Can I barrel polish a silver bangle with gold leaf applied by Keum
Bo method?
Hello all
It seems a bit of a cheek for me to come back here after so long
with a technical question but I would really appreciate your
experience and advice here.
I have made a fairly complicated silver bangle of formed wire and
cut sheet. It is already hallmarked and has 4 bezels ready for stone
setting. I have just applied 22ct gold leaf to 3 small leaf motifs
that are solderedalongside the wires and bezels. It was a very
tricky process. I decided to do it that way round rather than gilding
before assembling as I knew the piece would need heating for
soldering many times before completion. Now I’m not sure how to
polish it. I would like to barrel polish first as this would help
with work hardening and give the bangle more ‘spring’ for putting on
and taking off the wrist but I don’t want to damage the gold leaf
after all the trouble it took to apply.
My guess is that it should be alright but I’m afraid to take the
risk.
Help!
Thank you
Collette