Milgrain Wear N Tear

[DiamondsNPearls]

Good evening everyone, so I have 3 milgrain bands (14k white gold all of them) of course to create more drama I have realized that after reading Internet horror stories of milgrain wearing off I am wondering if I have invested poorly in my bands (albeit my husband purchased them) any ideas? Here are what they look like and I am curious to know if milgrain will eventually wear off and if I should just request for a simple eternity band (re: my asscher eternity) instead? Am I crazy? Legit insane? Someone please talk me off the ledge LOL!!

Here is where you can see the milgrain detail :/ I am so worried it will just look ugly/worn down in a few years' time?

Ladies w/ milgrain: am I being paranoid?

 

[RetroTreeGal]

RELAX. If you love your milgrain rings, by all means keep them! All jewelry takes some maintenance from time to time. Prongs will need to be retipped, white gold will need to be rhodium dipped, and milgrain will need to be redone. Once it shows some wear, any good bench will be able to make it look good as new.

Cheers!

 

[oldminer]

New rings with millgrain are far more bold in their appearance than the finest old items that had millgrain applied to them. As dealers, we love the old items because they are relatively soft to the touch and to the eye while new items, still with fresh milled edges and full weight, are more coarse and less soft. Tacorit items are a great examples of how harsh newness appears. In time, they will soften up.

Allowing your milgrained edges to soften a bit with years of wear does not make them look worn out, but makes them look smoother, less intense and adds to the overall look of a bit of age. You and everyone else, is entitled to your own aesthetic, but dealers appreciate the look and feel of a well aged piece of jewelry. Those who love the old items don't look for the sharpness of a young item, but the smoothness of a long worn piece.

To an extent, some millgrain can be refreshed a couple times, but it depends on an edge that needs to be there to run the millgrain tool over. Once that edge wear away, you can't fully really restore it. The wear process is slow enough you will not really notice as it slowy alters most of the time.

 

[RaiKai]

I milgrain. It is amazing what a difference it can make to a piece, compared to an unmilgrained strip of metal. I have a couple of 70-100 year old pieces with milgrain and just like Oldminer said, the milgrain has a lovely softer look and feel to it and it lends to the overall aesthetics of the piece. In some parts, the milgrain is almost completely worn down but in most parts you only really see this in a blown up macro photo, in normal viewing conditions it all sort of "blends" and my eye carries the milgrain look across those areas. Those areas where it is more visibly worn, it still lends to the soft aged look of the piece.

As RetroTreeGal says, all rings will need maintenance over time. So I would go with what you like

 

[simurgh]

I think milgrain can be slow to wear down ... Tiffany said their platinum legacy rings wouldn't get worn down to feel less rough in my lifetime, and many vintage pieces are decades old, look good but haven't been redone. I prefer worn down but still distinct milgrain.

 

[DiamondsNPearls]

I think milgrain can be slow to wear down ... Tiffany said their platinum legacy rings wouldn't get worn down to feel less rough in my lifetime, and many vintage pieces are decades old, look good but haven't been redone. I prefer worn down but still distinct milgrain.

Thanks everyone, my rings are about 2 years old (2014) My e-ring is a new upgrade from the previous. I hope they take long to wear down b/c I don't want to have to get another e-ring....:/

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I just take care of my rings with milgrain. My wedding band has it and I always take it off if cooking or doing anything in the kitchen because of the extra abuse it would get. I am careful not to grasp things tightly with that hand when my rings are on. I've had my band for maybe 8-9 years and it has no visible wear.