How To Repair Brass Jewelry
Written by Annabelle
May 8, 2020
Brass jewelry is easily found on the market these days, and with good reason. It has a nice color similar to gold, it’s cheap for manufacturing, and it’s very affordable in terms of pricing.
However, it’s not a precious metal, which means that it can pose some issues when it comes to repair. Read on to learn more about how to repair brass jewelry.
What is Brass?
A set of brass bracelets before and after gold plating.
Brass is a yellow colored metal made from copper and zinc. Unlike jewelry-grade gold and silver, there isn’t a standard “recipe” for the creation of brass, which means that some brass pieces can contain more copper than zinc, or vice versa. This is in direct contrast to gold and silver- as an example, sterling silver means that the metal will always contain 92.5% silver.
The variability of the metals in brass can pose an issue when it comes to repair, since the jeweler has no way to predict how it may react to heat or chemical processes such as gold plating. As a result, repairing brass jewelry is more complex than dealing with standard precious jewelry metals.
Brass Jewelry Repair
A brass ring before and after plating.
In order to repair a piece of brass jewelry, the jeweler has to look at the following:
- Plating: Is the item plated? If so, any metal work will remove the plating, and the jeweler will have to replate the brass item afterwards.
A restored costume jewelry bangle made from brass with plastic stones.
- Stones: Brass jewelry is typically used for costume jewelry purposes, and costume jewelry often utilizes cheap stones made out of glass or plastic. Because brass transfers heat very quickly, there’s often a risk of burning the stones when metal work such as soldering is being performed.
- Metal: Some alloys of brass can’t be worked with by the jeweler; in order to make sure that the item can take metal work, the jeweler will test the metal’s reaction by exposing a small area to a laser.
Once the jeweler has determined that the item can be serviced and has informed you of any potential risk, they will proceed with the repair. Keep in mind that most jewelers do not have brass solder on hand as it’s not a typical precious jewelry metal, so they will often resort to using gold which is the closest in terms of color.
After the repair is finished, the metal is brought to an appropriate polish and all stones are checked. If any gems were damaged in the process, the jeweler will replace them as needed.
Cost and Turnaround Time
Aside from its atypical material, brass jewelry takes the same amount of time as other repair services. For repairs such as ring sizing and soldering, the turnaround time is 1 to 3 days.
The cost is priced the same as a gold item repair, due to the material the jeweler will use in order to fix it. Any stone sourcing needed for damaged stones will be an additional cost in addition to the repair.
Now you’re all set on how to repair brass jewelry! If you have any items that need servicing, comment below and we’ll help you out.
I need the clasp of an antique brass belt buckle repaired. I took it to a local jeweler and they said it could not be repaired because they would not know what temperature to use, as noted in your article. I would love to get this fixed, as it is a very sentimental piece.
Hi Christopher! We’d be more than happy to help you with your antique brass belt buckle. We reached out via email with the next steps 🙂
Hi there, I broke an earring and I’m trying to find someone to fix it for me. Thank you
Hi Madi, we’d love to help you out with your earring repair needs! I reached out via email to help you with the next steps 😉