Recently I placed an order for some jewelry supplies and upon impulse added a few "smart bargains" to my order. Big mistake...be wary and beware of those notorious Bargain Sections ! The price seemed great and from the photos the items looked attractive but photos can be deceptive. When my order arrived I was pleased with most of my merchandise however the "smart bargains" were disappointing. Yes I could just return them but at times the hassle of the return process is not worth the effort for the refund.
So here's my dilemma, the foil and glass pendants that I ordered are not quite the quality that I expected. Several of them are missing the glass coloring and or the silver foil, allowing the stark black backing to show through in certain spots.
Photo above...the black showing through the crackling is expected and a part of the overall desired effect, however the black arch at the bottom of this pendant is not a part of that effect and is unattractive. It sticks out like a huge zit on a prom queen's nose!
I'm thinking about getting a few large round filigrees to cover the pendant front. The filigree will allow some of the prettier elements of the foil work to show through however these are pretty large rounds of glass, at least 50mm, plus the pendants are domed this means I'd need at least a 60mm round filigree to be able to wrap it securely across the pendant's front and bend it to the back of the pendant all around. Filigrees of this size are not easily found.
Photo above...Here the missing foil is at the top of the of the lower pendant which isn't bad and might be hidden by the bail.
Another option, other than donating the pendants to Goodwill, is to mount elements to the glass to conceal the flaws. But what adhesive is truly powerful enough to permanently bond a glass bead or metal charm to smooth, hard glass? In the past I've utilized such adhesives as G-S Hypo Cement (which I know will not hold glass to glass), Loctite 454 (it's strong but I'm not sure it's strong enough) and various 2 part epoxies (which seem to vary in their holding capabilities and none have impressed me as being durable enough to hold a metal charm to the surface of a domed glass pendant). I've heard raves about E-6000 but my experience has been less than stellar with it, perhaps the tube I purchased was old? I found E-6000 was rubbery and once it set up it could be easily pulled off of a smooth hard surface, much like rubber cement.
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why not do a peyote bezel around the pendants?
ReplyDeleteIt would look pretty and would hide the black places......
That's disappointing that your bargain didn't turn out to be so much of a bargain. I've never really worked with glass so I'm afraid that I don't have much in the way of advice to "fix" the problem. I can see that the one with the issue around the opening/hole will likely be covered, but the other one...??? I'll be curious to see how you cover it up.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were in Italy last year, we had the opportunity to visit the island of Murano and watch the glass blowing demos of how they put the foil and different colors into a pendant...it was very interesting and of course I had to buy one! I wear it quite frequently and it's one of my favorite pieces, both for it's beauty and the memory of that day!
Hope you're having a lovely weekend!!
I'm sorry I can't help but want you to know I'm hoping you find a solution. It's too bad the seller couldn't be up front about the imperfections. It should have been stated why the piece was a bargain price. I truly hope you find a way to use the beautiful pendants.
ReplyDeleteYes peyote bezel it. It will hide the black and enhance the pendant all at the same time!
ReplyDeleteMoonlitfantaseas - That's a very good suggestion and I will try it on a couple of the pendants but I'd like to do something with a Steampunk look on the remaining ones with flaws.
ReplyDeleteMeeling - I'm a huge fan of Murano glass, it is amazingly beautiful. But your comment has given me another idea, I might consult with a few of my local glass bead artists and see if they have any suggestions.
I guess when you graciously visited my blog, Google Blogspot was having hiccups as it left 4 copies of your comment in my email. I would have loved to have published all 4 even though they were identical but figured others would think I was padding my comments. :D
Annette - Thank you for the good wishes. You always leave the sweetest comments. :)
i guess there's no way of returning them? that's always the risk of online orders hey? i hate that. you know a lot of people would just say it's part of the one of the kindness of the piece. i know you want quality but could that be the case? just wondering.
ReplyDeleteI agree, peyote bezel should help considering the material.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lot of clever people. :)
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I would just get my paints out I can pretty much match most things :)
But I do get very frustrated when things I have ordered arrive not as they looked in the ad. material.
I am with you and Meeling on the Murano. My Mother in law bought for me a beautiful red necklace from there 25 years ago, it is a very cherished piece of jewelry and I love all the work Chihuly did with Murano glass in his installations in Italy too.
Hope you get more good advice from your bead maker friends :)
Have a lovely evening, T :)
T - I love Chihuly's work also. He is fantastically creative, a genus with glass! A few months back there was a special exhibition of his work in Tampa/St.Pete, I could kick myself for not getting up there to see it.
ReplyDeleteHow about making a wire frame/edging and add some wire work lacy loops to hide the imperfections?
ReplyDeleteView it less an unfortunate buy but more and opportunity to create a unique piece.
Pearl