Very difficult for beginners. Many participants of my lessons are asking me to show them how to repair broken jewelry. As there are many,many different jewelry production-methodes, you can´t describe general tips for repairing jewelry.

For example a broken ringrail(ringband) of a gemring should be soldered. Many gems can´t stand the high temperature of an open flame. To put the gem out of the setting, and finally to set it again after the repairing process is very often too expensive. A solution would be special soldering equipment like a hydrozoneflame or a laser-solderdevice. But they are very expansive too. Before you start repairing something....

The following points should be clarified:

< Real or fake?
< What fineness does it have?
< Does it have a galvanic cover?
< Is the gem hollow?
< Is it already stuffed with putty for stabilization?
< Does it get repaired for the first time?
< Was it repaired with tin-solder?
< Are steel springs in the closures?
< Chains could have a soldercore.

333 gold is often very fragile and hard. Beginners in goldsmithing should not undertake repairings in 8kt Gold.

A thin chain which gets soldered often is likely to brake again next to the soldering points.

Because of the low man-power costs Jewelry bought in foreign countrys is often cheaper than here. It may be, that the repairing here in Germany would cost more than the jewelry itself.

Example: When I worked in munich, a builder came to me with the following request: He asked me to repair an indian filigree bracelet which costed 200,-Euro DM in India. I estimated the costs to repair the bracelet up to 600,-Euro. He agreed only because his wife loved this bracelet.

My tips for repairs:

Look for a goldsmith you trust, and let him make a quotation. Or use a journal like the GZ where you can find good goldsmiths specalized for repairings. Look at the last pages in the small advertisement section.