Polished My Cs Wellington Too Hard - Is It Doomed?

[pickles]

I have a CS Silver Grapite Wellington, and when the silver trim on the cap started to tarnish, I apparently was a little too enthusiastic and the silver plate wore away. CS Bespoke is unhelpful, so I fear I may just be stuck with a gorgeous pen with less than gorgeous silver rings on the cap. I was actually hoping to sell it (it's just too big for my hand, I've never been comfortable writing with it) but in good conscience I can't sell a pen in less than very good condition.

 

Any thoughts on what can be done?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

[dneal]

Ask who does silver re-plating in the repair forum.

[richardandtracy]

Get it re-plated at your local jeweller's. They should be able to do it quite cheaply.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[jar]

IIRC the furniture on that pen was Sterling silver and not silver plate.

[pickles]

Thanks all, I will look into these things, much obliged for the suggestions.

 

Jar, I thought it was sterling silver as well but if that were the case, then I don't think polishing off the tarnish wouldn't have rubbed off all the silver? The ring is intact but the silver is gone.

[jar]

Thanks all, I will look into these things, much obliged for the suggestions.

 

Jar, I thought it was sterling silver as well but if that were the case, then I don't think polishing off the tarnish wouldn't have rubbed off all the silver? The ring is intact but the silver is gone.

That is the question; is the silver really gone or did you use something that caused some other reaction?

[ArchiMark]

If sterling silver is used for trim wouldn't it be hallmarked?

 

Also, when you say you rubbed off the silver, what color metal do you see now?

 

As for selling it, assuming that the issue is not correctable without replating, etc, then I would just disclose the issue in listing description and include a photo of the affected area.

 

As for Bespoke British pens, they are not 'Conway Stewart' nor 'CS Bespoke Pens'. They just bought the rights to make some of the CS pens along with some of the CS material inventory and are making some pens out of it. So, they have nothing to do with your Wellington or with the now defunct Conway Stewart company.

 

See this webpage:

 

http://www.bespokebritishpens.co.uk/about/conway-stewart-pen-repairs-and-servicing/

 

On the page they state that they are not able to service or repair CS pens. Also, says that CS warranties created before CS went under are no longer valid.

Edited September 30, 2015 by ArchiMark

[pickles]

That is the question; is the silver really gone or did you use something that caused some other reaction?

It looks like it's gone, but that's a good question, I'll have to look at it further. But in any case, I'll see if I can get someone to check it out for me. Thanks for your help!

[pickles]

If sterling silver is used for trim wouldn't it be hallmarked?

 

Also, when you say you rubbed off the silver, what color metal do you see now?

 

As for selling it, assuming that the issue is not correctable without replating, etc, then I would just disclose the issue in listing description and include a photo of the affected area.

 

As for Bespoke British pens, they are not 'Conway Stewart' nor 'CS Bespoke Pens'. They just bought some of the CS material inventory and are making some pens out of it. So, they have nothing to do with your Wellington or with the now defunct Conway Stewart company.

I didn't know that, I thought Bespoke owned CS now, as that's the site CS USA refers you to when you click on "Repairs."

 

When I look at the pen now, that part of the silver ring looks dark grey, as if it were even more tarnished than before. I used a silver polish on it, so it's baffling to me why it would look like this now.

[Ron Z]

Each pen will be crafted out of hand-made Graphite resin material and adorned with solid sterling silver trim by our experienced craftsman at our factory located in Devon, England. - from Mary Burke's website.

 

 

Sometimes manufacturers will plate sterling silver with rhodium. It is sterling, but the rhodium plating on top keeps the metal from tarnishing so that it always has the bright, white finish. They may or may not tell you that the silver has been plated with the rhodium. They often don't. Parker did this with their sterling 51 caps, Caran d'Ache did (does?) this with some of their pens. If this is the case, its possible that the rhodium has been polished off, allowing the silver under it to tarnish.

 

If you want that "stay bright" finish, have the trim replated with rhodium. It won't be cheap because with sterling an under layer of nickel is needed to keep the copper in the silver from contaminating the rhodium solution, and the rhodium solution itself is pretty expensive. There is also the prep work to make sure that the silver is clean and free of contamination that will keep the plating solution from sticking.

 

I do plating, and some others like Daniel Kirchheimer can do it for you as well.

[jar]

I didn't know that, I thought Bespoke owned CS now, as that's the site CS USA refers you to when you click on "Repairs."

 

When I look at the pen now, that part of the silver ring looks dark grey, as if it were even more tarnished than before. I used a silver polish on it, so it's baffling to me why it would look like this now.

 

Liquid and cream silver polish should never be used around most anything. It is of SATAN.

 

Get a nice jewelers cloth and use that to see if all cannot be restored to even better than original. If you can't find one PM me and I'll send you one. Most fountain pen companies that sell Sterling silver pens include one with each pen and so I have a bunch around here.

[rwilsonedn]

Perhaps you could take the pen to a real jeweler (not just a shop that sells jewelry) and ask them. Someone who works with precious metals day after day could probably tell by inspection what has happened and how to fix it.

ron