Choosing Beautiful Jewelry
Jewelry Repair On Fine Link Chains: What You Should Know
Bertha Garza
Women's jewelry often constitutes these very fine chain links. These chains are delicate and very lovely. They are also very fragile and tend to break often. If you have such pieces in your jewelry box, and they have recently broken, you may be considering jewelry repair for them. Before you march down to the nearest jewelry store and ask a jeweler to fix these delicate chains, there are a few things you should know first.
Not All Fine-Link Jewelry Can Be Repaired
This kind of detail work takes a delicate hand. The broken link or links in your bracelets or necklaces have to be manipulated under a jeweler's microscope because the links are too fine to see properly during the repairs. If a jeweler does not have all of the proper tools for this delicate work, he or she may either refer you to another jeweler that does have the right tools, or he/she may ask your permission to ship the broken jewelry to a company that can repair it for you and then return it to the jeweler's shop. Once in a while, the pieces may not be repairable at all, and that is something you may have to accept as a possibility.
The Jeweler May Opt to Fuse Links
Where the links in your fine chains have broken, the jeweler may opt to fuse the two links on the ends of the broken chain. This is done when the links are so very tiny that it would be next to impossible to replace a tiny link and close it around the two end links, or when opening an end link to grasp the other end link will only cause that link to break. Fusing the end links in a broken chain will make this area stronger, much like bones that knit with a knot over the break. An enhanced gold or silver solder is used to fuse the ends to make the chain whole again.
You Can Choose to Swap the Broken Chain for an Entirely Different Chain
The jeweler can place necklace charms on a new fine-link chain and then pay you the difference for the weight in gold or silver of the broken necklace if your broken one was pure gold or pure silver. The charm or bauble on the necklace just finds a new home on the new chain. Likewise, the decorative part of any bracelet on a broken fine-link chain can find a new home with a new chain.
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I have always been someone who loves to look great for work, but about six months ago I was surprised when a coworker pulled me aside. She talked with me about how loud my jewelry was looking, and she explained that more than a few clients had complained about it. I realized that she was right, so I started looking for classier pieces of jewelry that very day. It was incredible to see how big of a difference a few small shopping trips made. Check out this blog for great information about choosing beautiful, simple jewelry that you will love forever.