South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-12-26
WHAT To Do WITH
YOUR OLD JEWELRY
A Host of Suggestions for
Utilizing Odds and Ends of
Old Ornaments to Make At
tractive Articles.

The thrifty housewife who has saw
ed a box of odds and ends of broken
jewelry will find almost any reliable
jeweler a ready purchaser of her old
gold as material for wedding rings.
If he is ingenious as we'll he will help
you to envolve some modern orna-
ments out of the gold before he puts
them on the charcoal fire.
For instance. If yDu are a real
housewife you have saved the gold
backs of pearl collar and cuff but
tons. When these are wOunted on a
pin and engraved with a pretty
Monogram they make a neat scarf
pin for the boy of the family.
Old Gold Pencils.
You may discover the two pieces of
a gold pencil which was hand-engrav-
ed so years ago are yet quite the
style of those which sell in the shops
today for SIS, If the edges are
crushed where IT has been broken
the ends can be cut off and joined by
a neat band. Be sure TO use some of
your old gold for this, so that the
color will be the same, and therefore
not so conspicuous. If you are not
so fortunate as to have one of the
longer ones. set with a red glass top,
there may be the two fragments of
smaller style which had a ring one
end and probably hung from
grandmothers chatelaine. These
bids make excellent cOad tops for new
fancy pencils, especially if you work
them a gold color.
New Jewelry from Old.
1t is surprising how the old fash
ions make over into the new. An old
necklace set with gold or enamel
medallions may be cut down to one
OF the thin, limp bracelets so much in
vogue southern girl even evolved
a vanity case out of a large, beauu-
fully engraved locket. On the other
hand. the fashion in children's rings
does not vary so much, so that il you
have an empty setting you can make
an attractive gift for the little girl by
using a garnet which will cost you
about a dollar.
When you have weeded out your
box take all the rest, no matter how
unpromising. to the jeweler and let
him test for you. Very often the pin
Of a briken, cheap looking enamel
brooch will prove solid gold, while
your grandmother's earrings may not.
1t is not much trouble to him, as he
has only to touch the gold with the
long glass stopper of his nitric acid
bottle. If the gold turns green-you
can watch him do it-then it is not
solid.
Weight Value of Gold.
After your treasure has been tested
and have proved solid gold, you will
discover that each piece has it's own
weight value. No jeweler will bother
TO melt each piece separately for you,
but you can divide it roughly yourself
into classes. Remember that gold
filings Of teeth and gold plates or
bridges put in by a dentist are almost
pure gold. They run about "a car
ats. although the alloy used with
them may bring them down to SIS.
In the same way a gold watch chain
may prove Bohemian gold and weigh
about IL. Much of the old jewelry
was bought in Europe where q lighter
weight of gold was used. For this
reason, make at least one division.
so that the carat weight may not be
weakened.
When your gold has been melted it
is a small-yOu will be surprised how
small-well-smok lump. To test
the carat weight the jeweler rubs one
of the Jumps on a black stone. 1t is
a small piece about two by four
inches. Then he takes what looks
like a measuring compass, though it
has many points instead of two.
Each one of these tips is solid gold
and its carat value is engraved on the
wider part of the stem. Selecting
value which he thinks will be the
nearest, he marks il beside the first
on the stone. If the yellow mark is
brighter or DINNER, then il is not the
value. and he tries until he has a
mark the same color. He then weighs
your gold in his fine scale. You will
have so many ounces at the current
value Of that carat. He is generally
very glad To pay cash for this. as
even a small jewelry will have as
much as $3.50 worth of gold on hand
at a time.
What IL Brings.
To give you some idea of value.
two gold teeth brought S1.15, while
sold plate is worth $3.50. This,
as has been said. is the best grade Of
gold A grandfather's pen point
broken. the kind that sold % years
ago for $3.50. brought 80 cents. Ends
of collar\ buttons. a bit of chain,
broken earring, etc, went in 10 make
up another S1.25. 1t isn't much, but
it serves to get rid of a lot of useless
things which take up room and dust
ing and are too valuable to throw