Giving Your Jewelry A Makeover Can Save Money
\nPlating Yellow Gold Jewelry With A Form Of Platinum Costs A Fraction Of New Jewelry
\nCBS2 Chicago, IL<\/p>\n
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(CBS) CHICAGO Did you know, you can give your old jewelry an extreme makeover without the extreme price tag?<\/p>\n
You can make yellow gold look like platinum at a fraction of the cost of something new.<\/p>\n
CBS 2 consumer reporter Dorothy Tucker shows how it’s done.<\/p>\n
You can’t go wrong with a gift of jewelry, but just like clothing, jewelry styles change. And these days many woman are choosing silver, white gold, and platinum over yellow gold.<\/p>\n
But instead of spending a fortune on new stuff, you can give your old jewelry a makeover.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can make a ring that’s a couple of hundred dollars look like several thousand dollars,” said jeweler John D\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Antonio.<\/p>\n
How? By dipping it in a metal called rhodium, a form of platinum.<\/p>\n
First the jewelry is buffed and smoothed of any dings, and then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s placed in a degreaser and dipped for about 15 seconds in the rhodium solution.<\/p>\n
You can see before and after images to the right.<\/p>\n
It’s a popular process at Horwitz Jewelers in Chicago, and owners say it won’t hurt the gems.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s a process where you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re magnetizing the material. But It’s only seeking metal, But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to seek diamonds, or sapphires, or any precious stones. We’re doing it with pins, we’re doing it with necklaces, whether they have diamonds or not.,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said jeweler Craig Horwitz.<\/p>\n
Horwitz may be doing it, but jeweler David Lampert said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We discourage it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Lampert complained that rhodium dipping doesn’t last forever, maybe a year, depending on the piece. And he says re-dipping eventually affects the metal.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153After the first time, It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very difficult to get it to look really white again make it look white over again, and over time \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the piece is just never going to look right,\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Lampert said.<\/p>\n
But Cindy Bertran is satisfied with her new white gold pendant.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think its more exquisite looking and it really shows up with sapphires and diamonds much better with the white gold,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bertran said.<\/p>\n
And this new look only cost $30.<\/p>\n
While jewelers will plate anything you want, they say the procedure lasts longer on items like pendants and earrings that aren’t handled as much.<\/p>\n
(\u00c2\u00a9 MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Giving Your Jewelry A Makeover Can Save Money Plating Yellow Gold Jewelry With A Form Of Platinum Costs A Fraction Of New Jewelry CBS2 Chicago, IL (CBS) CHICAGO Did you know, you can give your old jewelry an extreme makeover without the extreme price tag? You can make yellow gold look like platinum at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[411],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n