Flower Vase Repairs

Sterling silver bud vase

This sterling silver bud vase was dented and very badly tarnished. After removing the dents and polishing it looks amazing. Fortunately, the base was in perfect condition because dents can not be easily removed from a base that is marked "cement filled" or "cement reinforced." These terms are a euphemism for the fact that the base is filled with pitch, a tar-like material.  

The sterling silver for 20th century silver like this is as thin as a piece of paper.  Polish very gently with make-up pads and silver polish. Do not twist while polishing.

Art Nouveau 800 Silver Vase with foot repaired

This Art Nouveau vase was 800 silver. 800 silver is a silver alloy of 800 parts silver to 200 parts copper, an alloy often used for old European and South American silver. The silver was very thin and brittle. This presented difficulties in the repair but I was able to get it repaired using my state-of-the-art PUK-5.1 welder.

STERLING SILVER Trumpet VASE

This 20th century sterling silver trumpet shaped flower vase arrived in two pieces. The trumpet vase was also badly damaged, crushed, and wrinkled. The before photo (left) doesn't even begin to capture how badly wrinkled and dented it was when it arrived. This flower vase originally belonged to the customer's mother and she wanted it fixed so that she could enjoy the memories. 

The objective was not to make this silver vase look like new. That isn't possible, but with several hours of careful repair, I was able to reshape the vase and fluted top. This vase is completely transformed and looks better than I even hoped was possible. After reshaping the vase it was reattached to the base. It is wonderful to continue using an object with sentimental meaning. 

Sterling Silver Flower Basket

This sterling silver flower basket had an elaborate pierced design that had to be polished with small wheels very carefully. The difficulty was that it had been stored in a furnace room for years and some kind of residue had eaten a texture into the surface. The base was also bent (photo right.)

SILVER PLATE FAN FLOWER VASE

This silver plate pierced and engraved fan shaped flower vase was broken from the base. Someone had also tried to repair it with glue which does not work. No matter what the glue package promises, glue will not be strong enough to repair sterling silver or silverplate. 

The epoxy glue was removed very carefully and the vase soldered back together in the same way it was made over 100 years ago. The repair does not even show and the silver plating was not damaged.

Silver Plate Trumpet Flower Vase

This silver plate flower vase arrived broken clean off its base. If it broke once, and is put back together in the same way, what’s to stop it from breaking again?

A ring of sterling silver was added around the break to reinforce the repair. Adding the wire makes for a stronger, more attractive repair. All done without damaging the silver plating.