Coro Duette Restoration, a SPECIAL thank you to Sarah. :-)

[calis_stuff]

I do quite a bit of rhinestone replacing but I'm especially proud of this large Coro Duette restoration.

Picked this up in a TS last week, one area of one of the clips had black/dead stones and the metal had a gummy black gunk over them. Not sure what it came into contact with but between the bead set stones and the gunk, those stones had to be removed by carefully crushing them and cleaning out the cups.

It was also missing a few of the other stones and a couple of the square central line stones.

After a few days of removing the dead stones and cleaning the settings I started replacing those stones yesterday.

Thankfully 95% of the original stones were fine and it was just a matter of getting the sizes right.

Every cup called for a slightly different size, none were consistant and I had to tuck them up under the sliver of metal to set them properly.

I just wish I had thought to take a 'before' picture.

A special shout out to Sarah for the stones she sent me a few months ago, they were a huge help. 

[old.crows.nest]

Beautiful

[southernmermaid8]

You are such an inspiration to me ! I really want to restore vintage jewelry . I aspire to bring pieces back to life . I need some tools ! Absolutely gorgeous and job well done !

[dream*peddler]

Excellent restoration job as usual, Cali.  You have the patience, talent and knowledge to bring these pieces back to life.  I've done a few I've been proud of, but mostly I'm all thumbs!

[1940fc]

Gorgeous restoration!  Glad the extras came in handy 

[calis_stuff]

Thank you. I find it theraputic to do the repairs, something about restoring it to the way it was is very calming and helps me to think.

Odd I know, but true.

Sarah, yes, the extras were a huge help. 🙂

[flipping_treasures]

Beautiful job Cali!  Very well done.

[don-franciscos-sister]

Awesome job! I get that same "therapeutic" feeling from doing work like this 🙂

[goaldeelocks]

Another well done Restoration! It must have been hard to remove the bad stones without loosening the good stones? Or, I guess, you'd just reglue whatever came apart in the process? Inconsistent sizes must have driven you crazy!

Makes me want to get out my box of fix-its! I'm such a procrastinator - kinda like if I don't actually do it, I can't screw it up (can just think about how perfect it will be when I "get around to it"). But posts like this are most encouraging - thank you for sharing.

[gauntlettgems]

got a before pic????

[calis_stuff]

Diane, the worst part about removing these stones was crushing them without hurting the settings, the intact stones stayed put, thank goodness. 🙂

Gauntlet, no, unfortunately I forgot to take a 'before' picture. 😞

[calis_stuff]

Here's a restoration I finished yesterday. I was on the fence about the color of the pearls but I went with off white instead of champagne. Still not sure but they are easily changed.

[gauntlettgems]

I like the white pearls a lot more than the darker champagne. Brightens the whole thing up.

[don-franciscos-sister]

They really do brighten it up! I had (sadly, only one) of these same clips several years ago 🙂

When you list these pieces, how do you word the fact that they've been restored?

[mforjan]

Cali, you are dooing great work!!!!!