Restoration of Sterling Silver Dresser Set Brushes
New brushes for sterling silver fitters are custom made for the sterling silver brush fitter. This may take several weeks to months and an investment into $100's of dollars.
Sterling Silver Brush Restoration
sterling silver Brush before and after restoration
This sterling silver brush was dented and missing the brush. The dents and wrinkles were removed best as possible. Sharp dings are difficult to impossible to remove. Wrinkles and dents must be rubbed out very slowly and carefully because the silver is very thin. The smooth surface of the fitter is like a mirror, every flaw shows. I do not polish the monogram. Dents in the handle usually can not be removed, or only to a limited extent.
The sterling silver brush fitter (shown in this group of photos) was also cracked at the bezel and had to be soldered. Any soldering on the sterling silver fitter means the pitch inside the handle must be removed.
sterling silver Brush before and after new brush replacement
(Left photo) After the dents and dings were removed from the sterling silver brush fitter, the cracks in the edge were soldered. Then the brush is sent away for a custom-made brush (right photo.) This takes about a month. When the sterling silver fitter comes back, the handle is refilled with pitch and the brush is set into the handle. Allow at least 2-3 months for this type of restoration work.
sterling silver Brush and Mirror Set
Often brushes come as part of a set. This sterling silver brush and mirror set needed several repairs to cracks and tears in the sterling silver, in addtion to a new brush You can see in the before photo that the brush was missing bristles and was loose in the fitter.
CLICK HERE to learn more about repairs made to the mirror in this set.
Antique Dixon sterling silver Dresser set with clothing brushes and trays
This very unusual sterling silver dresser set by Dixon had a hand mirror and two clothing brushes. Each brush had its own sterling silver tray. You can see the brushes sitting in the trays (below.)
In the photos below, you can see the brushes before they were replaced (left) with new brushes (right photo.)
To have a new brush made for your sterling silver fitter, the brush has to be removed from the sterling silver fitter. (Do not do this yourself.) Dents and irregularities in the brush edge and body are rubbed smooth, Usually, I will anneal the sterling silver brush fitter so that the metal is softer for setting. The sterling fitter is sent off for a new brush that is custom made to fit the sterling silver brush fitter. When it is returned, the sterling silver fitter is polished and the new brush is bezel set . (The edge of the sterling silver fitter is a bezel to hold the brush in place. )
If the brush is in good condition and does not need to be replaced, I can polish the sterling fitter and leave the brush "as is" to save you a lot of money. Dresser sets that involve brush replacement usually take six months to a year. There are many steps.
sterling silver Baby Brush
This engraved 20th-Century baby brush was in need of a new brush and had a fitter that was in decent shape with just a few dents. The first step is to remove the brush, anneal the metal and remove the dents. I then carefully polished the fitter being careful to preserve the engraving. The old brush is sent to the brush maker so that they can use it as a template for the new one. Unless the customer asks for nylon, I always get the new brush with boar bristles. After the new brush was made, a process which can take more than a month, I bezel set the brush into the sterling silver fitter.