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show me your fixed repairs

Well, the first update from GIA is less than I hoped. One of the stones I took in was purchased from LT as a 0.9ct OEC. Well, turns out it's only 0.8ct. That's a bummer. :/ I don't blame the seller, it was sold to her by an IG seller as 0.9ct, and since the stone was bezeled, she took it on faith, as I did.
 
Well, the first update from GIA is less than I hoped. One of the stones I took in was purchased from LT as a 0.9ct OEC. Well, turns out it's only 0.8ct. That's a bummer. :/ I don't blame the seller, it was sold to her by an IG seller as 0.9ct, and since the stone was bezeled, she took it on faith, as I did.

What a bummer!
 
Final results from GIA are in, and they're...mixed. The aforementioned 0.8ct came back as an OEB, K VS2, rather than the 0.9ct J SI1 OEC the seller thought it was. It's super clean, and I truly don't see any color, so aside from losing 0.1ct, which absolutely sucks, I'm satisfied.

The Marquise was also a surprise. First, a little back story. I bought this stone early in my bling adventures. A nice size stone (>1ct.) at a price point I could afford. Seller believed it to be G or better, and mentioned a pinpoint, and a feather she said she couldn't find. When I received the stone, it was indeed very white, and until I bought a loupe, I also couldn't see any flaws. It is a very brilliant stone, so they hide well. Well, once I got a loupe, I found the feather. And so did GIA. They call it a 1.21ct J I2. BUT!! With strong blue fluorescence. This stone is so white, that SBF is truly its saving grace.

All in all, the walk-in experience with GIA was easy, and I won't hesitate to do it again. If anyone has any questions, let me know!
 
i may just have something to add in a week or two
taking the jet beads in to be strung with the rose quartz

also am getting closer to making a confidant findings order :lol-2:

have been spending hours on finding a few amber beads
oh boy the NZ dollar really tanked in the past year
 
finally good news :kiss2:
took the Whitby Jet in today :appl:
cant rush these things :lol-2:

only $45 to restring :appl:
he agreed the larimar would have looked good aganist the black jet
but rose quartz it is
he said how sometimes using the same coloured thread can make the coloured bead look dull, so going with white
buying a big SS clasp he makes himself, future proofing i say

big sign in window, repairs and reworking
very nice gallery type studio and i could see into his workshop when i went up to the till
 
ok sorry no pictures yet (maybe i should have used the time and $$$ to go get my brand new phone fixed (its locked and i dont remember the password and it wont factory reset without a password even if i let the battery go flat)

but i have my Whitby jet (and rose quarts) actually around my neck as i type
happy-red-hair-girl-character-cartoon-vector-27633568.jpg


its a nice weight (hardly feel it) and i like the length
so its been at least 6 years since i brought it preloved as antique Whitby jet but it was too small to fit the fat neck
i hope i have done it justice and made it much more wearable for the future
 
Had a handful of repairs done this week, and so excited to get to wear everything!

This cluster ring that I adopted from the lovely @jeweln needed a missing outer prong replaced, and general wellness checkup. She's back to being fit as a fiddle, and on my finger as I type this.
20230920_183608.jpg

I recently acquired this cameo, but brooches aren't my thing, so he added a bail and removed the pin, and I look forward to taking her on her first outing soon!
20230920_183702.jpg

I had this hand pendant, which was holding a very dark (basically black) and wholly unremarkable sapphire, and I had an old ring that will be going to the melters soon with two small side pears that were very similar in size, so had a diamond swapped in.
20230920_183313.jpg

He also removed a diamond form an old setting and I will be taking it to GIA at some point in the future.
 
Had a handful of repairs done this week, and so excited to get to wear everything!

This cluster ring that I adopted from the lovely @jeweln needed a missing outer prong replaced, and general wellness checkup. She's back to being fit as a fiddle, and on my finger as I type this.
20230920_183608.jpg

I recently acquired this cameo, but brooches aren't my thing, so he added a bail and removed the pin, and I look forward to taking her on her first outing soon!
20230920_183702.jpg

I had this hand pendant, which was holding a very dark (basically black) and wholly unremarkable sapphire, and I had an old ring that will be going to the melters soon with two small side pears that were very similar in size, so had a diamond swapped in.
20230920_183313.jpg

He also removed a diamond form an old setting and I will be taking it to GIA at some point in the future.

These are all so great!
But the cameo has my heart......!
 
Had a handful of repairs done this week, and so excited to get to wear everything!

This cluster ring that I adopted from the lovely @jeweln needed a missing outer prong replaced, and general wellness checkup. She's back to being fit as a fiddle, and on my finger as I type this.
20230920_183608.jpg

I recently acquired this cameo, but brooches aren't my thing, so he added a bail and removed the pin, and I look forward to taking her on her first outing soon!
20230920_183702.jpg

I had this hand pendant, which was holding a very dark (basically black) and wholly unremarkable sapphire, and I had an old ring that will be going to the melters soon with two small side pears that were very similar in size, so had a diamond swapped in.
20230920_183313.jpg

He also removed a diamond form an old setting and I will be taking it to GIA at some point in the future.

well done
and i adore that cameo
 
so this isnt really a fixed repair but it is using up something that was lying around
back when i had more descreanary spend available i knew jack sh*t and did not always buy wisely
although with good intentions
i brought this diamond pave (tiny chips more like) bead from Micheal Hill - from the emma and roe brand,
i know in North America/Aussie these were a more budget stand alone brand down the mall, but here they were just sold in the micheal hill store

anyway the ones with real gemstones and gold (not CZs) were terribly over priced but the poor wee thing actually has a lot of fire going on at night
it cost way too much to be doing nothing, i never intended to make a charm bracelet, it was going to be going into a pearl necklace but i changed my mind

so im taking it into the jewler today to ask for a quote to make it into a bracelet with the moss agate i have fallen in love with, im going to get a quite for SS and 10K, Im not making a silk purse out of a pigs ear but i also dont want it looking like a worry bracelet

it is mazing how if you sit on something long enough the old brain just keeps ticking over and then one day you just have a light bub moment, i thought this up on monday waiting for the bus home after work

i dont think that moss agate and an emma and roe charm (even a more expensive one) deserve a thread of their own amoungst the glory and sparkle of PC
but it is pretty and im just hoping to make it wearable

sorry no picture as phone issues
but i just googled up a photo

1695334123658.png
its the one on the far right
big sigh i actually have two saphire (very dark) ones like the ruby one still waiting their own light bub moment
1695334336070.png
the moss agate (the etsy picture) is more green than on my laptop screen,
the beads are a little bit smaller than the charm but the charm of course has a bigger hole
 
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doing my research these little charms have really depresated in value much more than normal Micheal HiLL jewlery (that is really saying something)
Im afraid to admit even to myself what i paid and that was when the NZ dollar was stronger (micheal hill always seemed a lot cheaper on the Canadian web site)
this guy was at least NZ$1K when he was knew, i have 2X the saphire version


probably make my bracelet in stirling silver ....
 
Had a handful of repairs done this week, and so excited to get to wear everything!

This cluster ring that I adopted from the lovely @jeweln needed a missing outer prong replaced, and general wellness checkup. She's back to being fit as a fiddle, and on my finger as I type this.
20230920_183608.jpg

I recently acquired this cameo, but brooches aren't my thing, so he added a bail and removed the pin, and I look forward to taking her on her first outing soon!
20230920_183702.jpg

I had this hand pendant, which was holding a very dark (basically black) and wholly unremarkable sapphire, and I had an old ring that will be going to the melters soon with two small side pears that were very similar in size, so had a diamond swapped in.
20230920_183313.jpg

He also removed a diamond form an old setting and I will be taking it to GIA at some point in the future.

Everything looks beautiful , especially the ruby ring :clap::kiss2:
 
i have had such a good day
all is going to go really well with my moss agate bracelet
he is going to make two silver disks to go on each end of the diamond charm bead to stop it spinning
i had a good chat with his assistant who does the knotting, regarding the extorotionate price i paid for the charm and she said well but i must have liked it when i brought it and thought it was worth the money and she is right

its going to get one of those bar and circle clasps in SS

the thing is this all bodes well for my daisy charm and pearl project necklace, it makes the charms a bit more expensive but it will be a prettier end result remembering if its not pretty i wont wear it

also ive desided to put one of the saphire charms into mum's pearl necklace when i get it restrung. he said he can put a silver dome on each end of the charm to make it look rounder
 
i have had such a good day
all is going to go really well with my moss agate bracelet
he is going to make two silver disks to go on each end of the diamond charm bead to stop it spinning
i had a good chat with his assistant who does the knotting, regarding the extorotionate price i paid for the charm and she said well but i must have liked it when i brought it and thought it was worth the money and she is right

its going to get one of those bar and circle clasps in SS

the thing is this all bodes well for my daisy charm and pearl project necklace, it makes the charms a bit more expensive but it will be a prettier end result remembering if its not pretty i wont wear it

also ive desided to put one of the saphire charms into mum's pearl necklace when i get it restrung. he said he can put a silver dome on each end of the charm to make it look rounder

Looking forward to seeing the finished bracelet on your wrist!
 
have the bracelet
just have to work out how to take a photo from my laptop
im very happy with it
a great combination of leftover moss agait and a 6 year old gold and diamond bracelet charm
im really happy with the slim silver disks the jeweler made to hide the large hole of the charm and to stop it spinning
 
update
i finally could be bothered working out how to take photos from lap top
it was not easy and was a bit ugly
WIN_20231109_12_13_30_Pro.jpg
found home for silver Swedish charm on moss agate
too bad you cant see how nice the beads actually are
i must get my phone seen too

WIN_20231109_12_17_35_Pro.jpg
excuse double chin and out of focus pix
this is the diamond and gold charm set into the new moss agate bracelet
you cant really see but there is a silver disk on each end of the bead that tidies it all up and makes it behave
WIN_20231109_12_07_39_Pro.jpg
and this is my whitby jet necklace restrung and lengthened and cheered up by the rose quartz
everything does hang straight but im contorted trying to take the photo and the bracelet was just to hard to ge a photo of on my wrist
everything has very nice good sized handmade stirling silver clasps that are eaiser to get on and off
 
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not a repair but a remake
took something in to be knotted today
had some rather ugly vintage tiny coral beads
i didnt want to waste them because coral was a living thing
it was a disasterouse trade me (NZ Ebay) buy, the necklace and its beads were so much smaller than i expected, definatly didnt fit my fat neck
anyway i strung it up with some left over jet and some inexpensive pearls, it reminds me of a map of the London underground
i have a rose gold filled magnetic clasp for it
it will be a really light necklace
i have enough spair bits to make a bracelet if i love the necklace

hope to take in one project a week durring november as december the morgage payments go up

edit
just a thought while i was cooking tea (dinner)
there is still enough left overs to make earrings
the jet is so light and the corral so tiny
ive never had earrings made before.....
,,,,,,,but im getting ahead of myself .......
 
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so six years after aquiring it and realizing it was too tight for the fat neck a garnet necklace is having the remake treatment with tiny gold spacer beads and my gold xmas pohutakawa flower pendant which has never been worn
1700203554584.jpeg
so really looking forward to the xmas themed tread this december
 
I got these Georgian garnet earrings converted (back?) from screw-ons (the screw-on fitting is from the 20th century) to shepherd's hooks.

Before:

IMG_1614.jpeg

IMG_1652.jpeg

After:

IMG_2666.jpeg

IMG_2675.jpeg

IMG_2735.jpeg
 

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I got these Georgian garnet earrings converted (back?) from screw-ons (the screw-on fitting is from the 20th century) to shepherd's hooks.

Before:

IMG_1614.jpeg

IMG_1652.jpeg

After:

IMG_2666.jpeg

IMG_2675.jpeg

IMG_2735.jpeg

oh so much more wearable and pain free
and they are sooooo pretty
dont know how my grandma ad her sisters ever managed to wear those other sort
 
I got these Georgian garnet earrings converted (back?) from screw-ons (the screw-on fitting is from the 20th century) to shepherd's hooks.

Before:

IMG_1614.jpeg

IMG_1652.jpeg

After:

IMG_2666.jpeg

IMG_2675.jpeg

IMG_2735.jpeg

These are very pretty
 
so im sitting here reflecting on a reasonably productive latter part of 2023

really stoked to finally have one of my Whitby jet necklaces now wearable
still have a few things i wanted to get done by xmas 2023 like finally getting Mum's pearls restrung but i do have more wearable necklaces than i did this time last year

so im now focusing on this year, just gotta pay a big bill first (property taxes) and then i really have to sort out my cell phone
i think ive found a few gold things to scrap and then onwards and upwards into 2024
 
Ugh, you guys, I'm gutted! I took a ring to my repair guy, looking for a simple stone swap. I had bought the ring at an auction, it's from 1910, and it had a really dark, nearly black, sapphire in it, and it needed perking up. I got a pink rubellite I thought worked well for the setting, and with the color of the gold, and I just picked it up, and HE POLISHED IT! 114 years of patina, gone. I'm so sad. It totally changes the feel of the ring. Now it's just...shiny.

 
Ugh, you guys, I'm gutted! I took a ring to my repair guy, looking for a simple stone swap. I had bought the ring at an auction, it's from 1910, and it had a really dark, nearly black, sapphire in it, and it needed perking up. I got a pink rubellite I thought worked well for the setting, and with the color of the gold, and I just picked it up, and HE POLISHED IT! 114 years of patina, gone. I'm so sad. It totally changes the feel of the ring. Now it's just...shiny.


oh dear
and you know he was probably really proud about how shinny he got it :(2

you just need to fall in love with it another way
may we see a hand shot please
 
hmmmm
had a bit of a project clear out, physical and mental over new year, and a reality cheeck
took a few things in for scrap today, desided i just didnt like some things and probably never did otherwise why havnt i worn it even once ?
found out a vintage early mid century 18k ring (not inherited) had synthemtic gems in it so i was ripped (off) on that one so at least i never wasted more money getting it resized
after the clear out i do feel lighter and also i came out with a nice wad of cash

picked up my (belated) xmas garnet necklace, im pretty sure its going to be too tight for the fat neck but im not spending more money on it outside of buying an extender of some sort off etsy, no photo till i do that

this is how i reused my horrible little corral
the necklace was yucky but i just couldnt bring myself to throw out the corral as it was a living thing once and well ,,,its coral, im really happy with it excpet it wasnt knotted how i asked and the silk has already stretched, so depending on how much i wear it i might take it back latter in the year, its the one i was playing around with while i was watching the Queen's funeral, using some left over pearls and some Navajo Jet, it is very light so i have a magnetic clasp on it
it looks kind of vintage to me ?

image.thumb.jpg.7b62b5d9bc0dd5ebd00ccac51236757e.jpg

and ive shown this on another thread but this is how i used my old N charm which is a good 40 years old
its quite a heavy charm by today's standards
FW potato pearls and moss agate
i hope this balances out scaping the last of my baby jewlery, whats the point of keeping it, its not like i have anyone to leave it to and it was so light, anything i made it into would have looked much too flimsy on this big old bulk
1704929587688.jpeg
 
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so today i went to visit my 'new' silver cat mother's diamond pendant and paid 2/3rds of the bill
oh wow do i love it
no one much sets diamonds in silver around here but the silver really makes them sing
they are old great aunty diamonds, the ring was way too small and too dainty for me so i sent it for scrapas it was 18K a few years ago now i guess and they sent back the 3 diamonds, im assuming due to the age they are quite nice (if a bit small) diamonds, because mall diamonds never exisited back then
i lost and found them about 20 times so i desided to just set them into a ss bar pendant i ordered off the net (it was on special for mother's day as a mother's pendant so i had the cats' names engraved on 3 sides) somewhere back in this thread is a picture, cant rush these things
there was an option to buy it with one lab diamond so i must confess that gave me the idea to use up these little diamonds

the main street 'family' jewler wouldn't set the diamonds -they also didnt think my pendant was silver and that its not normal to set diamonds in silver (now i know the mall jewler across the street has diamonds in stirling silver - think what you want ??)
they also said two of the diaomds were too big to fit
i did actually have a 4th bigger diamond from an old ugly ER (not mine just one i aquired ) also left over from being scaped
my jewler had a look and did say the 4th bigger diamond wouldn't fit the bar pendant but the other 3 were a go and i think are a match made in heaven
anyway i cant wait till next week

maybe i even finally set up my new phone (i finnaly got it fixed) so i can show you
as i said im blown away how sparkly they look aganist the silver
i ahve never had any kind of diamond pendant before
 
so today i went to visit my 'new' silver cat mother's diamond pendant and paid 2/3rds of the bill
oh wow do i love it
no one much sets diamonds in silver around here but the silver really makes them sing
they are old great aunty diamonds, the ring was way too small and too dainty for me so i sent it for scrapas it was 18K a few years ago now i guess and they sent back the 3 diamonds, im assuming due to the age they are quite nice (if a bit small) diamonds, because mall diamonds never exisited back then
i lost and found them about 20 times so i desided to just set them into a ss bar pendant i ordered off the net (it was on special for mother's day as a mother's pendant so i had the cats' names engraved on 3 sides) somewhere back in this thread is a picture, cant rush these things
there was an option to buy it with one lab diamond so i must confess that gave me the idea to use up these little diamonds

the main street 'family' jewler wouldn't set the diamonds -they also didnt think my pendant was silver and that its not normal to set diamonds in silver (now i know the mall jewler across the street has diamonds in stirling silver - think what you want ??)
they also said two of the diaomds were too big to fit
i did actually have a 4th bigger diamond from an old ugly ER (not mine just one i aquired ) also left over from being scaped
my jewler had a look and did say the 4th bigger diamond wouldn't fit the bar pendant but the other 3 were a go and i think are a match made in heaven
anyway i cant wait till next week

maybe i even finally set up my new phone (i finnaly got it fixed) so i can show you
as i said im blown away how sparkly they look aganist the silver
i ahve never had any kind of diamond pendant before

I can't wait to see this! I set a few small diamonds into silver before. They look great.
Honestly, I like the color of silver better than white gold, which can appear slightly yellow if the rhodium wears off.
 
I can't wait to see this! I set a few small diamonds into silver before. They look great.
Honestly, I like the color of silver better than white gold, which can appear slightly yellow if the rhodium wears off.

picked it up today
it really sparkles under the shop lights and in the sunshine
the diamonds throw fire
they are set very low into the pendant so no way will i loose them- i 'lost' them on the floor about twenty times, its a miricle i still had all three
and it wont poke into my skin if it flips (i dont think it will flip)

must set up cell phone
sigh
 
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