Can Milgraining be Removed?

[ccuheartnurse]

Hi All,
I had gotten this ring last year for my 40th Bday & was a bit overwhelmed when I received it. The milgraine pretty much overpowers the ring. To be honest, I wear it all the time because of sentimental reasons, but in truth, I would love to remove or smooth out all that milgraining. Is this even possible? I think the ring will still have a vintage look, and at the samet time, might match up with the smooth prongs a bit better. Also, wish the prongs were thinner. So chunky.

What do you think? Irinia, would you know anyone in Toronto that you would recommend? I realize you might need to send a private email regarding this. I have dealt with Damiani & Finch Centre Jewelers. Both are in Woodbridge, but looking for Toronto specifically. And would be very convenient if they were anywhere around 27 or 55 Queen St. LOL

Thanks All,
Judy

 

[neatfreak]

I would think it depends, but considering the fact that people send their rings in for work and the milgraining is taken off accidentially, I would think it would be quite easy to remove from most rings.

But don''t quote me on that, I''m no expert!

 

[oldminer]

"Maybe" is the best answer possible without looking at what the consequences would be. It would be lke accelerating the wear to some extent. I agree that some rings have too much of it. Someone who handles this kind of work could advise you when you show them the ring. Probably you cpould have a lot of it polished down to the extent that it was not so overwhelming. It would be there still, but not so in your face.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Sorry, Forgot to upload the pic....now you can see what I''m talking about...duh!

Judy

 

[neatfreak]

That sure is a lot of milgraining! I totally see where you''re coming from. I think you''d need to bring to to a jeweler to find out. I have heard that Quest jewelers out of Virginia does great repair work on "older" pieces and this has the same look. I know you''re in Canada, but that''s the only person I''ve got for you unfortunately! I would take it to a well known estate jeweler since they see milgrain often and see if they can recommend something/someone to you.

 

[kcoursolle]

That *is* a lot of milgrain! I would take it to a really good jeweler you trust and ask for his opinion.

 

[denverappraiser]

Can it be done? Sure. Almost anything can be done, it’s a matter of deciding how much work (read money) you’re willing to put into it. That’s going to be quite a chore and there may be other alternatives to get to where you want to go. Talk to a bench jeweler who and see what suggestions they may have. Replacing the center stone with one that’s bigger and sits higher in the ring would probably help quite a bit for example.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[surfgirl]

Is this an actual vintage piece or a reproduction? If it''s an original vintage/antique setting, it would be a shame to mess with it. If however, it''s a reproduction piece, then why not...It IS alot of milgraining going on there...

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 5/26/2007 7:42:37 PM
Author: surfgirl
Is this an actual vintage piece or a reproduction? If it''s an original vintage/antique setting, it would be a shame to mess with it. If however, it''s a reproduction piece, then why not...It IS alot of milgraining going on there...

it looks like a NEW PIECE WHERE some is good, more is better.
neil''s advice is good.
You could also take away some and not all of the graining bit by bit until you were happy - or round it off a bit with selective hard bufffing (cheaper) on a try and error system

 

[oldminer]

You can remove some of it by the method Garry suggested, but this ring is "designed" to have the millgraining there to mask imperfections in the casting process. It would kill the piece to make an attempt to have it all removed. You could make a special one without the millgrain, but it might not lookas good as you hope since the edges would still be rather heavy and thick. An old, hand made item would have quite thin edges without the millgraining.

 

[dani13]

The stone is lovely, but I agree with you re: the milgraining overkill. You may consider having the stone reset into a new setting of your choice, since there are also some other things that bother you about this ring. It might be less $$ in the long run to reset then removing the milgrain, which seems like it would be a lot of work (aka: money)!!!!

Good luck!

 

[surfgirl]

I'm with Dave and Dani...I was looking at this setting and wondering if you polished out alot of the milgrain, would the edges look bulky or uneven? That might look worse. Perhaps a compromise would be to find a jeweler who is willing to take in the setting as a trade in, and make you/find you a setting that you will love? You could remove the center stone and diamonds and start over... Maybe claw prong setting with diamonds channel set on the shank? Or a halo surrounding the center stone with any leftover stones down the top shank? Just a thought...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I''m afraid I''ll have to agree that selling the ring and starting over would be safer than altering this ring. It is a lovely cocktail ring and it would be hard to alter it to be an everyday kind of ring.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Hi All,

Sorry for not responding earlier, had a full weekend. The ring is a new peice not reproduction. My husband loved this design & because he was so passionate about it I accepted his gift. I really wanted a 5 stone band alternating diamonds & sapphires, but he didnt like the style because it looked like an eternity band.

I''ll start out taking it to a bench jeweler 1st to get some ideas, then I''ll decide if I have to have a heart to heart with my hubby about making some changes. My other thought is to put in a larger, less expensive stone & put the sapphire in a 3 stone setting, which is more my style anyway, classic.

Thanks again all for your thoughts on this.
Judy

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 5/28/2007 11:53:09 AM
Author: ccuheartnurse
Hi All,

Sorry for not responding earlier, had a full weekend. The ring is a new peice not reproduction. My husband loved this design & because he was so passionate about it I accepted his gift. I really wanted a 5 stone band alternating diamonds & sapphires, but he didnt like the style because it looked like an eternity band.

I''ll start out taking it to a bench jeweler 1st to get some ideas, then I''ll decide if I have to have a heart to heart with my hubby about making some changes. My other thought is to put in a larger, less expensive stone & put the sapphire in a 3 stone setting, which is more my style anyway, classic.

Thanks again all for your thoughts on this.
Judy

I think this is the best idea. It shoudn''t cost much at all to leave the setting as is and put in a less expensive colored stone.

 

[Manmountain]

This appears to be a reroduction. The millgrain continues into the recesses where a real millgrain wheel with the same size of grain would never fit. I do CAD work that is similar. I also do brightcutting and hand millgraining for discerning clients.

It would be simple enough to cut away the grown millgrain and brightcut the work properly. One then has the option of leaving it plain or millgraining with a more appropriate size.

 

[Manmountain]

I forgot to mention. This would also help to brighten up the diamonds as the reflectors are still rough from the original casting.