The guilloché motifs can indeed be replaced. I am in the US and I have heard confirmation of this from two SAs now—a mere three weeks ago, most recently. Both SAs were very confident. I was told that the replacement price per motif is $500 USD.
VCA ~ Van Cleef Arpels Discussion thread!
- Thread starter Swanky
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That is just for stones that need to match in color/striations, so I would assume not. I always wondered if they really could replace the guilloche motifs, even though they originally said no, because in the most extreme example of solid metal motifs they could theoretically just attach a new motif to the chain, don’t you think? The guilloche is set with prongs, so it seems like it should be possible one way or another.
Thank you Nicole.
I recently saw someone (random stranger) wearing the Guilloche WG bracelet stacked with some other bracelets and it really caught my eye. My first thought was boy these gonna scratch the Guilloche real bad
But of course jewelries are meant to be worn the way one likes it!
Does anyone know how VCA makes the gold beads?
I can never find the answer to my question on line.
What gold do they start with to make the gold beads?
Is it a hunk of solid gold and they carve out the bead motif or pour liquid gold into a templet bead setting, it dries then they smooth out each bead?
Always wondered, so figured I would ask here! 💕
I can never find the answer to my question on line.
What gold do they start with to make the gold beads?
Is it a hunk of solid gold and they carve out the bead motif or pour liquid gold into a templet bead setting, it dries then they smooth out each bead?
Always wondered, so figured I would ask here! 💕
It seems cast (poured) and then completed with lots of hand polishing.
First post and not sure if this is the correct thread to ask (forgive me if it’s not).
I have a sweet Alhambra bracelet and just tried bringing it to the VCA store to get it cleaned and was told that they don’t do cleanings on it because the mother of pearl shouldn’t get wet. The SA told me it had to be cleaned with their cleaning cloth instead and proceeds to find a cleaning kit for me to take home. Is this accurate information?
I have a sweet Alhambra bracelet and just tried bringing it to the VCA store to get it cleaned and was told that they don’t do cleanings on it because the mother of pearl shouldn’t get wet. The SA told me it had to be cleaned with their cleaning cloth instead and proceeds to find a cleaning kit for me to take home. Is this accurate information?
Hello, welcome. Yes, this is accurate information, mother of pearl should not get wet or it can shrink inside the frame. It’s quite hard to come across the cleaning cloths these days, so it was nice that you were given one, though I suppose they could have cleaned it for you with the cleaning cloth while you were there.
thanks for the info! I also asked her if they provide polishing services and she said no as well. is that the same as cleaning service? is that true?
For a quick hand polishing with the polishing cloth, they can do that, but for the “polishing service” it needs to be submitted to the workshop. The store should be able to submit the item to the workshop for you (or you can submit it yourself online -they will mail you a shipping kit to send it into the workshop), but you will be without it for a couple of weeks.
I wonder if it’s because they were not going to replace them when the guilloche first came out, but now that it’s been a few years and people keep talking about how prone it is to scratches, they probably realized they need to replace them or else, they would be losing a lot in sales of guilloche, especially for the bracelet.
My SA told me that they can clean it with some kind of machine or device they use. I think it was ultrasonic and that it would just be a little warm to the touch after. This was a mother of pearl necklace
Thanks Nicole : Aldi interested as I have a 16 motif WMOP GMOP onyx. Can they also polish MOP then ? Or only the onyx / hard stones ?
They hand polish all stones. For metal, the workshop can do a deeper polish to remove scratches by polishing the metal itself.
Personally, I have the most luck cleaning my stones with a set of qtips, one damp and one dry. I scrub with the slightly damp one and get in all of the nooks and crannies, then I dry and polish it immediately with the dry qtip. Even for MOP this is ok as long as the qtip is just moist and not soaking wet and it is dried immediately. If you still see marks after the first go-over, repeat until satisfied. It takes me ages. Hard stones like onyx, carnelian, chalcedony can be more easily cleaned with a damp toothbrush designated for jewelry cleaning, but I’ve found that the slow dry/hand polish with the qtip is the only way to avoid streaks after drying/polishing on shiny stones (esp onyx). The only ones I really use the toothbrush method for are hard stones in 20 motif format, because the qtip method would take over an hour, or for pave stones to really clean in the honeycomb. I do have an ultrasonic for all metal pieces that I use sometimes also.