Thats not my ring!

"That's not my ring!" How many times have I heard that when returning a customer's repair? I've lost count. When a ring comes in for restoration when it's usually worn out. A ring may get very worn and lose a lot of metal over 10, 20, 30 or even 40 years of constant wear. When it gets returned from restoration, it should look different from when it was last seen. After all the metal from the ring has been replaced it should look a little different. It's a bit like looking at a photo of yourself from 20 years ago and then looking in the mirror (provided you are over twenty). My money is on the fact that you look a bit different. Remember this when you pick up a repair next.

This isn't always the case of course. If you have an antique piece that needs a small sympathetic repair it should be almost invisible. I know of one person who always brings up old silver-set jewellery to bright and shiny. This is purely a matter of opinion, but I think it should continue with its darkened look and continue to look old.

If you had a spoon or fork from an antique canteen of cutlery that needed a repair, would you want it returned all brightly polished? Or would you prefer a slightly duller "butler" finish. A butler finish has had minimal hard polishing to preserve the pits and scratches that have added to the pieces patina over the last 100 years. This would blend in with the other pieces much more naturally.

Never under-estimate the time and skill involved in a good repair and always remember that a fair amount of judgement is used as to the right way to approach it.

Just a quick one this time.

Great news for me!

I've recently had some great news. GIA have just awarded me a distance education scholarship for 2012. This covers the cost of the e-learning Gem Identification course. This is some very welcome financial relief for me as the strain is starting to show.

The GIA scholarship program is there to provide financial support and assistance for those who really need it. They provide funding for anything from an online course to a complete on campus program. Don't think that you will be able to apply every year and get funding. If you are successful, you can't re-apply for five years.

Please make sure that you tell anyone that may be able to benefit from this.

Take care and happy new year!