

There is also silver clay, made with left-over high grade silver from the photographic industry. You can buy it in some craft stores. But I have never tried that on a flat, polished surface.

 

Yes agreed, to be honest the thought of bringing an antique piece to a jeweller makes me a little bit nervous (though I'm sure many know what they're doing!)- I would in the case of that it needs more major repair though!

 

Oh cool! I've never heard of that! I have a couple junkie silver things I could experiment on..

 

Can't see how the top panel is attached and any type of the repair with normal temperature solder could ruin the whole top side.It would need an expert repair goldsmith using a laser welder and the cost might be more than the piece is worth.

 

Just so you know -- all the silver metal clay I'm familiar with requires firing at high temp. Kiln or torch (torch for small parts).

 

Plus... it retracts! So, not convenient for filling a hole

 

Ok sounds way over my head accepting it as is sounds like the course of action!

 

I was rather interested in that stuff, but reading about the tools, kiln and all, then viewing many tutorials on you tube... I decided not to go into

 

sounds like an overall risky and not worth it endeavour!! I'm lucky the damage is so minimal in that case!