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Removing black antiquing from a gold ring
Quickstart: Cutex or paint remover, plus a toothbrush, are likely to be able to remove the blackening from the recesses of gold rings. However, removing the blackening may not be a good idea; read on.
Q. How do I remove black antiquing from my Citadel class ring? it is made by Balfour and is 10k gold.
DK Cak [fictitious]- charleston south carolina
January 18, 2024
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⇩ Related postings, oldest first ⇩
Q. I have an 18K gold ring that has black antiquing in all the nooks and crannies. I really do not like it, and would like to remove it. Does anybody know what I can soak my ring in to remove the black antiquing without destroying the ring? I have access to lots of chemicals, but don't know what to use. Thanks!
Tom Seitz- Boston, Massachusetts
2003
Q. Hi there!
I'm also interested in removing antiquing from gold. Did you ever learn what works to remove it safely?
Best regards,
Cheryl Whitten- Chicago, Illinois, USA
2003
A. Dip the jewelry in Cutex ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] overnight and use a toothbrush to get the black out. . . Cutex is fingernail polish remover.
Brandon Vaguhn- Charleston, South Carolina
2006
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. I have an 18K gold class ring that has a black finish in its recesses. I want the ring to be all gold. Someone suggested soaking it 1:10 boric acid and then removing the paint with a toothbrush. Will that work or is there a better way ?
Don ConnerConstruction - Auburn, Alabama
2005
A. Liquid paint stripper from any hardware store.
Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina
A. Since it's a class ring, the blackening is most likely removable with paint stripper as Jeffrey says, or Cutex
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil links]
and a toothbrush as Brandon suggests. However, for more exotic rings there is a chance that it is black rhodium [adv: black rhodium plating solution on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil links]
or black ruthenium or other black precious metal just as resistant to chemicals as gold.
You're certainly welcome to remove the blackening if you wish, but in order to not mislead other readers into doing something they may regret, we should remember that one of the reasons recessed areas are blackened is because they have a tendency to blacken anyway (from tarnish due to lack of wear in the recesses, accumulation of dirt, etc.) Blackened recesses with bright highlights/protuberances look natural because they are; the opposite won't look natural and won't last long.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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