Vintage dress clip with "gold" gunk (paint?) on it ...

Since I had the camera out for the question about my pin, I thought I may as well ask about these dress clips I won at auction yesterday. They seem to have been encrusted with gold paint? all over the top (and a bit on the underside) You can see the rhinestones just peeking through the openings in the gold - but some are still covered up.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Do you think it was made like this or was someone trying to "spruce up" their silver-toned piece? I actually kind of like how the gold has crept into the nooks and crannies of the red glass "fruit salad"-like stones.



Please let me know if I'm asking too many questions, OK? - Thank you - Kat

 

Kat - there is no such thing as "too many questions" here!

 

Ha ha ... I'm going to hold you to that statement!

I have quite a bit of "stuff" I'd like to know more about but have run out of resources ... at least until lately

 

More questions would be great! Sorry I can't help with this one.

 

Your guess is as good as mine. That's 1930s paint on there, so it could go either way. Folks in the trade call it "gold radiator paint".

 

I have a number of sets of these and they are all made of pot metal. Many lose their coating and are dull. It looks like someone used the ubiquitous 'radiator' paint, as you said, to make them look spiffy. The questions I'd be asking is how to remove it from the rhinestones without scratching them and secondly, will anyone buy them because they've been altered.

 

I found a buried rhinestone under the gold by using my fingernail - no scratches. I think I'll try to open up the others with a cuticle stick or a pointy bamboo skewer. Maybe they painted it to try and hide that one of the red stones is broken in half as well as the lack of shiny finish. I actually once bought a piece of rhinestone jewelry where someone "replaced" a missing stone with a glob of glitter ... <sigh>.

 

Acetone on a Qtip. That may do it. Or soak the thing in hot water and use your fingernails. Be careful: you may dislodge the odd stone.

 

Has Marie seen this? She's fixed some of my old jewelry. You can probably send it to her. mforjan

 

Going to start with just uncovering the stones ... so far the paint has been easy to remove off of the tops of the few I've tried so far ...the sides of the stones may need acetone, as suggested by Bear <thanks, by the way>, I will use a toothpick for more precise control.

The gold paint is part of their story and right or wrong, it adds character - though it would have been nicer had it been more neatly applied. I'm hoping to achieve the look that the "painter" was going for had they taken more time and effort.

 

Keep Marie in mind for future reference. She has a large stock of stones of all shapes and sizes so if you lose one, she may be able to help.

 

Good to know.
Thank you, Bev!