Do you have gold jewelry that has discolored?
My skin is acidic, whatever that means, so when I wear jewelry, even if it’s made of real gold, it turns dark and discolored. They say this is because the chemicals in sweat, perfume, etc… react with the gold. My brain tells me gold is a non-reactive metal, but okay, I’ll take their word for it. Although I think it’s most likely the other metals mixed with the gold that is doing the reacting.
I have a favorite gold necklace and pendant that have discolored. I’ve had them for several years. I hadn’t even considered that gold would tarnish. Silver, yes. But gold? It hadn’t crossed my mind. So after several years of using it often, I noticed that the gold had turned a dark copper color with splotches of violet. At first, I was afraid that I might have bought a fake, but I bought the pendant and the necklace chain from two different shops and they both discolored. I never really cleaned my gold jewelry after every use because I didn’t think I needed to. After using them, I would just put them back in my jewelry box.
After googling a bit, I realized that the discoloration was probably due to being “acidic”. I tried soaking my necklace in water and Joy (dishwasing liquid) for hours, but nothing happened. I couldn’t find any other practical home remedies online so I decided to go to the professionals and have my jewelry gold-plated!
Gold-plating in Greenhills
I remembered going to Greenhills many, many years ago and stumbling upon jewelry repair shops where they accept gold-plating. Luckily, I was on the way to Greenhills with S that day, so I thought I’d go see if I could also get my necklace gold-plated. Also, I haven’t found any other shop in any other mall I had been to that provides this kind of service here in Manila.
We went to the second floor above the small fast-food place near the pearl jewelry stalls inside the Greenhills Shopping Center. If you have a hard time finding the place, just look for Blim’s Furniture Store. It’s very near Blim’s.
There was only one jewelry repair shop that I could see – it’s called C. A. Lasala Jewelry Shop. And it really looked like a jewelry workshop with many goldsmiths bent over their workstations making and repairing jewelry. I inquired about having my necklace cleaned and gold-plated.
The price I was quoted was P50 for the pendant, and P200 for the necklace (it’s a 20-inch chain). Seems reasonable. The whole process takes around 15-20 minutes. First they have to clean the jewelry – I wasn’t able to go inside but I gather they used mechanical brush machines to clean it. The cleaning took some time. Then they did the gold-plating.
THE RESULT
When the salesgirl gave me back my necklace and pendant, I was amazed at how spanking new they looked! I’ve already used and washed this necklace a few times before taking this picture.
To maintain their nice, shiny golden looks, I now clean them quickly with a bit of Joy after every use, and dry them before storing them.
3 responses to “How to Make Gold Jewelry Look Like New in Manila”
I think the word you are looking to describe your “discolored gold” is called Patina. Patina is actually a work of art. It shows your appreciation for your jewelry throughout the years because it takes time to have Patina on your jewelry. Some people actually aim to have patina on their jewelry but others always want that shiny brand new look. It’s up to you but both are fine.
Hi Paul,
Thank you for your comment 🙂 I hadn’t thought of it that way. When I think patina, I usually think antique copper or brass. I thought gold wasn’t supposed to tarnish so I assumed the underlying dark gray welding was showing through.
Hello . Do u have any idea of this shop still exist? Or do u know any shops that accepts this kind of gold plating services. I badly need help ☹️ Anyways this blog post really helped . Thankyou sooo much xoxo.