The Dragonfly

I purchased this lovely little dragonfly pendant at an estate sale. This caught my eye because of its size (it seemed rather large/long in length for such a delicate piece) and the delicate nature of the workmanship. If you look closely you can see all of the little details including the segmented body of the dragonfly. It had (and still has because I haven’t cleaned it) a patina and it stamped as 925 silver. Unsure of the time period but it strikes me as an early 1900’s piece due to the delicate nature of the metal and gems/beads. Could be the Romantic period or Victorian, both of which frequently used insect motif in their designs.

Photos Before Cleaning…

Cleaning Silver Jewelry at Home

I wanted to clean the pendant with things I already had at home and as gently as possible. I found instructions online to use a baking dish lined with aluminum foil on the bottom, 1 tablespoon of baking soda dissolved, and hot water. It didn’t seem to be doing much and I had seen some other instructions for using salt. So, I sprinkled some salt in there and I could see the silver lightening before my eyes. I don’t know how much salt to use, I just sprinkled a little at a time. For the science buffs, there’s some type of electrochemical reaction that takes place because the aluminum takes on the oxidizing electrons quicker than the silver, so they basically “transfer over” from one metal to another. There is no rubbing/buffing of the jewelry and no risk of scratching it. This was so fun, I grabbed all of my other silver jewelry and cleaned it too!

Photos After Cleaning…

Now that I can see all of the details better, I do believe this is an older piece and probably not mass produced because of the variation of the patterns and intricacy. The green stones also appear carved rather than mechanically cut, because of all of the varied surfaces. Either way, it’s a beauty! If you’re interested in buying this pendant, I will work on getting the store set up. You can also comment below or reach out on our Facebook page! Do you have any jewelry cleaning tips?

See the cleaning here (it’s annoying that the whole dish isn’t in view but, oh well)!