Sterling Silver Dresser Sets
Repair ~ Restoration ~ Polishing
Dresser SEts, Silver combs, mirrors, brushes, Powder Jars lids, and ACCESSORIES
Sterling silver dresser sets can be repaired, restored, and polished. At one time a dresser set would be de rigueur for every lady’s dressing table. They came in both sterling silver and silverplate manufactured for every price range. Now they are all 60 to over 150 years old with dents and wear. Repair and restoration of silver dresser sets can be a Pandora's Box of problems.
Sterling SilveR Dresser Set
This sterling silver 20th-century dresser set survived three generations but needed a great deal of restoration. This set included a mirror, nail buffer, brush, cuticle knife, button hook, and shoehorn. (There was no comb or dresser set lids.) Every single piece required an extensive amount of work. This customer was interested in restoring this dresser set for future generations
Sterling Silver Combs
Replacing the comb in a sterling silver fitter is a relatively easy restoration but it takes time. The new plastic combs are available in tortoiseshell-colored plastic in a variety of sizes but must be custom fit to the sterling silver fitter for optimal fit. Since each sterling silver comb fitter is different this takes time and patience but the results look great. If the sterling silver comb fitter is splitting along the seam it can be repaired with silver solder. Please don't wait till it comes apart into two pieces. Repairing a split in the seam is much easier than trying to put two halves back together. If the plastic comb is broken or missing treat the comb fitter very gently protecting it from damage. The silver is very thin and fragile.
Sterling Silver Hand Mirrors
Repair and restoration of sterling silver hand mirrors can be complicated. Whenever possible it is best to reuse the original mirror. If the mirror is broken, keep the pieces so that it is easier to fabricate a new mirror in exactly the same shape and size. It is possible to resilver the old mirror glass. The mirror glass may not be perfect but the imperfections of the old glass add appropriate character to the piece.
Providing a new beveled mirror glass to fit into the sterling silver hand mirror fitter is very expensive, and not recommended. New 21st-century glass looks too new.
The sterling silver mirror fitter is usually very thin sterling silver with ornate decorative patterns. Common problems are holes or tears in the silver, loose glass, and dents.
CLICK HERE to learn more about sterling silver hand mirror repairs.
Sterling Silver Brushes
Sterling silver brushes will often come to me in need of a new brush. The bristles are missing or damaged and the wooden base may be loose in the fitter Other common problems are dents, dings, and cracks in the sterling silver brush fitter. Every brush repair and restoration is a custom job. There are no parts. After the repairs, I polish the sterling silver taking care to preserve the decorative elements like engraved monograms.
Dresser set Accessories
Dresser set accessories include nail buffers, shoe horns, files, button hooks, and cuticle knives. There are no replacement parts available so restoration can be challenging but I’ve achieved some beautiful results.
To see dresser set accessory restoration and repair CLICK HERE.
Dresser sets often had decorative glass jars with sterling silver lids. Often referred to as powder jars they came in all shapes and sizes in a wide variety of patterns. The lids are often dented, creased, crushed suffering a hard life. Generally, all the dents can be removed with great skill and patience. The dents need to be carefully pushed out from the inside and burnished on the outside.
CLICK HERE to see each of these lids more closely. I was able to restore these lids to close to perfection and preserve the gold plating on the inside.